Axe

JShirley said:

Could you talk more about that, maybe in another thread? I've been a fan of big 5160 blades for over 20 years, since I discovered and grew to love Himalayan Imports khukuris.

John

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There is not a lot to say. I did not make it, although I hope to one day make my own axe. It is a Best Made axe that was a Christmas gift last year. I have been impressed with it. It has taken a knife sharp edge and with the slightly heavier head and felling axe geometry to the bit it has made a marked improvement in my felling capabilities compared to my old big-box store 3.5 lb axe.

Cool new Axe thread. I will add pictures of my other two axes tonight. It seems some areas old axes can be found anywhere. I have been looking locally for old axe heads both on Craigs list and Facebook market and at least here in North Alabama there are few old axes to be had.

Speedo66 said:

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A neighbor give me this axe, I believe it’s Russian.

The head shape is perfect, for me, to split wood, and it stays very sharp.

Here it is hanging out with its American friends, including a GI.

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What does the otherside of that axe head look like? Is it symmetric or is the other side completely flat?

Left to Right: Home Depot. Lakeside, Best Made Company.



The Hope Depot axe ~3.5 lb head was bought many years ago. It was originally on one of those yellow plastic handles with a fiber glass core but in limbing an ash tree I broke the epoxy loose. Hung it on a good old fashion hickory handle and it's been a workhorse for years since. Usually those cheap big box store axes have fat convex bits with horrible blunt edge geometry. This particular axe though, for whatever reason, has a fairly nice convex bit (as you would expect of a limbing axe) and with a fair bit of file work I was able to get a decent edge geometry. Takes a good edge and hold it decently for what I paid for it. The sheath is home made from some scraps of paneling. Cheap axe, cheap sheath.

The Lakeside was in my grandfathers garage for as far back as I can remember. It was always there with a split handle repaired with black electrical tape. A few years after his passing I manage to get it since no one else wanted it. Hung it on a new handle a few years ago. As I understand it Lakeside made axes for several of the larger hardware and department stored like TrueValue and Montgomery Ward. Given the number of other tools from Montgomery Ward he had I would bet that is where this axe is from. Made the sheath from scraps of leather.

My newest axe is a Best Made Company American pattern felling axe. 4 lbs head. Only had it since Christmas but I have used it a lot and am very pleased with it. Takes and holds and edge very well. The extra weight once I got use to it really makes a difference. The geometry is also slight convexed the way a felling axe should be (not fat like a cheap axe but slightly convex as it comes into the cutting edge) and it really does work better as a felling ax than my other single bit axe. The slight convex blade shape helps keep the bit from sticking in the cross grain and it also helps pop the chips out of the notch as you cut into a large tree or log.


The slightly concave blade of the Home Depot axe top and the slightly convex blade of the BMC axe on the bottom. The first tree felled with it was an 6-7 inch diameter poplar and I took it down in about 12 swings. The chips coming out of the cut where the size of a small sandwiches. Very satisfying. -rambling as usual

Boattale said:

These threads about felling axes make me thankful for my Farm Boss.

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I have my grandfather's (same that had the Lakeside axe in my previous post) late 70's era McCulloch 10-10. I rebuilt it two summers ago. It's a screamer for sure with no muffler just a spark arrestor.



That said there is something very satisfying (if a fair bit more tiring) about taking down a tree or cutting up storm debris with a good old fashion axe. When I go out to the hunting property to work the axe and loppers always go with me. The chainsaw only goes with me when I am planning on doing allot of tree work, like clearing food plots, trails, or cutting firewood. But the axe is always in the truck and I have had to use it to clear the right-of-way more than once and always enjoyed the work.

JShirley said:

When Byron Q was alive, I got in the habit of always taking a kukuri with me when I was hunting on the family land. That way, I could always take down a few "trash tree" saplings as I walked back from the stand, late morning.

John

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I take down a lot of sumac trees with my axe driving around the hunting property on the UTV. The sumac grows like weeds down here and loves to encroach onto the ATV trails. When they are green they also cut pretty easy. You can cut a 4-5 inch diameter sumac down fast with an axe, sort of makes you feel like Paul Bunnion... until you swing on that next hardwood tree.