Too many of these types out there. My employer housed an old family friend for months in their guest house behind his shop. She took everything she could and never gave back. Took half a year and then some to finally get her gone.
I have some good axes, all well used but kept up, like my dad I also make the handles for them so I kept a good piece of wood from the tree trunk in the pics to have on hand if another handle is needed. I have a couple more sentimental ones that I still use but less frequently than the other run of the mill easily replaced if lost or damaged models. My most favorite is a rather rare Blenkhorn Chief that was passed on to me, unfortunately the same guy that stole my knife also stole this axe. I knew it was him and that he fenced most of his stolen tools to a local bootlegger. I knew the bootlegger well and he would lie through his teeth if asked about any stolen and fenced stuff, I did question him up about the axe and he denied ever seeing or knowing about it. After his death I went straight there and found it among hundreds of illegally gotten other tools, knives by the hundreds but none were mine, was overly joyed to get my axe back. It was none worse for the wear, likely never used, it will not be going anywhere again as long as I live.
This year I would like to better setup my shop for woodwork. I have carved a few handles for smaller hand tools, and a hatchet once. I think I would thoroughly enjoy carving and shaping my own axe handles. Even gonna try to make a recurve bow.
We had used white ash for most all handles for striking tools, ash exclusively for Axe handles as it has some spring to it, it became very difficult to find good straight grain ash so my dad knowing much more about wood for handle making told me that yellow birch made fine handles but they would polish excessively from use making them dangerously slippery, carry a slip of coarse grade sandpaper to roughen up the handle when required. The tight grained yellow birch makes a tough handle. I myself have made some handles from tight grained rock maple, they have performed and lasted very well. We don`t have enough Osage orange or horn beam left around here for handle making, they did make good handles back in years past. I made a nice recurve bow back in the mid 60`s from a nice stick of horn beam, also called Osage orange it could be steam bent and put in a frame or mold to create the shape until it dried. Those are the only types of wood I have made handles from.
Hey Dan, what`s up? Did I hear that correct word, FREE!
Osage orange was the preferred wood for a lot of native American tribes. Makes for nice firewood too. I've got some rock maple and yellow birch around here I could try sometime. Ash would be nice. My boss uses ash exclusively for his outdoor wood boiler.
I get many an offer for free firewood. Only to find out that it's an enormous tree that needs to be climbed, limbed, felled, and bucked
Robin got suckered on a whole other country lolI get many an offer for free firewood. Only to find out that it's an enormous tree that needs to be climbed, limbed, felled, and bucked
Any fast growing wood does not make good handles, rather slow growing wood with close growth rings makes better/tougher handles. Oak does not make good handle wood as it is very porous and I could not comment on black locust as I have not seen that wood, doubt it grows here. I would really like to get a good straight bolt of ash, it works easy and it makes the best axe handles of all the woods I have seen and worked with. South of us a lot of hickory is used for handles, it`s ok but not any local so I guess it will be rock maple for my next go round.
Guess you musta…. Hardly a tree of any kind to been seen here. And I been looking….. just some kinda knarley scrub birch. Hard to grow much in straight volcanic soil…Robin got suckered on a whole other country lol
Polly not 1 stick to be seen since Jerry and I were there
They had to make long voyages to get some decent wood to build long boats from, they found some over in Labrador so I have read. This August past I was told in person that they even herded some back from Newfoundland, must have been a long slow trip.l
Guess you musta…. Hardly a tree of any kind to been seen here. And I been looking….. just some kinda knarley scrub birch. Hard to grow much in straight volcanic soil…
Wicked rugged looking rigs, just right for the terrain one has there. Ben out on the glaciers yet? Those sticks I see in the parking lot, in front of the rigs/vans, they look like drift wood.
The onboard air lines would get ripped off running them around here,in the woods roads.
lol ! Yeah I know but as you can see not much brush here to snag on!!!
