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- Aug 28, 2010
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In "The Ax Book" and "Keeping Warm With An Ax", Dudley Cook gives a detailed explanation of why a straight handle is inherently more accurate than a curved handle.
In his example, a wrist pivot that's off by 5 degrees results in a deviation of 0.39 inches at the cutting edge for a straight-handle ax, and a deviation of 0.78 inches at the cutting edge for a curved-handle ax. This is illustrated with drawings from the book at:
http://axeconnected.blogspot.com/2011/02/straight-versus-curved.html
Beyond Dudley Cook's and Peter Vido's experience, it's interesting to note that Bernie Weisgerber,
author of "An Ax to Grind", write this in his book:
"...for single-bit axes you can choose either curved or straight handles. My personal preference is a straight handle..."
On the same page, Bernie Weisgerber lists his favorite as "straight octagonal slim taper", shown at the bottom of Figure 39 of his book:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/fspubs/99232823/page10.htm#basic
In his example, a wrist pivot that's off by 5 degrees results in a deviation of 0.39 inches at the cutting edge for a straight-handle ax, and a deviation of 0.78 inches at the cutting edge for a curved-handle ax. This is illustrated with drawings from the book at:
http://axeconnected.blogspot.com/2011/02/straight-versus-curved.html
Beyond Dudley Cook's and Peter Vido's experience, it's interesting to note that Bernie Weisgerber,
author of "An Ax to Grind", write this in his book:
"...for single-bit axes you can choose either curved or straight handles. My personal preference is a straight handle..."
On the same page, Bernie Weisgerber lists his favorite as "straight octagonal slim taper", shown at the bottom of Figure 39 of his book:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/fspubs/99232823/page10.htm#basic