Slip fit axes

[zmaj]

Im wondering if you guys know of any slip fit axes that are more wedge (in the American felling axe sense) like than the super narrow ones. I've heard of basque but their profile Im not so sure about, bellota seems good but I haven't found a retailer so far, woox has a far too big poll.

Im also thinking of just try to forge out the eye of my dayton 3.5 council tool axe to make it into a slip fit. Any thoughts?

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

Im wondering if you guys know of any slip fit axes that are more wedge (in the American felling axe sense) like than the super narrow ones. I've heard of basque but their profile Im not so sure about, bellota seems good but I haven't found a retailer so far, woox has a far too big poll.

Im also thinking of just try to forge out the eye of my dayton 3.5 council tool axe to make it into a slip fit. Any thoughts?

I'm curious about the "far too big poll" aspect? Are you specifically looking for a poll-less axe? If that's the case you might consider a Calabria pattern from Rinaldi or one of the other Italian makers. The wedge shape of those is slightly concave but it's about the closest you'll get get to a wedge-like poll-less axe.

 

[catspa]

Im also thinking of just try to forge out the eye of my dayton 3.5 council tool axe to make it into a slip fit. Any thoughts?

Easier said than done, I’m afraid. First, you’d have to make a drift that was about halfway between the present size and your target size, or shaped thin at the bottom and flaring up at the top. Then as you enlarge the eye, it’ll want to thin out, which will weaken it, and it’ll be difficult to upset it back to thick.

Once you get your new eye and cheeks perfectly shaped and tapered, you’ll have to do a better job of heat treatment than the factory did, because of your thinner cross section.

I’m not saying don’t do it, just that it’ll be tricky and you’ll have a lot of work invested.

If that was my project, I’d invest even more work in it by practicing it first on one or more cheap imported specimens. Climb the learning curve on something that won’t be as big a disappointment if you burn it out or crack it on quenching. After making your mistakes on a couple throwaways, you’ll get better results on your favorite.

Best of luck to you, and keep us posted.

Parker