Japanese hand axe

[woodchips]

jojo asked about this a while ago in the middle of another thread but got no bites so I thought I would try again

Has anyone tried one of these Japanese hand axes?

hand axe on axminster

I am wondering if it would perform in a similar fashion to a Roselli short axe. Not sure if oak is a good idea for a handle though but I guess they don't have ash or hickory in Japan, should look good after a strip and oil though.

 

[oetzi]

Good question. Regretfully I havent yet found the spare money to buy one of these.
To compare prices, go to www.dick.biz, they have lots and I have a look at their catalogue way too often.

 

[sargey]

aven't tried that one, but i did have this one from dick,

sort of a heavy duty bill hook, without the hook, a compact but very powerfultool.

cheers, and.

 

[oetzi]

Thats a nice one, too.
I am lusting after one ever since I read a review over at outdoors-magazine.com.
Is it possible to have enough sharp and pointy tools, somewhere in the future?

 

[Simon E]

Those axes are only for splitting as they are really thick, I think the wood they use is Japanese Oak and the whole thing is kind of fragile looking and grain orientation is really hit and miss. I had a look at around half a dozen in a hardware store here in Japan and they were not impressive at all. The 'Nata' is a much better tool for the money, but still nothing to write a song and a dance about. The short tang is usually crudely fitted to the handle and would need a bit of dressing up to take away the abrasive nature of the cuts in the handle.

Get one, but dont expect it to be some mystical thing from the east, forged by ninja and guarded by elves, its just a crude tool.

 

[woodchips]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

Thanks for the heads up on Dick Fine Tools Oetzi, the ones on there look better quality and if I get one it will be from there.

Sargey, that looks like a good alternative to a bill hook, specially as sharpening the curve of the hook requires different sharpening equipment to at straight edge or one which curves back, I will certainly bear it in mind if I decide to get that kind of tool. Did it come with a serviceable sheaf?

And cheers for sanity check Simon, it certainly is easy to get into the mind set that all Japanese tools are going to be of a "ninja" type quality, specially considering the hype (sometimes warranted) surrounding the stuff like water stones, saws and kitchen knives.

I have already amounted a collection of sharps consisting of several opinels, the frost army mora, a sloyd carving knife, a falkniven f1 (good after several hours reprofiling, crap before - carved worse than a canteen knife ), a souped up Hercules brand rubbish hardware store hatchet and a gransfors sfa on order so I think I should just concentrate on getting out and using it all more! Ok so maybe I will get one of those Wetterlings mini axes British Red bought