Vaughn half ax

[woodybushman]

I could'nt pass up on this when i was wandering home depot today....... a Vaughn hammer/ax with flame treated hickory handle......

perfect for backpacking and camping, hammer for pounding in tent pegs, or building stuff in the boonies, and a hatchet on the other side for cutting wood etc.

cheap $$$ (but lifetime warranty) and very well built. the ax side needed some careful filing to turn into a sharp edge.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

You can at times find interesting things in hardware stores, Jim Aston had a nice page/post on turning a really cheap hardware store axe into a nice bushcraft tool. The above looks solid, the straight edge I would curve a little with a angle grinder for most wood work.

-Cliff

 

[woodybushman]

would you recomend a curve towards the back or front? i have access to a water cooled grinder with a soft stone......

i'm also going to make a custom leather sheath, and add a lanyard hole near the back of the handle.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

For both smoothness of cut, and durability of the face of the axe, the profile should be a gentle arc with the extreme ends of the edge (the heel and toe of the bit), being behind the middle of the face. Such as :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/images/gb_wildlife_hatchet.jpg

-Cliff

 

[woodybushman]

Thank you very much, that is great info!!!!!

 

[woodybushman]

UPDATE:

been torturing this ax/hammer and by darn it is a sweet setup!! went camping with some mates, and pounded in 12" steel spikes for the tarps into rocky/tough ground with ease with the hammer, then proceed to make a large pile of fire wood from downed trees with the ax side.

its found a permanent place in my truck now.