NEW! One Moving Part-The US Forest Service Axe Manual

Square_peg said:
I'm reading it now. Good so far.

And there's another new book as well:
Dovetails and Broadaxes: Hands-on Log Cabin Preservation - USDA Forest Service

https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf15232802/1523-2802_Dovetails+Broadaxes_Sec508_08-09-17_WEB_150dpi.pdf

A project Bernie started before retirement has finally been completed.
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This looks like it may be useful for an upcoming project so thank you SP for loading it up.

You say,
Square_peg said:
new book
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, does it mean there is an actual book available and if yes how does one get their grubby hands on a copy?
 
I'm only about halfway through it. In general it's very good. I noticed the Rockaway thing, too. I like that they include the western names for the axe mattock and brush axe.

I took exception with a statement in the filing section where it said, "Keep your body still and allow your arms to pivot about your shoulders." That is not the way old school filing was taught. I've discussed this here previously and won't go into details again now.
 
I’m so happy to see works like this. The mighty axe may diminish with time, but it will never disappear. When chainsaws break down and the power goes out, I know a community of people who can get the job done. I know I’m learning a a lot. What a great way to build on the work the older generations laid before us. Kudos, and God bless the Forestry Service.

P.S. I’m also very pleased to see polite discourse about different view points. You all are gentlemen.
 
As I continue to look at the this new USFS ax manual I agree with 42 and SP. I see other info I would disagree with. But, you should know that when you write a Govt. document there are a lot of people who oversee the document and have the power to edit. I know Bob, he helped with "An Ax To Grind" 22 years ago. This was a labor of love for him. And, there is a lot of usefull info in it. I know all too well about the Govt. power of edit when you work for them. There was (still are) things that were edited from or changed in "An Ax To Grind" manual and video that do not make me happy. Overall, I think these documents are a good use of our tax dollars.
 
Old Axeman said:
Overall, I think these documents are a good use of our tax dollars.
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yessir, I couldn’t agree more. There’s bits (no pun intended) and pieces that I’ve read so far that goes against what I’ve learned in my brief 34 years, but in general there’s nothing glaring. I think the amount of good it will do is ten fold any negatives. I’ll take a 90% answer any day over no answer.

The more resources like this we have, the better we can sniff out the good information.
 
I'm still not finished reading this but I'll add a few more comments. Nearly everything in this publication is spot on. If I were to comment on the the things I agree with it would be so lengthy, almost the entire work. So I beg the authors not to be offended when I suggest that some minor thing might have been written differently.

Tonight I will comment about the driving of the haft into the head. I like that it suggests that a rubber or wooden mallet be used for this task. And it cautions about damaging the swell by striking an unclipped fawns foot with a wooden mallet. It suggests cutting a flat on the swell to prevent damaging it. And it shows how to cut off and fix such a damaged swell. All well and good.

If the length of the book and the powers that be had allowed it I would have added that there is some advantage to leaving the fawns foot unclipped. The longer unclipped fawn's foot is less likely to raise a blister in the heel of your palm.The unclipped fawns foot extends through the palm and never exposes the palm to a sharp corner. The longer unclipped fawns foot also gives the palm a little more leverage for lifting the axe. I believe this is an advantage.

Driving a haft with an unclipped fawns foot into the head without damaging it can be a problem. The only tool I've found that does this well is a white rubber mallet. The rubber mallet will not damage the end of the fawn's foot. And the white rubber will not mark the wood as a black rubber mallet will.

Lastly I will add that I believe a few threads on this forum may have influenced the final draft of this publication. Some of the finer points seem to have benefited from the lengthy discussions our forum members have had about these key points. I'm grateful that these ideas have been expressed here and that some of them may have contributed to this work. Whether this forum added any clarity to this publication or not I'm glad that these ideas are preserved for posterity by this work.

Again, many great thanks to Bob and the USFS for this tremendous publication.
 
Post Script: There is a relationship between the length of the fawns foot and the 'hook' or point at which the little finger grips the swell. So long as the there is sufficient distance between the hook and the end of the fawns foot then the fawns foot being clipped or unclipped is a moot point. If it extends through the palm then it's fine. But most often I've found that the hook is too close to a clipped fawns foot. YMMV.
 
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