The Members Discussion Thread

I grew up religious(JW)(it sucked)about 45 minutes from where i live now. As a kid played with a hatchet constantly in the woods building forts etc. Didn't burn wood so didn't have much exposure to axes as a youngster.
Work; mowed lawns, laborer as a kid, prep cooked at a restaurant for a summer. At 17 moved to Vinalhaven(an island 18 miles off the coast of Rockland Maine) and worked as a stern man lobstering with a captain. Did that for 5 years 3 of which for the same captain. Good guy. Made a ton of dough and worked so damn hard it's hard to describe it. 2002 I learned to swing a hammer and worked for a company for 1-1/2 years before going out on my own and I've owned my own small business ever since doing construction and contracting work. Framing, remodels, painting, decks, roofing etc. Furthermore my girlfriend and i own a rental property locally and have one tenant in the house.
Education; dropped out (kicked out) of high school freshman year. Got a G.E.D. in 2009.
Travel; haven't been out of the country but once to Quebec. But I've been all over the U.S. travelling and lived in Arizona for a little over a year.
Cooking; except on the grill i can't stand it.
Entertainment; haven't paid for t.v. in over 15 years. I love to read, historical fiction mostly. James Michener, C.S. Forester, Kenneth Roberts etc.
I was single in 2010 and my firstborn son came to live with me full time. So my habits changed and in a effort to find things i could do at home i started throwing axes. I only bought all steel estwings but that's where the seed got planted i think. I got into remote controlled trucks and helicopters with my son and i think that's why i didn't further the axe thing at that time. Fast forward to last year when i joined the forum. I am a little obsessive about everything that i do and this is no different. I've got at least 120 axes now probably more. About 90 are hung 85 of which i hung. Made a bunch of hafts and I'm really enjoying learning and hashing things over on the forum. I
Other than bucking i strictly use an axe now for firewood. Been burning and harvesting wood off my property for 4+years now. Think that's about it!
 
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Ok, I’m in – 55, born and raised in Western New York. Growing up my family owned a fishing tackle / outdoor store. I spent most summers outdoors, fishing, hiking, and doing anything in and around the lake. If I needed any kind of fishing or outdoor gear I would just go to the store, my dad would give me a bag and I would fill it with whatever I needed. I prefer vintage stuff and I still have the Buck 112 (two dot) that my dad gave me in my teens, as well as every fishing pole and reel he gave me.

In my teens I hiked in the Adirondacks and did some canoe trips in Canada. While I was in college the tackle store was sold. I am still adjusting to having to pay for fishing gear.

Travel and other interests - most recent travel has been to California and Israel. Other interests include Cycling, kayaking (usually with a fishing pole in the boat) and of course finding knives and hatchets at sales and flea markets!!.

As far as axes and hatchets, in the last couple years I have become more interested in hatchets. I have been buying them at estate & garage sales and flea markets. A pretty natural extension of my life long collecting of knives. The pictures below are of some of the ones I have collected. I also have started to restore, and re-handle them. I enjoy taking old beat up knives and hatchets and restoring them into useable tools. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some of my collection.

Thanks

Cosmo

Here is a before and after of a mirror finish I did last year. the hatchet was $1 at a garage sale.
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Some flea market finds that I put new handles on
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some heads in need of handles
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two odd finds. large one is "Evansville" and small one just says "Trent"
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More flea market and sale finds
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I was an army brat. Moved a lot. Started in Montreal; lived up north in Quebec, Ontario, Germany and ended up in Calgary, Alberta, in 1974, where I met a lovely girl in grade 12, and we have been together here since then. Once high school was over, I worked as a labourer, landscaper until I got offered an apprenticeship in sheet metal. (Wanted carpenter, but oh well.) Did that for 6 years. Was into target shooting for awhile - .22 in the winter and 7.62 in the summer. Went to university and got a teaching degree. Have been in education ever since. Finished a Masters degree in 2008. Now 61 years old and a principal. Having lived in Europe, I got to Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, England, Ireland. Cooking is fun if you have time. Have played in bands since the age of 16 - guitar. Like fly fishing and hunting, although haven’t hunted for awhile. Got into axes 5 years ago. Best hobby ever. Haven’t counted lately, but in the 40-50 range right now. Biggest problem I have is the scarcity of quality vintage axes in my part of the country. I envy you folks in Maine and Mass. where they seem to be in abundance. I am constantly learning. Started by watching Old Axeman over and over on YouTube. I’m partial to leaving the haft proud, but purely for aesthetic reasons. I can’t give you science or tons of experience to back that up. I’m puzzled as to why Norlund hatchets go for so much money. The three axes I would call my gold, silver and bronze are a Collins Connie, a Hults Bruk and the BG Small Forest that my wife gave me for my birthday. I’m grateful to have such a well informed bunch of mentors on this forum.
 
Did you know that Max's nationality actually isn't Dutch? But Belgian? Most people, including most Dutch don't know that. He has a Belgian mother and was born in Belgium.

Yes I did actually, bit strange how he is a poster boy for dutch racing. I guess because his father is dutch and he must have lived in Holland for some part of his life he has chosen to race under that flag (as people with dual citizenship need to choose one or the other).

Similar case with Romain Grosjean who is actually Swiss and was born in Switzerland. Charles Leclerc is often confused as being french too although he is from Monaco (he does race under the Monaco flag though I think?).

Mate I could talk for hours about this stuff I can't believe the experiences you must have had. In your time in the sport so many older legends were still in it and the recent day legends coming in as young drivers too.

