Off Topic What axe is this?

[jake pogg]

Yessir,That Rasputin can surely have been that......(or,a carver of house-logs themselves,or of the gingerbread detail on the outside of houses,or anything else really,as we see from Allar's finds to This day-there wasn't the greatest variety of tools...).
The shingles were made in a Scandinavian manner, of Aspen(believe it or not,incredible longevity in wet/cold climate...),carved All sides out of a thick-ish board,as with the proclivity for their take on Bysantian-like curvatures on roofs et c.,the shingle had to be shaped to that curve.
Here's a decent example:

(a restoration project in Karelia,in the Kizhi monastery complex).
Such shingles,thicker ones,were called "лемех"(it's a same word as for a plow-share,in case your search gets derailed),were used mostly on the important,ecclesiastical structures,or the palatial homes of the wealthy.In some areas the peasants paid their "taxes" in these,producing them in the tens of thousands needed for each project.
(The peasant houses themselves were roofed differently,with a long,continuous planks or very thin slabs ganged up in a multi-layered sandwich,also of aspen,called ""дранка").

 

[rjdankert]

Here's a decent example:
(a restoration project in Karelia,in the Kizhi monastery complex).

Bob

 

[Ernest DuBois]

Having toyed with the thought, and experimented using shingles from wood out of the Poplar family - it's Canadian Poplar that crops up around here - I wouldn't question using it at all. The Poplars have some amazing characteristics. I guess we can credit all that intense crenelation work to some pretty devout woodworkers - in the original instance, I mean.

 

[jake pogg]

Absolutely,Poplars are an extremely diverse family,and each tends to have some unique,often odd,qualities...
The crenelated bottom edge has to do with the ability of wood to dry out,to evaporate moisture.
Since wetting by rains cannot be prevented,the next best thing is to provide the mechanical aid to the drying process,in effect-an increase of drying surface.
I'll try to look for a photo of the edges,the eave ends of the plank roof,that also have a striking,frilly edge for that purpose.
Similarly,those carved Dragons at the ridge of some of the Stavkirke,and really all "gingerbread" in general,all those carved and fretted surfaces serve as a drying devices....

 

[Ernest DuBois]

Ok, that mechanical drying aid, so you say, makes sense to me when considering how intense the (curved) surfaces of the shingles are worked, slicing through/interrupting the continuous fiber make-up of the wood, exposing open-ended porous segments, as opposed to a largely riven shingle, of some other wood soort, where great care gets taken to stay away from the bottom exposed third of the shingle with any cutting tool at all, only working out the tapered, shielded upper 2/3 and perhaps, as needed, some work on the under-side as well. The variations, (shingling techniques), are endless, each with its own subtitles, excessive bevel at the bottom also exposing more end grain surface one example and more... Nice how the form and function merge.

 

[jake pogg]

Here's an ok photo,you can see that edge at the bottom right...https://imgur.com/a/gIiX5

And this is one of examples of what these axes looked like in the past:https://imgur.com/a/ZxUDz

(Allar,sorry about diluting your thread,but this IS what those axes of yours were For...)

 

[jake pogg]

Nice how the form and function merge.

Yes,Ernest,and all else you say makes perfect sense too.In this system,the planishing effect of a heavy cutting tool,Piilu-like in it's action,is ironing down the fibers...Probably a delicate balance between the local wood species and their climatic conditions....

Here's a close-up of the dome above,one can see how definite and stark the axe-marks are in reality(and it's not just the craftsmen being half-a$$,it's intended):https://imgur.com/a/aPPMi

In that restoration video the guy is probably wrong to use the saw,it's all by necessity axe-worked surfaces....(but the guy is young,UNESCO funds for the project have been stolen,everything as is usual,another day in Mordor

 

[Ernest DuBois]

Big variations between individual shingles, I guess coming off the hand of more than one individual, making the intention difficult to discern but the principle seems plausible.

This was after a pass at rough hewing, so not the final surface. The advantage in terms of shedding water, of the cleanly shorn facets.

