Double bit axe
- Thread starter nickliv
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£250 for a good anvil on buy it now. 2hr drive to collect. I'm seriously considering it. Deciding if i have space, and if Rachaels dad, now hes retired ( ex W/O in tankies) would be kind enough to lend me himeslf and his 4x4's services. Gonna cost me a bottle of Rum and a knife for his birthday next week i expect 
He's getting the knife anyway, second one now.
He's getting the knife anyway, second one now.
£250 for a good anvil on buy it now. 2hr drive to collect. I'm seriously considering it. Deciding if i have space, and if Rachaels dad, now hes retired ( ex W/O in tankies) would be kind enough to lend me himeslf and his 4x4's services. Gonna cost me a bottle of Rum and a knife for his birthday next week i expect
He's getting the knife anyway, second one now.
I organised a 1/2 milling machine to be delivered from north wales to parents house in altofts a couple of years ago. Can't remember the company but it cost less than £50 including pallet, 2 men to load and unload. Took a few days though. Just get a few quotes online. You'll be surprised at how cheap some can be.
sent from my Jelly Bean'd galaxy nexus.
Granny B boule bit all the way. Love mine though we have not talked since it nearly removed my big toe
Well, for a double bit, i was thinking of cutting out 2 identical pieces of 01 and pressing/hammering each piece over a metal bar so that each piece has half the eye formed. Put them together and put a couple of spots of weld to hold em in place. Get up to temp in the forge and then just hammer/press them together. They will forge weld if done properly. Then its just case of tidying the heads up and grinding the bevels on to them. Voila. Much easier than a Poll axe.
I'd have to differentially temper them, to get them tough around the eye, and harder at the edge. Hmmm, a double bit in W2 with diff temper and distinct hamon, Aarrrrgh, what have i done lol Ah hell, i think i've just talked myself into it.
I'd have to differentially temper them, to get them tough around the eye, and harder at the edge. Hmmm, a double bit in W2 with diff temper and distinct hamon, Aarrrrgh, what have i done lol
Ah hell, i think i've just talked myself into it. 
because it looks like a monster. Do you choose one for the balanced head then? or do you simply prefer the way it looks?
I was under the impression a double bit was for felling and limbing, with two different grinds. Atleast that's what I learnt on one of the discovery programmes.
Aye, thats how they they were commonly ground. A fine bit for cutting clean wood, and a thicker bit for knot work.
Yeah Discovery got that wrong. True that's the way a lot of people use them NOW. But originally they were with identical grinds. They developped them as loggers moved West to larger forests (with huge trees)simply to reduce time down time by having 2 heads without carrying 2 axes. Later they spread back East (at least up North; they were never really popular in the South) for the same reasons.
What are you calling "bucking?" Over here "bucking" is a way to control direction of fall when felling a tree. Accomplished by cutting the first notch on one side of the tree (on the side away from direction of fall) and the second one on the other side at a lower level than the first.
Aint bucking cutting a log into lengths with a Buck saw (bow saw)? According to an American book on woodsmanship i have in front of me. Bucking is exactly that.
What you describe is just felling.
What you describe is just felling.
Aint bucking cutting a log into lengths with a Buck saw (bow saw)? According to an American book on woodsmanship i have in front of me. Bucking is exactly that.
What you describe is just felling.
Yes, I did say it was felling, or rather a way to control the direction of fall when felling. The procedure I described is what we called "bucking" when I was logging. I suppose it might have been a regional thing though; don't know for sure.
Cutting downed logs to length (if referring to commercial timber or pulpwood) was called "scaling" as you measured and cut it to lengths recognized by the scalers (the buyers reps who determined the board feet equivalent they would pay for the timber)
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A double bit serves the same purpose as a single bit - felling, light splitting etc. I generally sned with a limbing axe and fell with a chainsaw - so the double bit for me is for rendering sections and limbs to stove length and more importantly width. I like this double because it has a fine thin grind, good temper, good balance, the right length of helve for me. Mauls are tiring to use partly because of their weight, partly because of their obtuse grind. You can "pop" a section with an axe that you would struggle to penetrate with a maul. But you can slog into a huge round with a maul, that an axe would just stick in. Equally well a sledge and wedge will split rounds that no maul on the planet will split. Using more tool than you need is exhausting, using less than you need is equally tiring.
ah, sounds reasonable!
so what's the point in a small double bit, the 'nessmuk' type thing? Now I've heard on here that the bits are ground/sharpened differently..
I understand people might want a splitting edge and a cutting edge.. but there are plenty of axes (hultafors bruks, wetterlings, gransfors bruks etc) that are made with edges that can easily split and cut wood effectively. Not to mention the fact the decent ones cost loads.. and you can't safely pound stakes or nails with them, something I actually do a fair bit when labouring in the shrubs!
so what's the point in a small double bit, the 'nessmuk' type thing? Now I've heard on here that the bits are ground/sharpened differently..
I understand people might want a splitting edge and a cutting edge.. but there are plenty of axes (hultafors bruks, wetterlings, gransfors bruks etc) that are made with edges that can easily split and cut wood effectively. Not to mention the fact the decent ones cost loads.. and you can't safely pound stakes or nails with them, something I actually do a fair bit when labouring in the shrubs!
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