Spent the afternoon cutting Oak

Using an axe every day all day long and getting a handle to last for a 1/2 year would convert into a lot of years for a homeowner splitting his firewood. I would think they got pretty good with accuracy and at saving their handles because a broken handle is time and money as they were often on piece rate.
 
I'm also wondering if the linseed oil will help to keep the wood more springy for shock resistance whereas the dry climate dries the wood out to where it is more prone to shatter.
 
Yankee Josh said:
I have often wondered, "how long did an axe helve, or hang, last a woodsman back in the day". And unfortunately no one seems to know.
I am of the opinion that that only lasted a couple months or maybe 3 months tops. That is being used all day, every day.
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Not the same trade so it's apples to oranges but when I used to build houses my framing hammer handles would last about 5 years. And I took very good care of my tools.
 
Ok, yesterday I loaded and stacked a 1/2 cord in the wood barn. Giving us 2 cord in it. I'm having difficulties post pictures from my phone.
Something I noticed is I'll sharpen the toe of my ax at twice the rate I sharpen the heel. On another cool day I'll bring a load into my porch for the wood box. This will give us close to enough for a normal winter. Yahoo! DM
 
Upon splitting few logs I found these wood bore larva. They always get in our curing oak. Then later emerge as an adult bore beetle. Large, with antenna and can fly. Do other ax men see these in your wood? They are the Califorina bore beetle. DM
20200802_124201.jpg
 
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20200802_211344.jpg Here is my Hults with the broke haft removed and ready for hanging.
Though it is marked '4'. It weighed 3 lbs. 12 oz. On a certified scale. I probably have removed 1-2 oz. shaping it over the years. The haft has 4 coats of linseed oil on it.
DM
 
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They bore in between the bark and trunk. In this manner they rob the bark of nutrients. The bark starts to slough off and the tree is done. We don't have
many of those. But a good cold winter will take care of those. And help to clean
the trees of mistletoe. My large bore beetles get deep and can survive. But my wood stove gets them later. Some of the challenges our forest face. Thats why we see ample dead wood laying about. DM
 
Plus, drought will weaken a lot of trees . I don't see these insects in our alligator
Juniper. Do some of you ax men have trees that can fight these critters off? DM
 
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