What did you rehang today?

To be honest im not sure but I think not. I only really have tassies so there is not much I can compare to in terms of how the cheeks buldge but for instance my keesteel tassie seems to have a higher centerline than most of the others. I think some are convex but most are flat, any suggestions on how I can measure it for you?
Are all Tasmanian patterns flat cheeked?
 
take a picture looking straight down from the top of the axe. If an axe has a high centerline, you can see the center of the bit bulge out wider than the edge of the top. like my WWII AF&H hatchet


but this Diamond (made in china) axe has flat cheeks - though my picture is not good because i'm not looking straight down on it - its just the best picture I happen to have - wasn't taking the picture for this purpose.

 
Great thanks will be home soon so will take some photos comparing them
take a picture looking straight down from the top of the axe. If an axe has a high centerline, you can see the center of the bit bulge out wider than the edge of the top. like my WWII AF&H hatchet


but this Diamond (made in china) axe has flat cheeks - though my picture is not good because i'm not looking straight down on it - its just the best picture I happen to have - wasn't taking the picture for this purpose.

 
Are all Tasmanian patterns flat cheeked?

Here's the keesteel
ETGidAa.jpg

Kelly new Tasmanian
hmxP5NQ.jpg

Currently unidentified "Made in USA"
Dfl5utD.jpg

And a old Plumb Tassie
0fvUFXk.jpg


I don't have anything to compare to except eachother, but the keesteel seems to be the least flat, hopefully the photos convey it properly
 
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I hung my plumb tassie last week. I left the factory finish on the helve. I've since finished the mask. I trimmed it up so it looks cleaner and burnished the edges. It weighs 3lb 4.4oz. 30" S&N helve. Pictures aren't the best but I'm working every minute of daylight so these will have to do. :cool:
1EWosiR.jpg


yZC519n.jpg


1ckb2pi.jpg



6OjGGO5.jpg


X1AVeHD.jpg

I didn't want to make the top all shiny and mess up the finish so I left the tongue proud by an 1/8th this time.
FIPHeAQ.jpg

As I said before I cleaned up the lines and trimmed the mask. It looks a lot cleaner now than it does in this photo.
nq1dD9t.jpg


I'm very pleased with my first tasmanian pattern axe. I didn't think I'd like the lack of a poll. But I can tell she'll swing just fine. My hand is almost healed enough so I can go do some chopping and I can't frigging wait!
I do like the profile of a tassie. They are a cool looking axe in my opinion. What do you guys think? Take care!
Nu0C06i.jpg
 
I hung my plumb tassie last week. I left the factory finish on the helve. I've since finished the mask. I trimmed it up so it looks cleaner and burnished the edges. It weighs 3lb 4.4oz. 30" S&N helve. Pictures aren't the best but I'm working every minute of daylight so these will have to do. :cool:
1EWosiR.jpg


yZC519n.jpg


1ckb2pi.jpg



6OjGGO5.jpg


X1AVeHD.jpg

I didn't want to make the top all shiny and mess up the finish so I left the tongue proud by an 1/8th this time.
FIPHeAQ.jpg

As I said before I cleaned up the lines and trimmed the mask. It looks a lot cleaner now than it does in this photo.
nq1dD9t.jpg


I'm very pleased with my first tasmanian pattern axe. I didn't think I'd like the lack of a poll. But I can tell she'll swing just fine. My hand is almost healed enough so I can go do some chopping and I can't frigging wait!
I do like the profile of a tassie. They are a cool looking axe in my opinion. What do you guys think? Take care!
Nu0C06i.jpg

Dang! that is sweet
 
I hung my plumb tassie last week. I left the factory finish on the helve. I've since finished the mask. I trimmed it up so it looks cleaner and burnished the edges. It weighs 3lb 4.4oz. 30" S&N helve. Pictures aren't the best but I'm working every minute of daylight so these will have to do. :cool:
1EWosiR.jpg


yZC519n.jpg


1ckb2pi.jpg



6OjGGO5.jpg


X1AVeHD.jpg

I didn't want to make the top all shiny and mess up the finish so I left the tongue proud by an 1/8th this time.
FIPHeAQ.jpg

As I said before I cleaned up the lines and trimmed the mask. It looks a lot cleaner now than it does in this photo.
nq1dD9t.jpg


I'm very pleased with my first tasmanian pattern axe. I didn't think I'd like the lack of a poll. But I can tell she'll swing just fine. My hand is almost healed enough so I can go do some chopping and I can't frigging wait!
I do like the profile of a tassie. They are a cool looking axe in my opinion. What do you guys think? Take care!
Nu0C06i.jpg
Looks great it's hung so perfectly! I hope you enjoy it, any idea of the grind it has?

