Small broad axes/hatchets

[rjdankert]

Just a hobbyist woodworker playing with one of my toys.

Bob

 

[Hairy Clipper]

If SHTF my new dream location would be wooded property in close proximity to landfill. Have heard about this as...hol?? https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/16/us/fugitive-hiding-bunker-wisconsin-trnd/index.html
But seriously, I like the idea of south facing energy efficient houses buried into the side of the hill.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthship

I see they raised the fellows bail to $100 K. What a guy will do to be free, eh?
I have known a couple of people that had partially underground homes and they both said moisture inside can be a problem. I, too, have been intrigued by them.

 

[jake pogg]

Ernest: I like that hatchet! It has the look of experience to it and seems to say, "back up son, men are working here." I am curious how long the edge is what it weighs?

Now That,Sir,is not just any hatchet...Good eye for noticing how special it is...One of the sexiest regional designs ever,code-named "Hjartum"...

one of my toys.

Great little side-axe,Bob,i can imagine it being very handy...
Slovenia?Or thereabouts,tending towards east and south in Europe?

Possibly these two are a good illustration to the point Ernest makes,single-bevel to the south/double-bevel tending northerly in architectural usage...

Beautiful tools all...

 

[garry3]

If SHTF my new dream location would be wooded property in close proximity to landfill. Have heard about this as...hol?? https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/16/us/fugitive-hiding-bunker-wisconsin-trnd/index.html
But seriously, I like the idea of south facing energy efficient houses buried into the side of the hill.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthship

 

[jake pogg]

mea maxima culpa...
https://imgur.com/lLvKibv

 

[Fmont]

Looks good to me!

 

[Fmont]

Now That,Sir,is not just any hatchet...Good eye for noticing how special it is...One of the sexiest regional designs ever,code-named "Hjartum"...

Hard to find! I've been looking for awhile!

 

[Ernest DuBois]

I am curious how long the edge is what it weighs?

Edge length is 120 mm and its weight is 1,2 kg. without handle. Some harmonious figures don't you agree?

 

[Ernest DuBois]

Hard to find! I've been looking for awhile!

In fact this is one of the last ever available on a retail basis, (plenty on the second hand market). Stephan Claesson out of Gothenburg had bought up what was left after the forge closed down and soon after the death of the last smid and at the cusp of the run on Hjärtums these disappeared fast.

 

[jake pogg]

Ernest,tell us a bit about these,will ya?
How much of an influence of the famous smiths,Skog and Co,contribute to the design,per the regional style?
And is it true that after The forge closed down that it was/is copied regionally,by some other bigger or smaller outfits?
Can one easily tell the difference between those produced by Skog,Pearsson,et al,and those copied by others later?

 

[Ernest DuBois]

Ernest,tell us a bit about these,will ya?
How much of an influence of the famous smiths,Skog and Co,contribute to the design,per the regional style?
And is it true that after The forge closed down that it was/is copied regionally,by some other bigger or smaller outfits?
Can one easily tell the difference between those produced by Skog,Pearsson,et al,and those copied by others later?

Early versions are more or less straight up copies of Norwegian axes widely used in boat making. J Skog deviated or modified and W. Persson maintained the Skog version. The copying, I would say out-right exploitation, was going on even while the Hjärtum forge was in operation, all the big names, Gränsfors, Hults and most blatantly Wetterlings trying to profit off the reputation and probably making more of a killing than any of the three Hjärtum smids ever did.

I have never seen a very impressive copy, not even one of the latest versions I saw recently by the favored contemporary Swedish smid who's name I don't recall. The smart ones like Mattias Helje I think don't even go there. The copies I see are really such tortured efforts that I almost have sympathy for anyone who dares take on such a futile task.


It is worth noting, on the side of down-playing it you know , that a carpenter of such skill, and high regard as Olaf Andersson has said that when he picks up a Hjärtum he finds it nothing special. I don't know what interest he has, take it for what it's worth.

 

[Hairy Clipper]

rjdankert: Nice toys! Being a retired barber am I allowed to have a bearded axe?

ernest: Harmonious ... Yes! So much so it makes me wonder what frequency it would ring at if struck like a bell? I enjoy your history lessons.

 

[rjdankert]

Great little side-axe,Bob,i can imagine it being very handy...
Slovenia?Or thereabouts,tending towards east and south in Europe?

Thanks, it is fun to use. Light weight, easy for me to control, and leaves a surface good enough to satisfy me.

Your guess about its origin is probably better than mine, but I suspect the same. This was a "roll the dice" purchase off eBay from a seller in the US (low shipping) and I got it with a very modest bid so I had low expectations. Pleasantly surprising to me is that compared to my other edged tools it holds a decent edge. Anyway I was unable to id the manufacturer. Here is a close up of the stamp:

Bob

 

[Ernest DuBois]

ernest: Harmonious ... Yes! So much so it makes me wonder what frequency it would ring at if struck like a bell? I enjoy your history lessons.

What, did you forget? German axes ting, Swedish just thunk.

 

[Hairy Clipper]

What, did you forget? German axes ting, Swedish just thunk.

That is amazing!

 

[jake pogg]

Here is a close up of the stamp:

It must be either pre-,or post-soviet,as it doesn't have that standard Mordor round alloy/date/type of tool stamp along with the maker's.
Wish i knew more of Slovenian forging tradition,they make some Very fine tools there,scythes in particular.
But,alas,i'm not familiar with this one.

 

[Ernest DuBois]

Here I use not the smaller one pictured but the next size up, more suited to actual timber framing.

 

[Hairy Clipper]

Ernest: Thank you for posting the video. I enjoyed watching it. Is that your Golden Retriever? If so, how old? Our Golden Girl Natasha passed earlier this year and we miss her, even though she hogged the bed at night.

 

[Agent_H]

Thanks, it is fun to use. Light weight, easy for me to control, and leaves a surface good enough to satisfy me.

Your guess about its origin is probably better than mine, but I suspect the same. This was a "roll the dice" purchase off eBay from a seller in the US (low shipping) and I got it with a very modest bid so I had low expectations. Pleasantly surprising to me is that compared to my other edged tools it holds a decent edge. Anyway I was unable to id the manufacturer. Here is a close up of the stamp:

Bob

Bob, I've seen that mark somewhere and more than once. I'll keep looking with it in mind.

 

[jake pogg]

Early versions are more or less straight up copies of Norwegian axes widely used in boat making. J Skog deviated or modified and W. Persson maintained the Skog version. The copying, I would say out-right exploitation, was going on even while the Hjärtum forge was in operation, all the big names, Gränsfors, Hults and most blatantly Wetterlings trying to profit off the reputation and probably making more of a killing than any of the three Hjärtum smids ever did.

Thanks,Ernest.
I suppose it's logical that their formula,even initially,was based on the slitted/drifted eye.The sign of the times,well into mechanical hammer era.

Here's another neat relative of theirs,a Norsk answer to Hjartum,in incomparable in neatness and exactitude study by Jim Austin...https://forgedaxes.com/blog/

This one is traditional enough to have retained the older,folded eye pattern(one can see Whence that poll shape in Hjartum ones and others like it).
And similar thin,long,elegant blade...

What beautiful axes these all are...