small bush axe?

[siguy]

just wanted to agree here on using a hatchet choked up vs a big knife.

when you have a big blade and you choke up, you still have most of the blade at one end, making it very unbalanced and hard to control.

when you have a pocket axe choked up you have all the weight in your hand, so it feels very balanced and becomes far easier to control.

i've thought of making something like a machete with a short blade and a really long handle, so that when you choke up the knife will be balanced and will be easy to use for little cuts in addition to chopping...but then i thought that i would just be reinventing the hatchet.

 

[Darbyfett]

Heres my little bag axe. A Rendezvous Accoutrement maker on eBay gets them from a local forging school and when they get the blade they make the leather for it. Great folks, the solid shoulder strap was going to be a bit small for me so they added a leather adjustment system for free and only slowed it down a day or 2. Haven't really chopped with it, I live in the city and don't want to cut all my landlords trees down lol. The cut on the sheath I blame on one of my cats.

 

[orrey45]

Darby, thats a pretty cool little hatchet/axe.

 

[Darbyfett]

I like it. It has a real, nice balanced weight to it.

 

[DocArnie]

i've thought of making something like a machete with a short blade and a really long handle, so that when you choke up the knife will be balanced and will be easy to use for little cuts in addition to chopping...but then i thought that i would just be reinventing the hatchet.

Reminds me of the Fiskars machete, just without the tip.

 

[Sid Post]

Wow, Pricey is being nice.

Did all Gransfors go up in price? I remember the wildlife hatchet being like 80 bucks a few months ago...not $100. Maybe I am crazy lol.

Keep in mind these are made in Europe so, the weak dollar isn't helping the price at all. Also, the US part of the company had a fire that destroyed all their stock right at the first part of this year so, supply and demand may be a work here too.

 

[tholiver]

Someday when i am flush with cash i'll have to get a GB mini.
They are 130$ Canadian /124$ U.S at Lee Valley.

I love Lee Valley but does anybody here know an online/ebay vendor that sells the GBs at a cheaper rate?

 

[stephen5]

Here is a small sample of little bag and belt axes that I have forged over the years.

The second picture shows a bag axe forged from a ball peen hammer

Enjoyable to forge and fun to use. I always take one with me whenever I head out into the woods.

Stephen Osborne
http://www.north-river-custom-knives.com

 

[pinetree]

Here are my two small choppers with a neck knife I was wear this morning in the garden. The Trailhawk is a fun project and a heck of a chopper with the 19" handle. The Norlund was a sub $15 purchase on ebay. It required some filing and sanding to uncover this little jewel. I am still spending time on the waterstones working on the edge.

 

[Sid Post]

Is anyone familiar with the Garrett Wade Swedish hatchets? I should note that they are on sale right now so, the price is a little more tempting then usual.

The Camper's Hatchet has a handle only 13" long and weighs only 1-1/4 lbs. The belt loop on the leather sheath makes it perfect to carry on long trips and have ready for quick use. Save 10% on a pair (one for yourself, and one for your partner or son).

The Forest Axe is of the same style - with a much longer 20" handle and heavier (1-1/2 lbs). Keep it in your country house or cabin, or in your car. Or pack it for longer camping trips. Great for general outdoor life and for small tree felling. It swings comfortably one or two-handed.

The Limbing Axe, designed for the trimming of downed trees or general cutting, is longer (25-1/2" handle) and weighs 1-7/8 lbs. This is in anticipation of heaver work and a longer swing. Its really a wonderfully balanced tool for easy use.use".

 

[siguy]

those at garret wade look to me to be gransfors bruks, from what i can see of the logo and the handle and head styles. good prices if they are.

but the splitting axes are a different style, they have wedge shaped heads instead of the hollow ground eges that gransfors uses.

 

[tholiver]

those at garret wade look to me to be gransfors bruks, from what i can see of the logo and the handle and head styles. good prices if they are.

but the splitting axes are a different style, they have wedge shaped heads instead of the hollow ground eges that gransfors uses.

That would be sweet if they were but...
i'm pretty sure the pictured felling, limbing and campers hatchets are Wetterlings.
Wetterlings are good axes but these Garret wade sale prices are not spectacular, about on par with ebay prices.
The others axes i'm not sure on what make they are.
The large splitting axe might be a HB (Hults Bruks?) from Hultafors maybe.
http://www.hultafors.co.uk/default.asp?LanguageID=2

 

[DocArnie]

Today I handled a Hultafors hatchet similar in size to the short Fiskars.
I also found a Wetterlings hatchet, only a little bit bigger than the Gränsfors Mini. The Wetterlings had a sharp, centric, even edge but it looked like the grind needed some work, because it was rather uneven, if you know what I mean.

Does anyone here have one of these?

 

[Dinkum]

So... why the double-bit? What are the advantages over a single bit?

Thanks in advance for your input.

One side is for soft material the other for harder.

Chopping a pine, come across a knotty or hard area, spin her round, use the more obtuse angle head, get through the hard area, spin her around and contine with the deeper biting edge. They are 2 axes in one, not a single tool with two identical edges.

 

[Thomas Linton]

The Ft Meigs that Dannyboy mentions is 14 or 15" OAL but 15oz. Here's the Ft Meigs Nessmuk and the Reeves Nessmuk contrasted.
. . . [T]he Ft Meigs is really hard to beat. The handle is very narrow so that makes it light so most of the weight is in the head at the end of that long handle so you can really swing it.

The Ft. Meigs disappeared from Ragnar's lineup some time ago. I find the handle so narrow that it stings to chop hardwood. 'Course I'm not from WBGV, there men are men (most of the time ).

 

[Thomas Linton]

Here are my two small choppers with a neck knife I was wear this morning in the garden. The Trailhawk is a fun project and a heck of a chopper with the 19" handle. The Norlund was a sub $15 purchase on ebay. It required some filing and sanding to uncover this little jewel. I am still spending time on the waterstones working on the edge.

Anyone know when "Genuine Norlund" was used vs. just "Norlund"?

Aren't the Hudson's Bay pattern Norlunds more common? This looks like a cross - a very nice cross.

 

[Fonly]

I just bought a wetterlings from a local shop, the head was the usual from wetterlings, its needed some work, but man they are stepping up on the handle, its was the perfect size and shape, balanced and had a nice finish on it. I get some pics up when my camera's back.

 

[Thomas Linton]

I just bought a wetterlings from a local shop, the head was the usual from wetterlings, its needed some work, but man they are stepping up on the handle, its was the perfect size and shape, balanced and had a nice finish on it. I get some pics up when my camera's back.

Did you have choices to pick from?

 

[Fonly]

Did you have choices to pick from?

yep, quite a few. thats one thing I like about buying localy I can dig through product. but it carried a price tag. 74 bucks for a LHA from wetterlings. but like I said, quilty of the handle is what I see from GB axe's, just the head was a little mis-shaped. Nothing a file couldn't fix, but it had a good sharpening on it.

 

[dougo83]

i see all these neck knives but what about a neck axe, like a really small axe, i think it could be a good tool and a superb mini batoner, know anybody who makes small axes?

I will say that the Gerber/Fiskars axes are great and probably far lighter than the other wooden-handled models. My only question is why? I had a backpaxe that I ended up returning because it was just too light and poorly balanced IMO.