Titanium Axe... what say you?

I have never worn gloves when using a wood hafted tool. Wood to flesh for me.
Before some smart ass comments on the fact that in the "An Ax To Grind" video I wear gloves, I was forced to wear U S Forest issue gloves by a stupid Forest Service Safety Engineer who was part of the oversite crew for the video and manual.

When using a axe you want purchase.
 
jbmonkey said:
I do that using my chainsaw when taking apart big fallen tree. helmet with shield, steel toed boots, and chainsaw chaps/pants....no gloves though........😉
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Jokes aside, I cut wood to feed an outdoor wood boiler to heat my house/water in northern Michigan for nearly 10 years, from standing trees on my farm. In the winter that equates to one large mature tree a week it burns, I've cut, hauled, split more trees than most. I did use the safety chaps after several overalls got a little friendly with my saw, and a stihl helmet after I had a big tree fall in the woods and break in half and come back towards me and swipe the entire front of my body.

Some of the guys on here probably remember some of my posts and pics from then. With the exception of dead of winter where it got deep in the negatives (-60 with windchill) I didn't regularly wear gloves. I don't like losing my dexterity. Sacrilege, I know.

When I did use gloves, I had good luck with my Duluth gauntlets. Honestly, mitts are better in the real cold.
 
OK, I get it - gloves are optional.

That really wasn't the point of my original post but...oh well:confused:
 
Old Axeman said:
Mecha - I just watched your video with you using the the Ti axes. Before you try to convince anybody about the value of Ti for a axe you should work on your axe designs. You also need a LOT of work on your axe wood cutting skills.
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There were two videos. The "axes" were cut and shaped from plates, and one of them was under 3/16" thick at the most. I described them as "axe-shaped machetes" and never considered them as proper axes. They were basically experimental edged tools that are not comparable to anything else, but I had to pick a word.

You need a LOT of work on recognizing what you're looking at. Those models were for fun and testing, and will likely never be recreated again, ever, by anybody.

They cut trees and rounds easily with little effort, apparently according from you, from someone who doesn't even know how to use such a tool. Imagine if it was someone who was skilled.




Sibyrnes said:
I'm getting the impression that the videos posted here don't impress you. What, you don't run around in your backyard swinging an axe in the air like a fool? Or maybe you don't cut wood dressed in shorts, crocs, and no gloves?

Obviously a titanium axe isn't for you:rolleyes:.
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Are the crocs and shorts in the room with you right now? Check again. No "fool" could do that without risk of accidentally chopping his own leg with a big edged tool that is able to cut freestanding hard green bamboo stakes as if it was with a sharp sword.

Acting like what you saw is not effective and useful for cutting wood is outright delusional.
 
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Mecha said:
There were two videos. The "axes" were cut and shaped from plates, and one of them was under 3/16" thick at the most. I described them as "axe-shaped machetes" and never considered them as proper axes. They were basically experimental edged tools that are not comparable to anything else, but I had to pick a word.

You need a LOT of work on recognizing what you're looking at. Those models were for fun and testing, and will likely never be recreated again, ever, by anybody.

They cut trees and rounds easily with little effort, apparently according from you, from someone who doesn't even know how to use such a tool. Imagine if it was someone who was skilled.







Are the crocs and shorts in the room with you right now? Check again. No "fool" could do that without risk of accidentally chop his own leg with a big edged tool that is able to cut freestanding hard green bamboo stakes as if it was with a sharp sword.

Acting like what you saw is not effective and useful for cutting wood is outright delusional.
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but do you wear gloves?
 
Old Axeman is arguably one of the best known figures in the preservation of fundamental axe knowledge in the modern era. Mecha is a notable experienced craftsman with titanium edged implements. I think there's plenty of room for friendly discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of the material as applies to the tool class and a lot of real knowledge to be exchanged.

The single largest disadvantages to be said for titanium are cost and low resistance to abrasive wear, which relegate it to specialty applications when it comes to axes, but that doesn't mean real working tools that possess true contextual advantages over steel versions aren't very possible. It's just a matter of wrapping your head around the VERY different performance characteristics of the stuff to optimize geometry for it. A notable advantage is that it can be effectively and durably cast to shape, which unlocks some really incredible potential when it comes to complex geometries, and I'm very excited about that aspect. I find that form not only follows function, but that function can also follow form as a knock-on effect of optimization, and the push/pull between the two can lead to some very interesting places. As you optimize for one context of use with the given material it's possible for a form to emerge that is--by happenstance--very useful for another use that is other than the original intention, and with very little sacrifice to the efficiency in the original use case it can incorporate the other in such a way that what was once a somewhat narrow scope of application is now greatly opened up. In a space as under-explored as this one we're likely to encounter a lot of that, I think.
 
Old Axeman said:
I have never worn gloves when using a wood hafted tool. Wood to flesh for me.
Before some smart ass comments on the fact that in the "An Ax To Grind" video I wear gloves, I was forced to wear U S Forest issue gloves by a stupid Forest Service Safety Engineer who was part of the oversite crew for the video and manual.

When using a axe you want purchase.
Click to expand...
Back in the day when I framed with a rigging axe I used sap. Not all the time just when it was really hot and the sweat made the haft slick. There were probably better options, but when it got that hot sap was always available.
It would last a couple of hours.
 
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