The process of forming the axe inspired diresta

Upon ruining any existing blade temper-hardness with overzealous and impatient dry cutting with an angle grinder he's now left with a 'pretty-looking' letter opener, or nut cracker. That hatchet head may not have been valuable nor collectible but at least it was useful and had lots of life left in it before it was rendered into a 'toy'.
 
Maybe it is now light enough and hafted on twenty inch handle it can be secured with both hands and be wielded properly by the new proud owner.
 
Kenhtt, he does have some skills, so please don't take these reactions personally. But, it seems to me, every time he touches an axe (this is the second time I've seen it...), he never "respects" the tool, as others have pointed. So he goes from a humble, usable piece of steel, to a fancied up (debatable with some :) ) piece of now "dead" steel...
 
From the title, I thought he was finally doing something like forging an axe :).
 
Eh, I have no problem with it. It was a fun project for someone, and nothing rare or special was removed from the world. If someone likes it better in its current form I'm not offended.
 
jblyttle said:
Eh, I have no problem with it. It was a fun project for someone, and nothing rare or special was removed from the world. If someone likes it better in its current form I'm not offended.
Click to expand...

Sort of like reaming out a cheapie starter's blank pistol with a drill, with full expectations of creating a safely durable handgun!
 
SOme of you guys are being quite cynical... the guy has skills, patience and determination, he might not know everything there is to know about steel hardening/tempering, but he has skills and a guy can always learn, and we can help him so if we take the time to teach him, instead of making fun of his mistakes...
 
There's just a million guys cutting up old axes. Anyone can do it. Doesn't take any particular skill.
 
300Six said:
Sort of like reaming out a cheapie starter's blank pistol with a drill, with full expectations of creating a safely durable handgun!
Click to expand...

Not really.

How do we know what his expectations are anyway? Perhaps, and I know that I'm going out on a limb here, but perhaps his intention was to take a crappy old hatchet and make a cool project out of it. Perhaps, to satisfy no one but himself? I think that it doesn't have to be anything more than that.
 
Well, it's America, he's free to do whatever he wants, but I don't like it :P. Grumpy old man and all, I have even a t-shirt to prove it... :)

I'm also pretty sure he's shown some better skills in other of his projects. :)
 
Remzy said:
SOme of you guys are being quite cynical... the guy has skills, patience and determination, he might not know everything there is to know about steel hardening/tempering, but he has skills and a guy can always learn, and we can help him so if we take the time to teach him, instead of making fun of his mistakes...
Click to expand...

Had he done this using only hand tools (hacksaw, files, stones and sandpaper) I would have been impressed by his persistence. Then we could agree upon "skills, patience and determination". Plus he'd have discovered what blade temper is all about.
 
300Six said:
Had he done this using only hand tools (hacksaw, files, stones and sandpaper) I would have been impressed by his persistence. Then we could agree upon "skills, patience and determination". Plus he'd have discovered what blade temper is all about.
Click to expand...

Going to play devil's advocate here and ask to see picture of the last axe head that you heavily customised using hand and or power tool.
 
I thought it was some teenage boy useing his dads garage and tools. Those hands in the video could well be a girls or a young boys. You guys that think he is a skilled Craftsman must know something about him that is not apparent in that video.
 
Remzy said:
SOme of you guys are being quite cynical... the guy has skills, patience and determination, he might not know everything there is to know about steel hardening/tempering, but he has skills and a guy can always learn, and we can help him so if we take the time to teach him, instead of making fun of his mistakes...
Click to expand...

This particular forum has unfortunately turned to a constant stream of criticism of anything that doesn't fit in within the very narrow scope of traditional American axes used only for 'real work'...because otherwise you're not a real man or you're just silly, or something along those lines. As if spending hours online talking about one of the 100's of axes (bc you need that many) you have fits real well with the 1950's manly lumberjack image.

I remember the distinct point when the change hit me. I don't remember who it was, but someone classified Australians as kookie (or some such word) in order to dismiss the value of their entire heritage of axe design in comparison to 'superior American axe'. The absurdity was just too much to not slap you in the face.

ETA: The criticism could be productive if the tone wasn't always that of a "smart old man educating (dismissing?) a silly hipster".
 
Last edited:
Camber said:
This particular forum has unfortunately turned to a constant stream of criticism of anything that doesn't fit in within the very narrow scope of traditional American axes used only for 'real work'...because otherwise you're not a real man or you're just silly, or something along those lines. As if spending hours online talking about one of the 100's of axes (bc you need that many) you have fits real well with the 1950's manly lumberjack image.

I remember the distinct point when the change hit me. I don't remember who it was, but someone classified Australians as kookie (or some such word) in order to dismiss the value of their entire heritage of axe design in comparison to 'superior American axe'. The absurdity was just too much to not slap you in the face.
Click to expand...

As a new member I felt and feel the same sometimes but, to be honest, in this case, the whole point was somewhat different: taking a tool that probably had a heat treatment and annealing it "just because". Of course anyone is free to do as they wish with their hardware. I just hope the guy doesn't have unrealstic expectations regarding the resulting product, to be anything more than a wall hanger.

(Had any of the other designs worked so badly, Europeans would have died long before they settled in US - frozen, unfed, unsheltered :) and we wouldn't have any discussion today :). Now excuse me, gotta find some Nepalese to tell them how the kukri sucks for the work they use it for...puukkos are the next on my hit list! :) )
 
Even if he does have great expectations, he'll quickly learn when he tries to use it. And that trial and error is exactly how we learn.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top