Thanks for easing my concerns. I think I am done with the metal wedges. I had trouble on my other hang with space at the front of the eye, I'm hoping my next one goes a lot better.
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Vintage Axe worth restoring? (no name)
- Thread starter Grimalkin
- Start date
Thanks for easing my concerns. I think I am done with the metal wedges. I had trouble on my other hang with space at the front of the eye, I'm hoping my next one goes a lot better.
Exactly. Start swingin!
Yup, put it to use and don't give the split a second thought. I've seen plenty of GB axes with the same, it's to be expected when using a metal wedge.
Looking forward to your impressions on this one after putting it to use. I know you had your doubts early on, but I'm still convinced it will be a good all around user.
Looking forward to your impressions on this one after putting it to use. I know you had your doubts early on, but I'm still convinced it will be a good all around user.
Well I can't leave you all unsatisfied
Firstly, I decided to put a 21" handle on her. I cleaned all the rust up and sharpened her up real nice. You can tell by the picture that she had significant cheeks when I sharpened her.
Took it out back today and I split some camp type size firewood (dry) just to see how well she split, and yes as expected, she is a splitting machine. This is probably the best camp axe you can buy, its a little less than 2 lb head (I think 1.9lb when I weighed it), so it has some heft for splitting those types of pieces. Very little effort to cleanly split dry wood (not too large though as it is kind of a small axe). You can split with 1 hand easy enough, but trying to cross grain chop with 1 hand is difficult. It can be done, but I wouldn't want to do it for more than 30 seconds.
We have a fallen Spruce (I think) that got uprooted in the last windstorm we had over here on the Pacific Northwest. I've been using it to hack up, its very green so keep that in mind. I did a 3 swing chop test to see how deep she would bite. And she chucked up a decent size chunk. The high centre line really helps push out the wood.
I am just a recreational user by all means, but she is very capable. I am actually giving this to my brother in law, he goes camping quite a bit with his family, and uses his axe at camp soley for splitting camp fire wood. His current axe he says has a flexible handle
not sure what that means, but he says is flexes when he takes down strokes...sheesh. So I decided to make a little gift for him since I know he'll never replace his piece of junk axe. This is reason I was worried about the crack in the eye, but I think all will be okay.Square_peg
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We have a fallen Spruce (I think) that got uprooted in the last windstorm we had over here on the Pacific Northwest. I've been using it to hack up, its very green so keep that in mind. I did a 3 swing chop test to see how deep she would bite. And she chucked up a decent size chunk. The high centre line really helps push out the wood.
Great looking grind on that axe and the proof is in the putting. It cuts.
That was one heckuva wind storm last week. We had hurricane force winds in a neighboring community. Only got to around 60mph here.
Yes it was! I am up in greater Vancouver, this was a 50-60' tree that fell down.
Now I'm starting to think I should keep this thing!! I've Made it for a gift...I've made it for a gift..I've made it for a gift...
Any of you made a gift axe and then wanted to keep the darn thing?
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I contracted a custom made knife to give to the executive producer of the PBS series Frontier House. It was so nice I kept it and gave him another knife by the same maker as I had told the maker, who was excited, that the producer was given one of his knives. Sounds like you already have a connection with this axe, I would keep it. If you have a void again just fill the void with a small wedge and dont use a metal wedge. I never use glue of any kind. Nice axe.
Good to see it worked out for you. The proof certainly is in the pudding ;-) nothing like a good axe.
As for the gift question, I picked up a WWII hatchet head specifically to restore for a friend a little while ago. Now that I've got it cleaned up and sharpened up I really like it. It's going to be hard to let it go, but it will be going to a deserving person who will appreciate it. Now I just need to hang it.
As for the gift question, I picked up a WWII hatchet head specifically to restore for a friend a little while ago. Now that I've got it cleaned up and sharpened up I really like it. It's going to be hard to let it go, but it will be going to a deserving person who will appreciate it. Now I just need to hang it.
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Yes, yes, and no. I have made gifts of most of my restores. Family members, co-workers, my wife's friends, and neighbors. (the neighbors because they keep borrowing my tools and just because I have a bunch of sharp stuff doesn't mean I want them cutting roots in river rock...)
All them are good tools that I put my time into as if my plan was to keep and use them myself.
You obviously spent some time making the profile on that little guy really quite nice and know that it is a winner when it comes to work.
I bet if you gift it to your brother in law you won't miss it that much - like when you have puppies and they go to people you know will treat them right.
That's pretty subjective on my part but if you can do what you took pictures of there, ask yourself if your brother in law would/could do same for himself.
You can always visit her at holidays
haha oh man, ain't that the truth! The only connection I have to this one is that it was my first "vintage" buy at some old barn down the street when I had no clue what to look for. The profile of the axe is not ideal for what I want, and the weight is too much for what I am looking for in this size axe. But I like how it performs after working on the grind a bit, it surprised me.
And no, my bro in law would likely never ever buy a vintage head and re-handle it, and spend the time needed to sharpen it (but lets be honest, we all do this because we love it). He bought a $10 store axe with a flexible handle, and has been using it for 3 years now and complains about it all the time. This is my second hang, I just hoped I could have done a better job for a gift, I hope it doesn't come loose.
Thanks for coming out to this thread all, hopefully there'll be many more! I think I found a plumb hatchet head that is exactly what I am looking for weight wise, and profile.