Snake Chopper

C

church&son

Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Messages
583
At realjob we use these monster CNC saws and routers. The guys there are great, they save all broken blades
and worn out files for me and we have been known to throw a knife or ‘hawk at units of plywood. “while on break of course!”

This one is out of my ordinary. It hasn’t touched the forge! It was a 16″ saw blade from a beam saw.
I wanted to see what I could do with a hacksaw and files. A lot of blades later this is it.
The heat treat and tempering is the same as when I started. It sharpened nice and holds an edge well.
16″ overall with 9″ sharpened.

snakechop1.jpg
snakechop2.jpg


The handle is a Cypress root from a Georgia fly fishing trip (when I was supposed to be working) and the copper bolster is part of a plumbing cap.
The sheath is yard sale jacket leather over rawhide with a few scraps for decoration.

And the name, Snake Chopper, it was with me when a Cottonmouth nailed me on a local river. I stepped up a bank and it got me on the back of the calf.
It dispatched the snake that almost dispatched me. It’s hide is stretched on the side of the barn waiting on an appropriate project……Randy
 
Great looking piece.....The whole set is very nicely done ! Thanks for showing....
 
Hot damn that is a great looking piece, and a great story to go with it. What more could you want?
 
Hi Randy .
Lucky you had that snake chopper on you .
not so for the pesky snake .
Great work as usual mate .
thanks for sharing both your work and the story .
Chris
 
Hey Bro. That's my favourite of your pieces so far, Love that thing. I was playin with a big ol cottonmouth down in Florida many years ago, damn thing almost bit my face off. Are you keeping the pieces you make out of the skin or selling them?

Bro R
 
Dusty, thanks, always a pleasure to hear from you....

Operator, thanks, I'd like to fish some of those rivers around your area, after the snakes go to sleep.....

Chris, thanks a lot, I usually carry a 'hawk on my back while river fishing but this one is exceptionally overrun with briars so I grabbed a chopper instead......

Bro R, thanks, I've seen a hundred moccasins but they usually give you room ( they have all heard of my awesome 'hawk throwing technique) but like the old saying, I never saw the one that got me 'till it was hanging off my calf. VooDoo and I fish some very rural rivers but luckily this one was close to town. The bite wasn't as bad as the swelling. My calf was twice it's size in 15 minutes. I still walk with a limp BUT "old no shoulders" didn't make it.
Are you keeping the pieces you make out of the skin or selling them? I was thinking about a small camp axe/chopper combo with the snakeskin as a handle wrap that fits in a sheath on the back of my creel.
But this event did reiterate the usefulness of the cross draw sheath. It was THERE when I reached for it. No snaps, buckles or straps to undo. More of a reflex action.
Now every time we are fishing VooDoo yells across the river " Hey Pops, is that a snake on your leg or are you just happy to see me?" ..........Randy
 
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Enjoyed your pics. I thought your handle was an interesting piece of antler till I read otherwise. You are the quite the craftsman and recycler. Very interesting artistic chopper. Regards.
 
I like it! Great looking piece. Very cool to have access to materials and machinery at the real job!:thumbup:
 
Randy, that is one cool piece. It's got some soul. And a hell of a story to boot!

How long ago did that cottonmouth get ya? Still limpin...crazy stuff! Luckily, the only snake that's ever got its teeth into me was just a common water snake. Besides, I was holding him in my hands, so I deserved it. I just put him back in the water with a "touché."

EDIT: That was on the Snake River! ;)
 
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Very nice work. :thumbup: I like the way you re-purpose materials you have on hand. Most people now days
call it recycling. When I grew up, here in the south, we called it "makin do with what you have". :D
 
IMWILSON, thanks, we recycle and re-use and anything burnable goes in the water stove. I grew up in the "make do with what you have" and it still amazes me how wasteful we have become...

Thanks M3mphis, it was 3 months ago and occasionally still swells up. I'd like to fish those big rivers out where you live..

Thanks jonnymac44, I have a great realjob. Cutting edge materials and tools. 100 hrs. a week during show season does get old though......Randy
 
I love the chopper Randy. I see why you kept this one. If things haven't changed too much since I left the "Old North State" almost 40 years ago, you have plenty snakes to chop and a wide variety to choose from. I had more trouble with copper heads than cottonmouths though. Again, a beautiful chopper and one of your very best.

Howard
 
Thanks Howard. Lovely Bride killed a copperhead at the chickens yesterday. You remember the Deep River at Central Falls. I've seen more moccasins there than anywhere on the east coast.They should be asleep soon........Randy
 
I don't run in to them too often here but when I do you have to keep your eyes open as you will most likely see more than a few in that same area.

Most people around here call every snake they see in the water a cottonmouth but most of them are just water snakes. They look nothing alike in my mind and I feel like once you see one you could never mistake it for anything else.

Snakes do not bother me much but the cottonmouth is a pretty nasty snake. Just about every other snake will go away from you when it hears/feels/sees you walking near it. Not these. They will stay right where they are or may even come toward you. Agressive, highly venomous and difficult to see makes for a bad combo.

Here are a few thick and nastys that did not get me. The biggest ones got away. I saw a few that day that would make me want a much longer handle on that knife!


cottonmouth.jpg
 
cotton mouth......real mean snake, I used to live on the river in south west louisiana, saw them there often enough, I personally only killed ont though.....with a 20 gauge

them things are mean as anything i have seen

i avoid them like a plague now....or in some friends cases, kill them
 
Nice collection Grafton.

Randy, I had forgotten how many moccasins were in that area. My mother-in-law and many friends worked at the mill there and told me about the snakes. I never fished that part of the river. I met a few in your neighborhood when I fished the river as a teen (usually right after my hair cut at Alec Nance Barber Shop). I also killed many up along the river in Randleman and on Pole Cat Creek. I don't miss those guys too much.

Howard
 
cottonmouth.jpg


Grafton my Brother, are those Virginia speed bumps? I'm thinking air strike for that size. You play safe with the homeland critters.....

That's the place Howard. That stretch of river is snake alley. That's how the bass got so big, snakes eat the fishermen.............Randy
 
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