What did you rehang today?

Old Axeman · Nov 18, 2018

Yankee Josh- I like your bending jig

jblyttle · Nov 18, 2018

rjdankert said:
You are welcome anytime.

Bob

Edit: I almost forgot. Just so you know, my "shop" is the clubhouse for the He-Man Women Haters Club.

Thank you for reminding me of one of my favorite albums from 25 years ago. I have not listened in 15 years.

jblyttle · Nov 18, 2018

Old Axeman said:
Yankee Josh- I like your bending jig

We need a tutorial.

jake pogg · Nov 18, 2018

For entertainment-value strictly...https://imgur.com/a/8PioRdv

I forgot what a Royal pain a compression-fit handle is to make...And the hole,in a 24" handle didn't make life much easier...
(but it was important that this'll be a functional object).

Square_peg · Nov 18, 2018

Looks great! What type wood did you use for the handle? It's very straight-grained.

jake pogg · Nov 19, 2018

Square_peg said:
Looks great! What type wood did you use for the handle? It's very straight-grained.

Square_peg,it's hickory...I know it looks oddly dark,but it Is all sap wood,just that walnut oil i used on it as a working finish(cos all my tools and environment are so filthy,with charcoal dust and grime et c. and it's uber tough keeping the wood clean..).

Sheepishly i must admit to having cut up a self-bow blank that was given to me a while back....It's(was) a 6' perfectly straight/vertical grain blank,2" sq.
It's from that same hardwood store in Fairbanks where i usually get my hickory,they're scrupulously conscientious folks only stocking the best,clear, and only the air-dried hickory,but that was a grade above even what i usually get....(i'm actually out,have been successfully avoiding making hafts a while now,will stock up again during an up-coming trip to town).

This stave/blank was so straight-grained that the split i ran through it was perfectly directional and straight...
I had to split it in half,and glue it back together after carving a channel....the only way i could come up with a 24" hole...Actually an old indian trick,that's how many a peace-pipe stem was made...(once,many moons ago,i spent all of the 4 hours that i had in the Museum of Natural History in N.Y.C. in front of one display,that of the Native American pipes...).

I live in an indian village,and it's very special in a number of ways.One of them is that the "political correctness" has not yet made it's way down here.Racism,what there is of it,is out in the open,and we all freely recognise that it's there,and that keeping it under wraps won't help anything.
And it's a relief,and lots of fun actually,to be able to say things like "white man speaks with a forked tongue",or "the only good indian is a dead indian"...
So this is a project that we're doing with this buddy of mine,who's an indian,and has recently been elected the mayor of our city...It's kinda "a joke but not a joke",to be used as his badge of office,he wants to open the city council meetings wielding it...(i'll post a photo once it's completed and in action).
It's forged thick for both of us had hopes to come much closer to those Sheffield imports that were ritualistically gifted to many an important chief,but of course we're both way too busy as it turns out to do all the fancy filework,to whitesmith the thing...

...But,barring that,we'll try to keep it as "authentic" as practicable...

Whiskey_Jim · Nov 19, 2018

Woodslasher cruiser

3.5lb jersey on a 28in handle

phantomknives · Nov 19, 2018

Whiskey_Jim said:
Woodslasher cruiser

3.5lb jersey on a 28in handle

Oh damn I was starting to miss you

Whiskey_Jim · Nov 19, 2018

It's the photo hosting that keeps mev away

Whiskey_Jim · Nov 19, 2018

Hults hatchet on a funky handle that had extras of at TN hickory products

Yankee Josh · Nov 21, 2018

She's done! I can't call it a 100%success yet because time will tell if and more bend relaxes out. I lost about an inch but since then it's remained at 3-1/8" with the broad axe laying flat. My bend is just a little too low so it's not perfect but i know i can use it without barking my knuckles. I just can't choke up on it as much as i wanted to.

This was really a lot of fun to do. Making steam is easy. Capturing it and directing it without the right equipment is another matter! I can't wait to try this baby out. You can bet I'll take some pics when i do. This was so heavily pitted and it took me a very long time to get all the pits out. But it's razor sharp and ready to go! Thanks for looking!

jblyttle · Nov 21, 2018

Yankee Josh said:
She's done! I can't call it a 100%success yet because time will tell if and more bend relaxes out. I lost about an inch but since then it's remained at 3-1/8" with the broad axe laying flat. My bend is just a little too low so it's not perfect but i know i can use it without barking my knuckles. I just can't choke up on it as much as i wanted to.

