Why not tomahawks?

[Paganwolf]

Ooooops! sorry Mrs CG lol you will have to modify the bit guard if it comes with the one i had apart from that NICE!!

 

[Neil1]

JP, that is a beautiful peice of work!
If your free this weekend you are more than welcome on Dartmoor to show it to us all .
Neil

 

[Rhodri]

Wow. That's the first time I've seen good photos of the GB FT Axe. Beautiful. Tastefully embellished as well

How do you find the straight handle to work with? Do you ever find there's a tendency for the head to rotate at all?

 

[Paganwolf]

JP, that is a beautiful peice of work!
If your free this weekend you are more than welcome on Dartmoor to show it to us all .
Neil

Thanks buddy its an away with my kids weekend this one so i wont be able to come and play im afraid, next time for sure

 

[Paganwolf]

Wow. That's the first time I've seen good photos of the GB FT Axe. Beautiful. Tastefully embellished as well

How do you find the straight handle to work with? Do you ever find there's a tendency for the head to rotate at all?

It works fine bud, as its lighter than say the SFA you have to be sharper and more deliberate with your blows but for light work carving, feathering ect its great the handle is oval and chip finished so grips nicely....as for the spiral path on the bottom i carved it then burnt the edges in (shown before burning)

 

[Neil1]

Thanks buddy its an away with my kids weekend this one so i wont be able to come and play im afraid, next time for sure

Always welcome my friend,
I think there are some other kids coming too (hows your lads stick making coming along? he is so keen, the stick maker was next to the WFS stall @ WG).
As I said , you guys are always welcome, its a great area for learning new skills, I know a good area with excellent hazel stands (with a huge amount of tracks, otter, mink , fox, dear heron and buzzard).
If you don't make it for this one, I'll organize a little cold weather camping for the new year
Neil

 

[Graham_S]

i quite fancy a tomahawk, i was toying with buying a cold steel one. they're not too expensive if i don't like it.

 

[Paganwolf]

Always welcome my friend,
I think there are some other kids coming too (hows your lads stick making coming along? he is so keen, the stick maker was next to the WFS stall @ WG).
As I said , you guys are always welcome, its a great area for learning new skills, I know a good area with excellent hazel stands (with a huge amount of tracks, otter, mink , fox, dear heron and buzzard).
If you don't make it for this one, I'll organize a little cold weather camping for the new year
Neil

done deal Connor's always making something, he is really into his wilderness living skills and he's got more kit than me! lol he's always got something burning or cooking in the garden, its all good stuff

 

[Moff8]

I really like my GB french trade hawk but I did find that if it got stuck in a log I was splitting that the head could come loose wiggling it free. Might be just mine though. Nice and light to carry though.

 

[Minotaur]

The Cold Steel Rifleman or Trail hawk, look interesting, and the price means it would not cost to much to try before upgrading to something better. Saying that their Bushcraft knifes are good.

 

[oetzi]

If you do a search for 'saxon axe' or something along those lines you'll find a link about these type of axes (?) or at least their european derivative. There's a guy makes 'em to order on there too.

Have a look at this:
www. messermanufaktur.de
Click on the flag and scroll down on the left till "Äxte/Axes"

 

[Bob Hurley]

Heres some pic's of the GB French trade hawk, i use it regularly its a light and beautiful tool to work with ideal for light tasks, oh i mod'ed the handle and sheath

I like that pattern very much. I prefer tomahawks over belt axes once I finally understood how they work. It's a lot like a golf club - if you try to use brute force, you usually miss your mark or the tool turns in your hands. A tomahawk cuts with head speed; use little force, a long arc, accelerate through the cut and utilize the full length of the handle, and it cuts far better than you'd expect. Any time it tries to turn or starts making my hand cramp I know I'm using muscle instead of technique.

 

[Longstrider]

Hawks have served many a man in agood deal of circumstances. I think that in general more fuss and worry is made about the "right kit" than is at all necessary.
Carry what YOU want to carry. If you want to use a hawk, use one. The fact that it doesn't have an initial or two stamped into the head doesn't mean it won't serve you well. The pleasure to be derived from using a treasured tool is half it's value to me.

 

[OldJimbo]

I'd always been a bit sceptical about hawks because most seem to be made for throwing and so are soft and steep bevelled. A few years ago though, Neolyth on the N American forums revisited the hawk/trade axe concept by heavily grinding a Norlund hatchet head (in fact he ground off the poll making it a trade axe shape). Fitting a long handle made for a 17" 14.5oz tool. I'd meant to try this to see if the light head/long handle would really be effective. Finally I put a long hammer handle onto a tiny Vaughan head to make an even lighter package. I whittled and scraped on the handle as I went along and finally ended up with 12oz.
The details and pics are at the bottom of this page:
http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/tinyhatchets2.html

It's certainly effective, and I have a ground Norlund to put a long handle on and maybe do some more lightening such as drill and dremel one of those heart shaped cutouts on the blade.
So - light fast chops, and it doesn't have to be expensive if you will do some work to make one...