Basque Axe questions

O

oldandfatbutstillgotit

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Jul 16, 2017
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Greetings. I started collecting Hachas Jauregi Basque Axes several years ago and have questions about care and preservation of the axe heads for long term storage.
1) There is some type of coating like cosmoline or wax based on the heads that is very thin and hard to remove. Does anyone know what this substance is?

2) Would you store these long term with the leather sheath on or off?

3)After using a 1.25 kilo felling axe to down a large tree, I noticed some tiny pin holes on the head surface that were not there when I started. I assume these are forging imperfections from hammer and anvil?

4) There is a small gap in the slip fit handle about 1/8" on the underside. I've cut several trees down and it hasn't been an issue. Should this gap be filled? It so, what is the procedure to do this?

Love these axes. There's only one guy in the world who still makes them and it's very hard to collect each variant. I feel the prices on these will eventually soar if Mr Jauregi ever retires. I use only one from my collection for felling trees, the 1.25 kilo felling axe .. The rest I keep in new condition.
After 4 years, have four axe types so far. The hardest to get seem to be the straight bit felling axes. Trying to get the whole line but they sell out very fast when listed on Lamnia.

Any opinions or suggestions appreciated.
 
•The coating may be a form of lacquer. The lacquer used to cover many machete blades to keep them bright in storage have a slightly elastic or rubbery feel to them that could be confused for a fairly hard wax.

•In long-term storage masks or sheaths often trap moisture that leads to rusting, so it is generally best to store them without their covering. If you want to store them with the masks on I'd invest in some VCI (Vapor Corrosion Inhibitor) bags that you can rubber-band over the heads. The plastic bags have an anti-rust chemical in them that slowly releases and fills the interior of the bag with a neutralizing gas that prevents oxidation.

•The axes are described as "cast then forged" and the pin holes are likely a minor blemish in the casting that weren't forged out or ground away. I suspect that little, if any, forging actually occurs with the castings despite how much time they like to spend showing the forging process in their couple of old videos and gloss over the fact that all of the heads with their logo on them in raised lettering are certainly cast rather than forged, because they know the inherent market bias against cast heads. Any forging done is likely just due to limitations in how thin the bit may be made at the foundry he contracts through and so he may do a little quick forging to thin the geometry down since he has to heat the bit for quenching anyhow and it probably saves him time at the grinder. There are several companies out there producing cast heads that command very high prices and no one has found functional fault with them.

•Don't worry about the small gap. Slip-fit heads are much more forgiving of less-than-perfect fit in the eye, and it's unlikely to ever cause you any trouble.
 
A 2.75 lb. ax is not much weight for a felling ax.. I think it depends on your wood. DM
 
It also depends on the geometry of the axe. Depending on the unique axe/target/technique combo certain axes will hit like a heavier one of a different build.
 
David Martin said:
A 2.75 lb. ax is not much weight for a felling ax.. I think it depends on your wood. DM
Click to expand...
I'm an older guy in my 50's. Axe is razor sharp and I let the tool do the cutting. Slow and steady strikes, not trying to hurt myself. It's exercise for me. This axe is my personal favorite. It's all personal preference. It works well for me. Wood is mostly maple. I drop trees and take limbs off with the Basque Axe. Then I chainsaw rounds and split by hand using a wood maul made by Ochsenkopf.
 
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Oldandfatbutstillgotit, any chance you can post photos of your collection so far? Which ones have you been lucky enough to get so far?
I just bought my first, a 1.5kg curved bit. I’m loving it and want to get more. I’m curious of the different profiles.
 
For long term storage consider Boeshield. Developed by the Boeing Company for protecting tooling and airplane parts. It comes in a spray can.
 
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