- Joined
- Mar 31, 2016
- Messages
- 1,927
So 2 years ago i received the Snow and Nealey Penobscot bay kindling axe. My aim is to do a DeadBoxHero style review (speaking of which where have you been mr. brown bear?) in terms of usefulness, obviously the quality will not be as high.
Here i'v just done some limbing on my christmas tree as it's really the only soft softwood in my area other than some cedars i'd rather not harm.
If you're planning on working this as an axe, it is only good for soft woods (not softwoods exclusively) like poplar and firs/spruce.
as you can see above, the edge is very thin, flat and wide, making it not very well suited at all for hardwoods like oak or hickory, because those woods are a bit more grabby and resilient making me really miss the convex cheeks of a boys axe or something along those lines.
Now like all other handles (with the exception of very few) the handle needs re-shaping to taste. I personally didnt feel for the cone shape of the original faun's foot, and using a rasp, made the profile more hook like and did the same with the sides.
Now one other thing about this handle is it's very nice for short duration splitting like it's name suggests, but is tiring to use one-handed for an extended amount of time and is awkward to use two-handed.
Now if you have the right wood, it bites very deep with a good hard wack.
this took about 30 seconds with one hand and definitely went through some knots as you'll see later.
When i was done, i had this huge roll right in the middle of the edge. It extended about 5/8" (about 14mm) and was about as deep as an american quarter is wide.
This let's me talk about the Steel, It's soft from a vintage standpoint and fairly hard from a modern stand point.
Either way not good for this geometry. this is very prone to chipping due to it being about the thickness of a chinesium hand plane iron.
that being said it holds an edge well.
Pros,
Cons
Here i'v just done some limbing on my christmas tree as it's really the only soft softwood in my area other than some cedars i'd rather not harm.
If you're planning on working this as an axe, it is only good for soft woods (not softwoods exclusively) like poplar and firs/spruce.
as you can see above, the edge is very thin, flat and wide, making it not very well suited at all for hardwoods like oak or hickory, because those woods are a bit more grabby and resilient making me really miss the convex cheeks of a boys axe or something along those lines.
Now like all other handles (with the exception of very few) the handle needs re-shaping to taste. I personally didnt feel for the cone shape of the original faun's foot, and using a rasp, made the profile more hook like and did the same with the sides.
Now one other thing about this handle is it's very nice for short duration splitting like it's name suggests, but is tiring to use one-handed for an extended amount of time and is awkward to use two-handed.
Now if you have the right wood, it bites very deep with a good hard wack.
this took about 30 seconds with one hand and definitely went through some knots as you'll see later.
When i was done, i had this huge roll right in the middle of the edge. It extended about 5/8" (about 14mm) and was about as deep as an american quarter is wide.
This let's me talk about the Steel, It's soft from a vintage standpoint and fairly hard from a modern stand point.
Either way not good for this geometry. this is very prone to chipping due to it being about the thickness of a chinesium hand plane iron.
that being said it holds an edge well.
Pros,
- Nice chopping geometry
- Very nice grain on the handle
- made in USA
- good edge retention
- nice factory hang.
- Easy to sharpen
Cons
- Handle's too short
- Edge too thin
- easily chipped
- Bad Factory sheath
- Poor handle shape.
