Axe gallery!

[Lister]

I have nothing that can compare to the works of art above, just mostly old heads that I've sharpened and rehafted. I usually tape a strip of leather to the leading edge of the handles, and, well, they won't get lost in the leaves or snow or be mistaken for anyone else's:

You sure these aren't Mr Fenna's axes?

 

[mountainm]

Mine

 

[heath]

Thanks Samon, Hope I am not clogging up your Gallery too much! Heath- I will go and have a look at your blog. In general I agree that for its weight (400g) a cutting edge of 61/2" is excessive. But in practice it was never a problem, the beard didn't get in the way and I used most of the cutting edge, it never felt overly light either. As I say though happy accident as there was no conscious forethought applied!

I hope my comment didn't come across as a criticism, I apologise if it did Nic, from what I've seen of your work, I'm a big fan. i guess it was just a reflection on the way that I use an axe to carve. I can see how it could be quite useful for flattening a board and how the longer bit would be an advantage. Anyway, my postulating is really irrelevant as you've actually used it and it works.

I'm not sure about the Stefan Ronnqvist axe being based on a Gotland find, but I think I've heard that it's based on one that dates from the 10th century.

 

[nic.]

No problem at all Heath, funny thing is I carved the hazel handle for it with my favourite small axe ( I'll get some more pictures up soon) and found it excellent. Then I carved the handle shown with the bearded axe, at first it felt awful, I was gripping it too tightly and it hurt my hand. But after a while I got the hang of it and found the ash really nice to carve. I then reverted to my small axe thinking it would be sublime in such easy to carve wood. A succession of miss-hits followed and blade felt much too short! Have yet to try the bearded one on a spoon blank though.

 

[heath]

Thanks Samon, Hope I am not clogging up your Gallery too much! Heath- I will go and have a look at your blog. In general I agree that for its weight (400g) a cutting edge of 61/2" is excessive. But in practice it was never a problem, the beard didn't get in the way and I used most of the cutting edge, it never felt overly light either. As I say though happy accident as there was no conscious forethought applied!

I've just re-read the figures that you gave Nic, 400g, Wow! i thought that it was bigger than that from the photo. That's almost half the weight of my Stefan Ronnqvist axe. I've often looked at Svante Djarv's little carving axe, which is the same weight at 400g. For someone that does carving as a hobby, and therefore doesn't build up the required muscle set, the GB carving axe can be a little bit too heavy and even the lighter axes like the SR or Svante's little Viking start to wear you after a bit. The GB wildlife axe (also referred to as the large carving hatchet now) is the same at 400g, but doesn't have the length of bit, beard or upsweep that i like in a carving axe. maybe your design is perfect to fill that gap.

 

[Samon]

Mine

Anymore on that axe dude? is it a hawk?

 

[mountainm]

Anymore on that axe dude? is it a hawk?

Aye - it's a Talabot 33, a Biker special. Makes a great little carver.

 

[johnbaz]

Hi all

I have a couple more but no pics of them...

L to R

Plumbs 1942 US army axe

Spear & Jackson (can't remember the weight but it's not heavy..

Swift, also Sheffield made as is the S&J

No makers marks on the last one..


Have this too but i'm unsure if it's an axe or a roofers hammer/axe of some kind..

I bought this at an auction, was told waht it was over on BB but i've forgotten!, I do recall that these types of weapons were for fending off some wild animals in a european country, that's about it!

The one above is I think just a tourists trinket as the head is aluminium!


John

 

[Samon]

I'd say that is a walking stick/pig beater! wild pigs and boar are vicious little buggers and you'd best be prepared if you came across one that didn't runn away.

Nice lot though dude, I particularly like the one with US stamped on it!

 

[santaman2000]

Johnbaz, on the Army axe, is the Plumb logo still as legible as the US markings?

 

[Hugo]

Johnbaz, the S&J head is I think a 1.1/4 I have one and it is a great little axe.

 

[Lister]

Will get mine on once i've got the labels off the handles, whats the best way to do this you reckon? hate it when a label doesn't come off in 1, steam it?

 

[sycamour]

Dave, my SFA, is also marked MM! must of been a good year?.

 

[Samon]

Will get mine on once i've got the labels off the handles, whats the best way to do this you reckon? hate it when a label doesn't come off in 1, steam it?

steam or white spirits

Dave, my SFA, is also marked MM! must of been a good year?.

mine too!

 

[maddave]

Dave, my SFA, is also marked MM! must of been a good year?.

MM is Matthias Mattesson. He makes quite a lot of the SFA's. Like LP Lars Pattesson mainy does the mini hatchets.

 

[heath]

I've just finished a review of the Stefan Ronnqvist axe on my blog if anyone's interested:
http://holtheathwoodentreen.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/axe-file-number-3-stefan-ronnqvist.html

 

[Dave]

I've just finished a review of the Stefan Ronnqvist axe on my blog if anyone's interested:
http://holtheathwoodentreen.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/axe-file-number-3-stefan-ronnqvist.html

Nice Review. Im awaiting arrival of the Jogge sundqvist DVD. Nice axe. They seem a bit expensive though.

 

[Biker]

Not exactly a gallery of my axes I realise but I thought I'd show you what's in the "To be restored" box in my workshop. I'll nab a picture of my users another day.

That one with the specks of orange paint on it (bottom right) is the twin of the one Mountainm showed on the previous page of this thread. My main user is the same make and weight but the cutting edge is much more rounded and it impressed a lot of people at The Moot last year when we were making the Bhutanese bows in Wayne's class. It dressed the Bamboo very nicely and kept its edge throughout.

 

[clay*pigeon]

[/IMG]
Here's newest one, put to good use. (son in laws egg)

 

[mountainm]

Not exactly a gallery of my axes I realise but I thought I'd show you what's in the "To be restored" box in my workshop. I'll nab a picture of my users another day.

That one with the specks of orange paint on it (bottom right) is the twin of the one Mountainm showed on the previous page of this thread. My main user is the same make and weight but the cutting edge is much more rounded and it impressed a lot of people at The Moot last year when we were making the Bhutanese bows in Wayne's class. It dressed the Bamboo very nicely and kept its edge throughout.

I'm very pleased with mine it's a great carver. I bet those will go quickly if you post em up. How about some adzes, any of those on the French brocante markets?