 

[rjdankert]

The Finnish Handcrafters Association presents: Piilu hewing workshop




From:

Bob

 

[jake pogg]

Yes,gentlemen,that's about where "it's at":Each culture that existed far enough North,and so posessed both the charcoal and the timber for building,had their own manner of a finishing technique that served to extend the Longevity of it's investments in labor,materials,et c.

Quality work,Ernest,an impressive minimum of tear-out on that.(Would be interesting to see the shape of the blade it was done with closely).

Thanks,Bob,yes,that was the solution that Suomi came up with.

And here's a Norsk variant:https://imgur.com/a/K7G6Z

And here-the Japanese yari.....:https://imgur.com/a/wFaza

But unlike all those countries Russia was perhaps too far toward the East,too connected (still to this day,arguably)to it's roots in the nomadic Chingizid empire.So when they copied the tools and techniques they did so half-heartedly,being part-nomads,and having this almost a distaste for a long-term investment in the land and structures...

 

[jake pogg]

Here's an example of how confused they are to this day:

What that video represents is commercialisation of a mixture of history and Myth.Such hewing style Did exist,it is found on some timbers in old structures.
Based on It,they re-created an axe,with which it was supposedly accomplished....The result is what we see on that video(not entirely conclusive or convincing to me....but it's just a brief outline of a long-ish story).

(The video is only worthwhile for the first 30 seconds or so,if i knew how i'd post screenshots instead.Again,it's an attempt to capitalise on an unfinished(and severely underfunded to begin with)archaeological research).

But briefly getting back to shingles,here's where i think those originate:https://imgur.com/a/8KRns

 

[Ernest DuBois]

(Would be interesting to see the shape of the blade it was done with closely).

My excuses, I have not yet gotten around to getting a good photo or 2 of the axe, (the very axe at the left of the spar in that picture), yet, one I picked up at the market in France for 5€. The blacksmith I was working with at the time had a good laugh when he saw what I had.

 

[Ernest DuBois]

 

[jake pogg]

Very interesting,Ernest,thank you.
If i may put it that way-is that you skill alone that allowed for such efficient hewing with it?
Or has that particular shape developed with purpose toward hewing?

(and in a very general way:Why do you think that some cultures evolved more specialised tools for hewing vs chopping,while others went along with more universal designs?).

 

[Lieblad]

(and in a very general way:Why do you think that some cultures evolved more specialised tools for hewing vs chopping,while others went along with more universal designs?).

As far as europe, I say its more reason of affluence and resources.
A majority peasant class would only afford one tool what will have to make-do for all tasks.
Of course europe had overall wide spread of peasantry, I think western europe was more affulent.

 

[Ernest DuBois]

Very interesting,Ernest,thank you.
If i may put it that way-is that you skill alone that allowed for such efficient hewing with it?
Or has that particular shape developed with purpose toward hewing?

(and in a very general way:Why do you think that some cultures evolved more specialised tools for hewing vs chopping,while others went along with more universal designs?).

You can put it that way Jake, if I can answer this way - Of course not. But since I was not hewing to the line this gave me a certain freedom of action, so that was partly the case. Further the result is due to the axe I used, by no means and axe with a dedicated intention, in other words not a specialized axe as far as I know it but one an old farmer might have had for multiple uses or the woman of the village kept for keeping her lilacs trimmed to order. But the axe's small head with the bulk of the weight out front like that, the length of the handle, who knows maybe even the crude form of it: sticking out straight off the eye, triangular cross section, following on from typical form the French like so much for an eye, the belly of the handle pointing the way forward, the relatively light weight... make for a wieldy tool for taking great sweeping whacks along the length, working parallel to the grain - with and against - from atop the spar. I don't see getting comparable results using my old double bitted, for example - far too weighty an axe, the balance not conducive. And speaking of grain, the particular wood - in this case Sweet Chestnut - that is so fine to work and lends itself to good finishing at the edge of an axe deserves the credit. You can see it here in a beam worked in a completely different way with other axes

You dangle a further interesting proposition and the question is am I going to take the bait? If for only my lack of to much knowledge, I think I'll let it pass here, for now - if you don't mind.

 

[jake pogg]

Thanks!...That's a great answer(for now,...