Old Jimbo's Axe??

[OldJimbo]

It's having uniform polished cutting bevels at the same angle as ramp which allows hatchet to be easily batoned in and suddenly popping open a big split. On wood like this with less cross grain and knots, a wooden wedge would work fine too:

 

[British Red]

Thanks for spending so much time here on these threads Jimbo. Your photos and explanations are always so interesting (well to me at least) - I always jump straight to your posts if I see you have made one - thanks again

 

[OldJimbo]

I find the capabilities of the little hatchets surprising even now after using them so much. I'd ground a lot of hatchets before getting the first properly reground one, and quickly saw that my efforts weren't good enough. I hadn't taken enough time to make sure that both bevels and ramps were finished properly and polished enough. Mike Stewart sent me some more to test and the differences became even clearer. So with the long split piece above, you don't see all the other trials where I tried all sorts of stuff. I'd figured that if the tiny hatchet tapped easily into the log and the split just popped open, then my norlund would do exactly the same. It didn't. It tapped in slowly due to friction, and the wood had time to adjust and didn't split. It took a while to sink in, but of course I realized that with my little grinder and level of experience, I'd have to do a lot of hand sanding and polishing with the big drywall sanding pad.
The tiny hatchet is still a tool for casual fires for a brew up and a tool of last resort - nothing changes that. A tiny axe for many in the northern woods is going to be something like an SFA because that's the tool the owner has confidence in and expertise with. That's fair enough! The thing is that axes can be improved beyond what a person would expect, if they'll put in the hours with the hand tools.

 

[David Morgan]

Since it's been a few months since this thread was active I thought I'd ask if anyone knows of any change in the quality of the heat treatment of the Vaughans hatchet. Maybe if they were having teething problems with the new design that have now been sorted... probably wishful thinking, it seems like a nice axe at a nice price.
Alternatively, can anyone tell me what specification steel they use? If its plain carbon and I can get the details I can probably re-harden one for myself. I've e-mailed Vaughans but no reply, probably a trade secret

 

[sargey]

i can't help with that sadly.

but i do know that this outfit has the KoA axe and you can sort of see the profile here.

nothing to do with me commercially, but i have bought stuff from them in the past and the service has always been top notch.

cheers, and.

 

[David Morgan]

Sorry, which outfit? Should there be a link?

I Checked It out on KoA's own site and it looks good, but a little pricey, even with the strong pound after p&p and import duties it would probably end up much the same as a GB mini or wildlife hatchet, but thanks for pointing it out.

 

[Zammo]

Theres a picture under his post, you may have to wait for it to load in if you have a slow internet connection.

 

[David Morgan]

I got the picture, the way Sargey phrased it (this outfit has the KoA axe) made me think he was talking about another supplier other than Knives of Alaska themselves?

 

[David Morgan]

Just noticed the 'MichiganKnives' tag... have to wait until Sargey logs in again to find out if it is them to whom he refers.