Never lend someone your axe, or to be precise do not leave your axe in the tool cupboard where some passing member of the building trade may decide to borrow it to chop up some concrete slabs.
I do not like the Gransfors Small Forest Axe, I find it too small for serious wood processing and too large for splitting small rounds.
I have owned two. One was the first 'proper?' axe I ever bought, the other was given to me by Woodlore on one of their Camp Craft courses. Anyone who has ever attended a Woodlore Camp Craft Course will know that each attendee is given an SFA at the beginning of the week and over the next seven days the attendee spends hours sanding down the handle with wire wool and applying an oil treatment to make it incredibly smooth and comfortable to use.
When I came back from that course I gave my 'free' axe to my sister, she has a lot of wood stoves, is a wee woman and seemed to enjoy using the axe to prep kindling etc.
I live abroad and only occasionally get home, on my last visit in June I thought I'd prep some large oak rounds for the coming winter, for this I used my Scandinavian Felling Axe, after three or four hours of that I had some lunch and thought I'd top up the kindling baskets in the various rooms. I went to the tool cupboard and this is what I found…
The first thing I noticed was a big chunk taken out of the haft.
I then noticed that the haft was broken.
I then noticed the damage to the poll where someone has obviously been using it to hammer something.
And more.
And the bit has taken a few hits too,
Not pictured here is the Axe mask which he/they had managed to slit when sheathing the axe.
So my sister had had a few trades in while her new extension was being built, she has no idea which of them was responsible, which is possibly a good thing.
I meant to post this back in June but I couldn't look at the pics without getting a little on edge.
Anyway, I have found a deserving home for this poor tool in warthog1981, hopefully he will restore it and document the process on this forum.
I do not like the Gransfors Small Forest Axe, I find it too small for serious wood processing and too large for splitting small rounds.
I have owned two. One was the first 'proper?' axe I ever bought, the other was given to me by Woodlore on one of their Camp Craft courses. Anyone who has ever attended a Woodlore Camp Craft Course will know that each attendee is given an SFA at the beginning of the week and over the next seven days the attendee spends hours sanding down the handle with wire wool and applying an oil treatment to make it incredibly smooth and comfortable to use.
When I came back from that course I gave my 'free' axe to my sister, she has a lot of wood stoves, is a wee woman and seemed to enjoy using the axe to prep kindling etc.
I live abroad and only occasionally get home, on my last visit in June I thought I'd prep some large oak rounds for the coming winter, for this I used my Scandinavian Felling Axe, after three or four hours of that I had some lunch and thought I'd top up the kindling baskets in the various rooms. I went to the tool cupboard and this is what I found…
The first thing I noticed was a big chunk taken out of the haft.
I then noticed that the haft was broken.
I then noticed the damage to the poll where someone has obviously been using it to hammer something.
And more.
And the bit has taken a few hits too,
Not pictured here is the Axe mask which he/they had managed to slit when sheathing the axe.
So my sister had had a few trades in while her new extension was being built, she has no idea which of them was responsible, which is possibly a good thing.
I meant to post this back in June but I couldn't look at the pics without getting a little on edge.
Anyway, I have found a deserving home for this poor tool in warthog1981, hopefully he will restore it and document the process on this forum.
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