The balance of an ax

[Woodcraft]

Claims have been made to the "balance" of American felling axes. Claims have been made that a plumb line will fall in front of the eye on most American axes. Claims have been made that the Council tool Classic Jersey has perfect balance. Claims have been made that there is no such thing as "perfect" balance. I am not naming names.
I am putting these pictures here because I said I would. Quite some time ago. Then forgot. I will be labeling the pics in a min......
Handle shapes are different and effect balance so take it as you will


Kelly perfect Jersey. Very good heel to toe. Handles like a dream. Could use more "cheek" in my opinion. (For what I use it on)4lbs

Plumb Victory Michigan. Bit heavy. Typical for a Michigan. 3.5lbs

4lb beat up Plumb with phantom bevels. Amazing balance.

Collins homestead Dayton. 3.5 lbs. Bit heavy. Typical for a Dayton.

Fulton 3.5 Michigan. Great balance for a Michigan.

3.5 Council Classic. Anyone who says this has perfect balance is either full of it or does not understand ax balance. Period. Bit heavy. 3.5lbs

Clear-cut 3.5lb double bit. Perfect balance. Obvious.

These plumb line shots speak for themselves.
Kelly perfect.......

Plumb 4 lb

Clear-cut

Council

Fulton. Both the head,(balance and geometry) and the handle made this axe an excellent preformer. Especially balance as it is a Michigan. I was truly surprised by this one.

Collins Dayton. This was a 32 inch handle.

 

[Square_peg]

I wonder how the haft is contributing to that balance. Here are some results I found earlier.
These are all un-hung axes.

For the sake of this thread I just tested this on 5 axes. I rolled a dowel under the axe head until I located the tipping point. Here's where I found the balance points:

5 lb. Plumb rafting axe - 1/4" inside the front of the eye
4 lb. Stiletto Michigan with eye ridges (likely a True Temper) - 1/4" inside the front of the eye
3.5 lb Craftsman single oval Michigan - 1/4" inside the front of the eye
5 lb Warren Old Faithful - 3/16" inside the front of the eye
5 lb Walters rafting axe (the one with the massive eye walls) - right at the front of the eye

I was surprised that the balance on the Plumb wasn't further back.

 

[Woodcraft]

I wonder how the haft is contributing to that balance. Here are some results I found earlier.
These are all un-hung axes.

I had an incident some handles warped. So some of these are off handle now. I will do some head only balance pics later. But If I remember that Collins Dayton is a horror show on a pencil and in the hand. I would have to say the haft contribution is significant in both poll to bit and hang. Food for thought.

 

[rjdankert]

Claims have been made to the "balance" of American felling axes. . . .

Bob

 

[Curt Hal]

There's an axe in that photo?

 

[phantomknives]

i'v found a good mix of control and power is about 2.5 inches back from the bottom of the poll. on the other hand, i have a 4 pound flint edge thats balanced just behind the ears, hard to say what the old timers liked

 

[Woodcraft]

S Square_peg , I wonder how those examples fell into the balanced spectrum to begin with. They all seem to be notably bit heavy patterns, yes?

I wonder how the haft is contributing to that balance. Here are some results I found earlier.
These are all un-hung axes.
5 lb. Plumb rafting axe - 1/4" inside the front of the eye
4 lb. Stiletto Michigan with eye ridges (likely a True Temper) - 1/4" inside the front of the eye
3.5 lb Craftsman single oval Michigan - 1/4" inside the front of the eye
5 lb Warren Old Faithful - 3/16" inside the front of the eye
5 lb Walters rafting axe (the one with the massive eye walls) - right at the front of the eye

I was surprised that the balance on the Plumb wasn't further back.

I find with "later models" like the Collins cheeks and any forethought of balance are absent. I would be willing to step out on a limb and say that axes also tend to be more bit heavy as they gain weight inside the same pattern time period and maker.
I think the 3.5 to 4lb single bit is probably the butter zone in American felling patterns when geometry and balance mattered.

 

[Woodcraft]

i'v found a good mix of control and power is about 2.5 inches back from the bottom of the poll. on the other hand, i have a 4 pound flint edge thats balanced just behind the ears, hard to say what the old timers liked

I would imagine this is what they liked. While "what you like" would be dependent on what you were swinging it into all day and the tasks at hand.......

All things being equal balance means that this feels like you are swinging a teacup and accuracy is improved, compared to an equivalent single bit that has "good" balance you can feel the improvement. And add the long day of hard work and I imagine that small improvement becomes larger. That small ease of swing becomes a relief. You can only bull for so long. I know, I have done it. I'm sure most of us have. Then at some point you learn to let the tool do more of the work. If you know what I mean.

 

[Old Axeman]

To me the answer to axe balance is a moving target, it completely depends on what you are trying to accomplish with the axe--felling, bucking, firewood splitting, rail splitting, hewing, corner notching cabin logs, etc. I also think that wild shaped hafts that are made to "balance" certain head patterns (poll less axes being one), are a complete waste.

 

[Woodcraft]

To me the answer to axe balance is a moving target, it completely depends on what you are trying to accomplish with the axe--felling, bucking, firewood splitting, rail splitting, hewing, corner notching cabin logs, etc. I also think that wild shaped hafts that are made to "balance" certain head patterns (pole less axes being one), are a complete waist.

Well said.

I tend to speak about the first three (and limbing and "root work") when I am talking about balance. And would completely agree that the goalposts can be in different time zone even when comparing those tasks individually.

I think if you take my statements on balance to start start at Felling and end splitting and do everything in between with the same ax, one would understand better what I am getting at.

 

[phantomknives]

View attachment 699895
at some point you learn to let the tool do more of the work. If you know what I mean.

yeah, that 4 pound flint edge you had to throw and force where you wanted, add an off center head and it quickly became a wall hanger for me, on the other hand, i had a 3.5 council out there that was slightly handle heavy, if you understand trailing mass, its like a laser. im fairly new to this game, i only really started taking it seriously around october and i'v picked up a lot since then, i still remember using a 5 pound connie because it was my best chopper, now with its monstrous handle, its like a sharpened club. my kellys saved me from being just another poser that thought he new what he was doing.

 

[Square_peg]

S Square_peg , I wonder how those examples fell into the balanced spectrum to begin with. They all seem to be notably bit heavy patterns, yes?

The three 5-pounders are all rafting axes with large heavy polls. The Plumb has a long poll. I expected its balance to be different. The rafting pattern does have a long bit and I'm sure that's effecting balance.