Time for a video thread!

thechuck

thechuck

Joined
Apr 4, 2007
Messages
71
So, I've mentioned it a few times. Here's putting my camera where my mouth is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgKjdWf1T_Q

Grabbed two work axes and a training axe, grabbed a nasty piece of basswood - full of knots, too small to really train on - and hit it a few times on camera. Just nice easy swings, about 50-60% effort. Just saw this as a way to get a chopping video thread going. Pic below shows a top view of the log at the end, for a bit of scale. Please share some vids of your tools in action!

IMG_1590.jpg
 
Nice man!
The way how you used axe scares me..I mean fatigue is huge in that position:thumbup:
 
TheChuck:

At a seminar at Pricketts Fort, years back I was asked what training methods 18th & 19th century people used to become proficient with the tomahawk? The fact is most did not, My friend I think you just demonstrated it. Bottom-line: People had to do this every, single day just to cook, keepwarm, or wash clothes. It is amazing how these simple day-to-day tasks translated into a someone defending thier home. Thanks for the idea. Nice cutting.

Best
Dwight
 
TheChuck,
Thanks for the video, you make it look easy and I know its not...
 
Man, I know it isn't, but it almost is like those cheesy kung-fu flicks where they add artificial WHOOSH noise on every kick.

Nice work.
 
Noshtero said:
Man, I know it isn't, but it almost is like those cheesy kung-fu flicks where they add artificial WHOOSH noise on every kick.

Nice work.
Click to expand...

HaHa. Exhale on the swing, just like when lifting weights. If you see other vids I've posted on my youtube account, I always do that. I swear, it's less pronounced and annoying in person. The camera seems to accentuate it.

ishiyumisan: I am sorry, but I am a little confused by your comment. Would you expand a bit? If I sound exhausted, it's because I had just finished up a big practice session. As to the position, that is certainly the least fatiguing position to use for bucking a log with an axe.

And thanks to the others for positive comments.
 
In my mind,I thought that position must be really tired...Because I have never tried!
I was wondering if the log is next to you "not Under foot" Which difference makes?
I am not an expert in the field, just asking?

good video:thumbup:
thanks still:)
 
i thought it was interesting how your performance got better on the third axe even though you were more fatigued. is it because the racing axe is a better performer or just more experienced with it?

thanks for the video.:cool:
 
crossada said:
i thought it was interesting how your performance got better on the third axe even though you were more fatigued. is it because the racing axe is a better performer or just more experienced with it?

thanks for the video.:cool:
Click to expand...

The difference was all the axe, although I am more experienced with it. The difference comes from the fact that the axe has a narrower profile, the axe is longer and the head is ~ 1.5 lbs heavier than the larger of the two axes I used before it. When I said I was tired, I didn't mean from that log. The chopping you saw was just a little walk in the park, after the training I had been doing.

Here is a video with portions of my training from earlier in the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUWD-3DqYH8

The slow sections in that video are for me to carefully analyze my technique. There is no way to do so at full speed.
 
ishiyumisan said:
In my mind,I thought that position must be really tired...Because I have never tried!
I was wondering if the log is next to you "not Under foot" Which difference makes?
I am not an expert in the field, just asking?
Click to expand...

It is easier to cut two clean faces from on top of the log. Basically, you can hit the whole of two completely opposite faces. It is probably easier and definitely safer to learn by standing next to the log. However, in that case, both faces rotate up towards the top of the log, and more chopping, plus some log rolling is necessary to sever the block.

It's all a bit academic, really.

There is NO REASON to chop a two foot block in half by nailing it into a little metal stand, chopping footholds onto the top, and racing through it with an axe. I used a chainsaw to make the block. If the point was to make it half as long, I'd have used the chainsaw for that too. When I do traditional tool work in the woods, I usually buck logs to length with a saw, as did most old-time loggers, once saws were invented. Axe-bucking is rarely used for WORK, but it is a big part of the SPORT, so that is what we do.
 
so Chuck is the KEENKUTTER an E.C. Simmons or a Shapliegh's?

I don't know alot about chopping, but do you Power Chop. if there is such a sport where you and an oppennent each take a swing at a time and the one through the block with the least swings, Wins. Or do you go for speed?

In competion do they use pine or basswood?

Just some question, good videos:thumbup: anyday you count to 21 is a good day.:) Pat
 
omniviking said:
so Chuck is the KEENKUTTER an E.C. Simmons or a Shapliegh's?
Click to expand...

E.C. Simmons, I'm pretty sure. No stamp on it either way (just Keen Kutter) but I did the research on the stamps once, and figured it was a Simmons.

omniviking said:
I don't know alot about chopping, but do you Power Chop. if there is such a sport where you and an oppennent each take a swing at a time and the one through the block with the least swings, Wins. Or do you go for speed?
Click to expand...

There are events called "Hard Hit" events. In those, number of hits wins, with time used as a tie-breaker. (8 hits in a month beats 9 hits in 5 seconds). Most shows are based on speed, however, with no regard (or record) of number of hits used.

omniviking said:
In competion do they use pine or basswood?
Click to expand...

Most competitions I have gone to are pine or aspen. Different parts of the country (and world) have different tendencies when it comes to species and size of wood.
 
Hey I went to an auction today and bought a KEENKUTTER double bit axe for $7, It just Says keenkuter kinda like the old Winchester lightning script and under that it say made in the USA. What a bargain, never even hardly used for more than some splitting by the looks of it. Pat


P S, Chuck on your Youtube Vid's there is one in your basement with bowsaws, How long is the big green machine? That looks like fun.

Let'er Rip Tater Chip, Pat
 
omniviking said:
Hey I went to an auction today and bought a KEENKUTTER double bit axe for $7, It just Says keenkuter kinda like the old Winchester lightning script and under that it say made in the USA. What a bargain, never even hardly used for more than some splitting by the looks of it. Pat


P S, Chuck on your Youtube Vid's there is one in your basement with bowsaws, How long is the big green machine? That looks like fun.

Let'er Rip Tater Chip, Pat
Click to expand...

That's the same stamp that is on the Keen Kutter I showed in the vid. Auctions, flea markets, antique stores - those are the places to get great tools, and great deals on great tools

All of the bow saws in my basement are pulp/racing size. That is, they take a 42" blade and are 48" overall. Bow saw frames are one of the hardest pieces of timbersports gear for me to find. Barring double arm amputation, I will never let go of any of those frames. If anyone on the site EVER finds one used, at auction, or has one hanging in their shed that they don't use, PLEASE let me know. If it is straight, I want it.

Incidentally, the green machine is no longer, uh, green. It was in need of a new paint job after I had a new lever ring welded on. It will be coming back to life in a different shade, I think. I'll show a pic when it's done.
 
thechuck said:
The difference was all the axe, although I am more experienced with it. The difference comes from the fact that the axe has a narrower profile, the axe is longer and the head is ~ 1.5 lbs heavier than the larger of the two axes I used before it. When I said I was tired, I didn't mean from that log. The chopping you saw was just a little walk in the park, after the training I had been doing.

Here is a video with portions of my training from earlier in the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUWD-3DqYH8

The slow sections in that video are for me to carefully analyze my technique. There is no way to do so at full speed.
Click to expand...

LOL Nothing like a little Rammestein while hacking away at stuff with an axe.
 
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