So, what do you all do with them?

D

druid189

Joined
Apr 27, 2008
Messages
1,130
All these axes being bought, refurbed and re-hung.....are you all collecting them? Re-selling them? Sending them off in a Viking funeral?

I see all these threads about members getting these "deals" or finding "this" here and there.....then the 'before and after' pics......what do you all do with them?
 
I use 'em, plain and simple. I have a couple that are collection pieces, but the rest are all put to work earning their keep. :)
 
Only have two that are colection pieces: 1870s Hubbard and Blake, and an early Robert Dunn axe from the mid 1800s. Those aren't users, they're to look at. The other's are all users!
 
They all get used, but I admit some more than others. For example, I have some fallers profiled specifically for hardwoods that don't get much use, and a swamping pattern I'm thinking of getting rid of, but all get used at some point. I collect, but not for a museum.
 
I use and sell. I hate to sell most of my good refurbs, but it makes me enough money to move on and save another piece of history.
 
I use them for clearing trails and for splitting wood. Also for bushcraft and other fun around camp. Thursday I'm joining the Washington Trails Association on a 'Back Country Response Team' opening up a wilderness trail in the Olympic Mountains. It's all crosscut saw and axe work. No combustion engines allowed in the wilderness area. Because of the distance we're hiking in I'm downsizing to a boys axe for this trip. Plenty of axe for limbing and driving plastic wedges to keep the saw kerf open. We've got 350 trees to clear. We won't finish on this 4-day trip.

There's a profound pleasure in using a good axe for its intended purposes.
 
Both. I have some that aren't especially useful for my needs, some I have just because I like them, some I use, some I use more than others. Of the before and afters I post, many belong to friends who bring them to me for handles.

Here is a little bit of my "house wood pile" - the wood we keep near the house for the furnace, where most of my pictures take place.
craftsman_finished by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr
 
Square sounds like one hell of an undertaking y'all are tasked With. God's work though, kinda that's good for the body and mind.
 
I collect, restore and use vintage/antique tools and stuff. In the genes I guess, kind of a hoarder that way. But, I use a lot of it too. While I don’t have a lot of use for an axe where I live, I seem to have accumulated a garage full of them, regardless. Of the vintage axe, I like design, quality and unique personality they got from their makers and their users.
In my mind, every man needs an axe. I have many.
 
Square_peg, wish I was coming with you, I have just finished a couple of axes I would love to try on some of your wood, what are the main species you will be clearing?
 
Every axe I get I try to make it work a little better than when it came to me. I rarely keep any unless they are better than my chosen favourite bush axe. I keep around four boxes of racing axes with various grinds for different timbers, around 6 in each box. I don't keep any axe that will not be used.
 
well wow....::bewilderedface::...you guys really enjoy your axes.

I don't know if I should be envious or not.....the devotion you all share to a singular cause...I'm not a collector of anything, certainly not axes.

Nor do I have "deep woods" anywhere near me to even try to share the feeling.....

I mean sure I have one axe and one hatchet but rarely do I get to use them like you guys
 
I take one with me when I can to the local creek bottoms to have some peaceful/private fire time. Or I grab a couple and take the wife to the lake for a fire etc. My exotic trips are when I go far up north and get to use them in the Boreal forest........I'm not a lumber Jack, I just play one on TV. :D
 
Druid, imagine you are out one day and you stop by a little antique store. On the shelve they have a hunk of rusted and dented metal that is vaguely axe shaped. The asking price is 5 bucks, you chat up the owner, nice old guy, Had the store for 50 years. You get a little history lesson, and he says he'll let you have the axe for a couple bucks. You take home that gnarly mess, and after some light cleaning you can see a makers mark. You research and find out this axe is probably close to 100 years old, and very high quality. You spend a few days, maybe weeks, cleaning the head. you get all the rust off, you gently file out all the dents and dings. The axe looks almost New. You Are holding a piece of history in your hand, YOU brought it back the life, what was once a rusted useless chunk of metal is now a quality bit that will last not only the rest of your life, but if taken care of, your kids too. It is a hobby , and a point of pride. Go to any "colectors" forum and they will say versions of what you heard here. Old cars, guitars, thumbles, whatever.
 
ICS said:
Square_peg, wish I was coming with you, I have just finished a couple of axes I would love to try on some of your wood, what are the main species you will be clearing?
Click to expand...

Predominate trees in the area are Douglas Fir, Cedar, Hemlock, Maple and Alder. Gotta watch for the Hemlock - the knots are hard as glass.
 
I mostly refurbish and sell. It's a good hobby, and selling them brings in some pocket cash. I can polish up a little norlund head and sell it for what will buy me a dozen barn axes, even around here where axes are less common. I have a limit of three axes that live here (those that arent' on their way out) since we live in an apartment and have a little one moving about. There's just not enough safe space to store that many, nor that much space in general. I suppose a three axe limit would be insane for some of these guys.
 
3-4 times a year I journey back to the home town where my folks have property that borders a lake. 10 years ago it was heavily wooded. After strategic felling, limbing, and processing over the years, the job is mostly maintenance - they get used there.

The last three homes I owned were heated with wood. 1 just a shop furnace, 1 real fireplace/hearth, and 1 with an insert that was optional as it was primarily heated by gas. The home I am in now only has a gas furnace - new construction. Appreciate a good fire so I put in a pit. Have to feed it.



They get used after storms here. Windfall material this year has been a preoccupation. Clearing downed trees off the road, neighbor's fences, and from the road off the butte mostly.

Camping of course. Routine needs at camp and some minor bushcraft.

Firewood collection ends up relegated to my small chainsaw and a carrier then splitting rounds for the wood pile - sometimes on site, sometimes at home. Not a fan of splitting in the rain if I can help it.

I have yet to sell an axe I have refurbished but I have given some nice ones to close friends and family members.

Do they all get used? Not all of them. Do I appreciate all of them? Yep.
 
I'm lucky enough to own forestland so some of my axes get used. However with over 70 axes at last count most are in stacks or piles here and there. I did put a price limit on axe heads of $20 a few years ago which leaves me with a box of 20 nice heads still waiting to get hafted. I have sold and traded a few. Still there is something about putting a good handle on a nice old vintage axe head that just appeals to me, and it's difficult to stop completely. I don't consider it a collection, except my Hudson bay axes. Those I've tried to get every brand made.
 
I mostly use my axes, and I buy them based on my perception of their usability, but I will admit that I currently own far more axes than I can truly justify as "users". I do not buy axes based on their collectable status, but on functionality for the uses I put axes too. I have quite a few heads (20+) that I have never gotten around to hanging that sit in a bin in my shed. I have a farm, we heat with wood, and I enjoy green woodworking and rough carpentry. I also very much enjoy hand hewing, so almost all of my axes have been tested for their suitability for hewing.

But once I hang an axe I use it. If I like it I keep it. If I see an axe at a garage sale or a flea for under $10 I usually cannot resist buying it if there is any life left in it.

My preferences have changed, and I may end up moving some of my collection on to others. I have several double bits that I never use and I've come to realize that I don't like double bits in general, and never pick one up. So I should probably just get rid of my DB axes. I own a bunch of broad axes and side hatchets. Way more than I truly need, but I have used all of them. But realistically I don't need them all.

There are much more expensive hobbies, even if you are the type to buy mint Black Ravens on the bay and hang them with custom order House handles. I tend to buy no-namers or stick to local fleas and I make my own handles. Its a matter of what you want to do with your free time. I'd personally rather hang an axe than sit around playing candy crush or posting pictures of my lunch on Instagram.
 
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