Snow & Nealley Hudson Bay axe, any good?

B

bob johnson

Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
14
I am looking for a good axe. Head under 2 lbs, around 24" long. While I have heard that Snow & Nealley makes a good product, I have not been able to find any information on how the heads are formed, steel used, differential hardness, bit hardness, and head taper. I do know that S&N was bought out from the original family recently. I requested that S&N send me a photo of the taper, but they have not responded. Does anyone know anything about this axe?
 
I don't have any of the technical info that you've asked for, but ...

I have a S&N Penobscot Bay Kindling axe, which has the very same head as the Hudson Bay Camping axe - just a shorter 18" handle rather than the 24" handle.

The blade is great, though I did have to do a little reshaping with a file and then a puck sharpener. Great for cutting and chopping.

I haven't had a chance to use it yet (very busy few months), but I struggle with the idea of splitting wood with this Hudson Bay style head. The reason is because it seems that the handle just below the head will get in the way when splitting. I've searched on the web for info on this issue, but haven't found anything about it.

I'd purchased the Penobscot axe in a kit with a small 3 lb "Mini Mall". I really like the little maul. Again, high quality. I didn't worry about the Penobscot axe shape too much since I figured I'd be splitting smallish wood with the maul instead of the axe.

Last week I purchased S&N's "Our Best" 3.5 lb 30" axe, and really REALLY like it. Again, I did a little sharpening with a file and sharpening puck first, but this is one really nice axe. The head is shaped more like the Hudson Bay axe than a wedge-shape - fairly narrow at the blade and then curving out to the handle. I like that shape.

The handle on the Penobscot axe is high quality, but a tad bit rotated from the preferred grain orientation. For a short-handled axe I'm OK with that.

The handle of the 3.5 lb axe is just as high quality wood, but this one is dead-on straight - just what I would have expected. I was hoping for that with the longer-handled axe.

If I could only have one ... I'd recommend the "Our Best" 3.5 lb head axe. Very nice! I suspect the smaller 2.25 lb 28" "Our Best" axe would be just as nice.
 
kenk, Thanks for your comments. I know the Penobscot and the Hudson Bay have the same head. Would you be willing to measure the width of bit's taper for me? I only need the width at 1" and 2" back from the toe. Thanks, Bob.
 
I just recently bought a Snow & Nealley Penobscot Bay/Kindling Axe.
I love it!This is by far the best made axe i've seen in years!
Its well finished, has nice straight grain and it is ground properly.
I'm used to having to do file work on a new axe but the S&N was ready to go out of the box.
I did touch up the edge a little though as during transport the edge sheared through one of the rivets in the leather sheath.
The leather sheath is the only downside, kinda minimalist and small.
but i can make a sheath so its not a bother to me.

I got mine from three rivers archery for $35, thats cheaper than what i paid for my Wetterlings 13 inch hatchet.
I love the Wetterlings but i had to do some file work on it when i got it.
 
bob johnson said:
kenk, Thanks for your comments. I know the Penobscot and the Hudson Bay have the same head. Would you be willing to measure the width of bit's taper for me? I only need the width at 1" and 2" back from the toe. Thanks, Bob.
Click to expand...

5/32 thickness 1 inch from the toe, 9/32 thickness 2 inches from the toe.
 
I have two snow and nealley 24" hudson bay axes I bought one new, and the other used at a fleamarket. Both of them are great. From the factory the edge was sharp on the one I bought new, but it was not optimal for chopping. I spent a few hours carefully working with a grinder, some files and sand paper, to convex and polish the blade. It chops great now and can easily cut a 2.25" thick seasoned pine limb with one blow, and preforms well at splitting. For the price it is a great ax, and I use mine alot while camping, and hunting. joe
 
I'm a bit ignorant of the axe head part terms, but I think I'm doing this right:

I'm measuring width at the very top (away from the handle) starting from the sharp edge. All values are in mm's. The first number is the distance from the toe to the width measurement (the second number):

5 2.8
10 3.8
20 4.4
30 5.8
40 7.1
50 9.0
60 11.8
70 14.6
80 17.6
90 21.4
100 23.9
110 25.6
120 27.4
130 27.9
140 27.2
150 25.3

The belly of the blade is about 13 mm forward of the toe (the 0 mm point at the top of the head). The length of the top of the head is about 157 mm. The blade itself is 96.4 mm long. The head is 45.1 mm long at the handle. The decrease in length from the blade to the handle area length is pretty linear (straight) across the bottom of the head, stopping at about the 60 mm point (usng the top measurement) and then having a fairly constant length going to the back of the head.
 
Thank you tholiver, and especially kenk for your exceptionally detailed survey of the head. I will use all that information. You guys are great. I'd like to hear from some users who have really pushed this axe, and possibly abused it, and how the edge held up. In other words how good is the steel?
 
I am almost embarassed to tell you that the 3.5 lb "Our Best" axe can be sharpened sufficiently that I sliceed open a finger while oiling the blade when I was done. It is VERY sharp.

I have some cheap axes I use for my son's Scout troop, and no matter what I do I just can't seem get those that sharp.
 
Since chainsaws hit the market, quality axe makers have fallen one by one like so many fine trees. It is a vanishing market, with cheap off shore junk now predominating. Snow & Nealley was bought out and now they do not respond to emails. This is not just me, other people have reported the same thing. That pretty much eliminates the Lifetime Guarantee--which would require responding to customers. I also hear that their axe handle wood is the bottom of the barrel, and poorly fitted to the head. From what you said it sounds like the steel is still good enough to take an edge.

I asked about the quality of the steel, but what I meant was how does the edge hold up under hard use--more a function of temper.
 
Bob, both of mine are at least 4 years old. That said the handles are good quality on both of them, although I did sand the factory finish off and oil them. I have used them for felling a few times on trees over 9" thick including some hardwoods. They hold a good edge. I also have used them in the dead of winter at 0 degrees F and they held up well even though one was thined out quite a bit. joe
 
Splitting with the S&N Hudson's Bay is a good way to ruin a handle. The lower portion of the beard is narrower than the wood right behind it. The bit goes in and the wood splits, but not wide enough for the handle to clear and it bangs the round. If you only use the top half of the bit this doesn't happen but that's not easy to do consistently and on bigger stuff just isn't effective anyway. Good chopper, not good for splitting.
 
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