Btw since your more experienced what's your method for restoring vintage axes?
I'm thinking of using a wire brush and then oil but since there is so many I want to be sure first
 
Dang! that is sweet
Thanks man! I like it too. Kinda looks racy if you know what I mean.

Looks great it's hung so perfectly! I hope you enjoy it, any idea of the grind it has?

Btw since your more experienced what's your method for restoring vintage axes?
I'm thinking of using a wire brush and then oil but since there is so many I want to be sure first
Thanks for the compliment! This axe came with this finish. I'm not actually sure how they achieved that look too be honest. It was obviously soaked but then treated with some kind of oxidizer or treatment of some kind. While I like that finish on this axe it's not my usual nor my favorite.
There's many ways to clean up an axe head. The desired outcome will dictate your method. If an axe has a good coat of rust on it I'll use a wire wheel on a drill and pretty vigorously go over every square inch. Then I rinse and apply an oil with steel wool. And lastly coat in oil and then wipe off as much as I can. Leaves a very nice and old looking patina.
If I want a cleaner look and the head isn't very rusty I'll sand it wet at the sink till I like the way it looks. Then repeat with steel wool and oil.
You'll just have to play around with it till you find what finish you like. I like doing things by hand as much as possible.
You ask good questions and i look forward to seeing all those tassies you bought cleaned up and hung!:thumbsup:
 
Thanks so much for all the help I will give both ways a try. Hopefully I can start getting them done this week but I need handles still
Thanks man! I like it too. Kinda looks racy if you know what I mean.


Thanks for the compliment! This axe came with this finish. I'm not actually sure how they achieved that look too be honest. It was obviously soaked but then treated with some kind of oxidizer or treatment of some kind. While I like that finish on this axe it's not my usual nor my favorite.
There's many ways to clean up an axe head. The desired outcome will dictate your method. If an axe has a good coat of rust on it I'll use a wire wheel on a drill and pretty vigorously go over every square inch. Then I rinse and apply an oil with steel wool. And lastly coat in oil and then wipe off as much as I can. Leaves a very nice and old looking patina.
If I want a cleaner look and the head isn't very rusty I'll sand it wet at the sink till I like the way it looks. Then repeat with steel wool and oil.
You'll just have to play around with it till you find what finish you like. I like doing things by hand as much as possible.
You ask good questions and i look forward to seeing all those tassies you bought cleaned up and hung!:thumbsup:
 
Thanks so much for all the help I will give both ways a try. Hopefully I can start getting them done this week but I need handles still
I forgot you asked about the grind... Someone just filed a simple radial grind on it. They didn't keep it very consistent. It's 22.5° at the heel and thickens up to over 25° at the toe. But it does round down nicely and is sharp enough. So in light of the finish I'll give it a whirl the way it is. Though I'm sure I'll end up refiling it at some point. :) Good luck finding helves. Not so easy to come by good ones these days. That's why you have to hoard them... heehee
20200119_193152.jpg
I've got another half dozen by the fireplace and 153 (at least now) with axes on them. I might have a problem...;)
 
I forgot you asked about the grind... Someone just filed a simple radial grind on it. They didn't keep it very consistent. It's 22.5° at the heel and thickens up to over 25° at the toe. But it does round down nicely and is sharp enough. So in light of the finish I'll give it a whirl the way it is. Though I'm sure I'll end up refiling it at some point. :) Good luck finding helves. Not so easy to come by good ones these days. That's why you have to hoard them... heehee
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I've got another half dozen by the fireplace and 153 (at least now) with axes on them. I might have a problem...;)
That's insane! I have never seen so many. It's never a problem to you don't want more haha. Hickory handles are really expensive here in Aus unfortunately options are very limited
 
Looks great it's hung so perfectly! I hope you enjoy it, any idea of the grind it has?