Shame about people who don't know how to park cars btw, I have always thought if I owned a stunning car how would you take it to car parks its bound to get scratched and dinged up :(
 
Do yourself a favor with one thing though: Get yourself a manual!

Just taking this a bit out of context but I would love to say that I have noticed that Auto is taking over in the car industry and less and less manuals seem to be being made?? An absolute shame. I understand that your average person who commutes in stop start traffic for 1.5 hours every morning (L.A? haha) doesn't want to be engaging the clutch every 2 seconds but other than that it's an absolute pleasure to ACTUALLY DRIVE THE CAR.
 
All my builds are still street registered, pas all kinds of emission test and so on (yearly I might add). And I'm not talking about the American "street legal" title, because your rules are actually quite laughable compaired to ours. And it's the same for the Kiwi's as far as know? Maybe K KiwiBloke can chime in about that? The Australians have rules way more comparative to the rules we have in Europe. In essence the rules in the Netherlands are the same as German rules (which are probably the strictest in the world), but without the TÜV certification for each and every product you use.

This was especially true until about 10 years ago where everything has since slowly been changing. We had a gigantic boy racer scene then where everyone was regularly doing home mods (these are not mechanics I must add by the way just normal people) and some seriously dangerous cars were on the roads. The government started cracking down when the illegal drag races at night and drifting down mountains racing for large amounts of cash were killing not only drivers, but their passengers and even pedestrians.

Iv'e seen unreal car mods; for example a metal rubbish bin (dust bin in america?) welded to the end of a muffler to act as a big bore. Thing rattled and rumbled and sparked all the way down the road.

The government has since introduce a zero tolerance policy and now has the lawful right to posses vehicles and immediately crush them for small offences. This has changed everything.

In saying that, you still heavily modded cars that look suspicious to say the least. Illegal WOF's - Warrant of Fitness - a requirement to have done every year on newer vehicles and every 6 months on older are a legal requirement for a car to be on the roads. There is an underground black market for WOF's right now where guys are breaking the law and issuing them to cars that are not street legal. When cops see a dodgy looking car they will pull them over, check tire tread, check if the springs have been cut, check the window tints to make sure they are not darker then allowed and have a look under the car and hood, all on the side of the street in a few minutes. The vast majority of police do not know anything about cars and they are not even sure what they are looking for.

So to answer I believe it use to be really loose but has now been tightened up however our 'tightened up' could still be your very loose.. I am not sure.. Probably ;)
 
I am in the final throes of a big leather project that I have been deep into lately, for the bushcraft sheath I have mentioned. It has been a huge project for me but the end is in sight now!

I don’t know how many of you guys get into doing leatherwork for your axes but this is one of the videos that inspired me to get into leathercraft.

 
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I am a technology consultant and IT technician working in New York City, living upstate. I was born in Manhattan, grew up in Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara CA. High School in Los Angeles. Lived in New Orleans for 15 years and now I am back in New York. I grew up with axes, cutting wood for the potbelly stove in our house in SB. I also became a young fisherman and hunter. I had to give all of that up when we moved to Los Angeles. Now that I live in rural NY, I am getting in touch with my inner kid and getting back to all of that good stuff I left behind.
This past year, my love affair with axes was rekindled after a freak storm brought down a pair of enormous hickories in my yard. Needless to say, I have made a few purchases since then to address specific needs I have come across while trying to process the wood. I ran across this forum while researching those purchases. I have also taken up leather working, making axe masks and folding knife sheaths and slips.
Anyway, that's me. This is a great forum with loads of nice, helpful people. I owe a great debt of thanks to those whose knowledge and generosity have benefitted me over the last year. Cheers!
 
Yep, I blame the Americans :D But seriously: People in general are just getting lazy. Who wrenches on there own cars these days? Or checks the oil?

But as a counter: It is currently faster with an auto compaired to a manual transmission with a double clutch equipped model. Still doens't have the same feel though.
Hey i wrench on my truck! A '97 Chevy k1500 5.7L. It just rolled over 284,000 miles but it still only uses a half a quart in 3000 miles. I don't go too crazy but i do brakes, plugs and other fairly simple stuff. I'm totally with you guys i miss, more than anything, a manual transmission. I know it's going to cost me more but my next truck will have a manual trans. I was always busy with other interests but if I had more time and money I'd learn and do more. When i was a kid my dad had a '67 Chrysler 300 with a 383 4 barrel. With a 727 torque flight auto trans. It sounded and drove so good! He kept bias tires on it and it just floated and gently bounced everywhere. I've always loved muscle cars and my dream car is a '69 Plymouth roadrunner with a 426 hemi. 4 speed Hurst! Oh yeah!!!! Primer grey with black racing stripes. Factory mag wheels.... man oh man I'm starting to druel. I like some of the fairlanes, chevelles, etc. but that RR is my fav.
 
Some of those sound like the ones that were used in group b rally. Am i right? Theres a bunch more cars I'd like but the one i mentioned is my ultimate for a domestic. I also really like the older lancer evo's. Or the newer ones for that matter. Awesome cars! Here in Maine we have some pretty crappy roads that heave in the winter and then dip in the summer. So low cars aren't really practicable.
 
Just found out about this guy.. Fred Dibnah. He was an English steeplejack, engineer and television personality.

I have only seen this episode it's part 4 of 7 but I will watch the rest he seems like a very interesting guy. So brave to climb those chimneys with no harness and 'fag' in mouth hahah.

 
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