Btw since your more experienced what's your method for restoring vintage axes?
I'm thinking of using a wire brush and then oil but since there is so many I want to be sure first

after you've done a few you will figure out what you like. Don't hesitate to try a few different methods and see how they turn out. I'm in the process now of rehanging some of the first heads that I hung, refiling others, etc.

and good luck on finding good handles! I think that is by far the hardest part. Getting both a handle with a good shape and that is a good length for me is tough. At some point I want to start making my own. I've found about 30" to be my sweet spot for full sized axes - but the shortest I can get locally is 32" which I can usually hang down to about 31", so that's what most of my axes are. There are a couple places that we can buy shorter handles here in the US, but I'm really picky about axe handles - and most new handles have a really crappy shape down in the grip to swell area. nobody except Link makes axes with an actual swell at the knob any more - others just constrict the grip too much and then have this weird narrow but tall swell at the end which doesn't feel good in the hand. Once you've used a really nice old vintage axe handle, you know how they are supposed to look and feel and work. Vintage axe heads get all the attention because of their superior quality to todays stuff - but I think handle form and quality has degraded at least as much if not more.
 
after you've done a few you will figure out what you like. Don't hesitate to try a few different methods and see how they turn out. I'm in the process now of rehanging some of the first heads that I hung, refiling others, etc.

and good luck on finding good handles! I think that is by far the hardest part. Getting both a handle with a good shape and that is a good length for me is tough. At some point I want to start making my own. I've found about 30" to be my sweet spot for full sized axes - but the shortest I can get locally is 32" which I can usually hang down to about 31", so that's what most of my axes are. There are a couple places that we can buy shorter handles here in the US, but I'm really picky about axe handles - and most new handles have a really crappy shape down in the grip to swell area. nobody except Link makes axes with an actual swell at the knob any more - others just constrict the grip too much and then have this weird narrow but tall swell at the end which doesn't feel good in the hand. Once you've used a really nice old vintage axe handle, you know how they are supposed to look and feel and work. Vintage axe heads get all the attention because of their superior quality to todays stuff - but I think handle form and quality has degraded at least as much if not more.

Yeah I would definitely agree, without ordering and paying a decent amount for shipping the best I can do is a 34" spotted gum handle for over $30. Sorry but that's bullshit they are so thick and not a great shape. It takes ages to thin them out but I don't have too many other options. I can get some for $17 online but then I have no choice of the grain so it's hard.

I honestly think making them is the way to go, for $6 I can get enough wood often for 2 and it's not like I don't have to do work anyway when buying.

The good thing about thick handles is you can customize them to suit you but I think they should come thinner, even if they leave enough on to customize it dosent have to be huge!

I am probably going to thin all my handles soon after using the old axes. My old brades and great grandfathers kelly both had thin handles and have turned out to be my favourite at the moment because of this.

Atleast if I'm making my own I have so many options too, compare the Basque and Tuatahi style of palm swells, work out the thickness I like, and last but definitely not least try some under 32" handles
 
That's insane! I have never seen so many. It's never a problem to you don't want more haha. Hickory handles are really expensive here in Aus unfortunately options are very limited
I just recieved a spotted gum haft all the way from Australia 2 days ago in fact! Along with another Plumb tassie and a Brades hatchet. I traded a couple things with a gentleman over there. I am really surprised at the weight of the gum. Easily outweighs hickory. Seems to be a solid and strong wood. I can't wait to hang it and try it out. I think it's going to vibrate a lot but that's just a hunch. The swell isn't wide but it's tall and there's plenty to hook your fingers in. The haft is a Kruger's brand. 32" is the length most tassies came on and I hear that's about all you can get in AUS. 32" is a great length in my opinion.
@Yankee Josh I see yours has the USA stamp also. Any signs of green paint? Not sure what options these came with for hafts but mine is on a 30" haft. The stamps are a different style and placement on the axes also.


No evidence of green paint on either. They are identical axes except one is stamped 45 for the weight and the other 42. The guy I traded with told me they came on 32" helves normally. I have to say I'm smitten with them! My connies are getting jealous! Hahaha
 
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