This was really a lot of fun to do. Making steam is easy. Capturing it and directing it without the right equipment is another matter! I can't wait to try this baby out. You can bet I'll take some pics when i do. This was so heavily pitted and it took me a very long time to get all the pits out. But it's razor sharp and ready to go! Thanks for looking!

That's a head that looks like it was in a fire.

jblyttle · Nov 21, 2018

I've shown this before, but I was not happy with the shape of the handle and so I have reworked the wood. This is black locust that I split out of a fresh cut round late last winter.

IMG_20181121_132916 by Justin Lyttle, on Flickr

IMG_20181121_132925 by Justin Lyttle, on Flickr

IMG_20181121_133000 by Justin Lyttle, on Flickr

IMG_20181121_133015 by Justin Lyttle, on Flickr

IMG_20181121_133019 by Justin Lyttle, on Flickr

IMG_20181121_133022 by Justin Lyttle, on Flickr

IMG_20181121_133027 by Justin Lyttle, on Flickr

Old Axeman · Nov 21, 2018

Yankee Josh- great looking broad axe. If I was going to hew with it I would set the head a little deeper (if you can) to help with your concerns about the location of the bend. I would also bob the handle to 24", then hew, then if you still need to bob more dont go any shorter than 20". Factory broad axe handles when they were available from Link were 36" long, but that was so each broad axe man could bob it to the correct length. This was easy because there was no swell on the broad axe handle needed. I rarely have ever seen a vintage or even a current user broad axe haft with a swell.

Moonw · Nov 21, 2018

Old Axeman said:
Yankee Josh- great looking broad axe. If I was going to hew with it I would set the head a little deeper (if you can) to help with your concerns about the location of the bend. I would also bob the handle to 24", then hew, then if you still need to bob more dont go any shorter than 20". Factory broad axe handles when they were available from Link were 36" long, but that was so each broad axe man could bob it to the correct length. This was easy because there was no swell on the broad axe handle needed. I rarely have ever seen a vintage or even a current user broad axe haft with a swell.

I know almost zero about hewing (other than what I've read on the forum). But I'd really like to try my hand at it one day.

With that out of the way, I remembered something from "An ax to grind": is there any practical reason you list the "New Orleans" as your favorite pattern? Thanks.

Yankee Josh · Nov 21, 2018

Old Axeman said:
Yankee Josh- great looking broad axe. If I was going to hew with it I would set the head a little deeper (if you can) to help with your concerns about the location of the bend. I would also bob the handle to 24", then hew, then if you still need to bob more dont go any shorter than 20". Factory broad axe handles when they were available from Link were 36" long, but that was so each broad axe man could bob it to the correct length. This was easy because there was no swell on the broad axe handle needed. I rarely have ever seen a vintage or even a current user broad axe haft with a swell.

Thank you for that advice. I wasn't sure what the proper length was but i know i can't cut it long. So i figured I'd wait and I'm glad i did. I got the head seated to a point where i could no longer get it off again. I wanted to get it father down the shoulder but i don't have any steel drifts to drive the haft back out. I've been using oak and that usually works but try as i might i could not get that haft back out. So i used my 3#sledge and drove it on as far as i could get it. This particular axe isn't the nicest one I've ever seen so it was a good starting point for me. I made a sheath for it just now.

There's a medium size white pine I've got my eye on down back. I might try to whack out a beam or two in the next couple weeks.

jblyttle said:
That's a head that looks like it was in a fire.

Jb are you saying that due to the coloration? I nicked the steel in a few places with a good file and the steel is soft where it's supposed to be soft and hard where it's supposed to be hard. That tells me no fire? Unless someone re-tempered it. I was just curious why you thought that.

A17 · Nov 21, 2018

Is that red paint or "burn rust"? I think the gist of jb's post is that he thinks the red is burn rust so he thinks it's been in a fire and is annealed. I have a peavey that's been in a fire I can take pics of tomorrow if you want to see "burn rust".

Yankee Josh · Nov 21, 2018

A17 said:
Is that red paint or "burn rust" I think is the gist of jb's post. I have a peavey that's been in a fire I can take pics of tomorrow if you want.

Yeah that would be interesting to see! This was red paint though. They didn't bother to clean any rust and just painted it. I didn't have a large enough container to soak it in evaporust which would've removed the paint in the pits. So i just used a wire wheel and some elbow grease with wet 400 grit.

jblyttle · Nov 21, 2018

Yankee Josh said:
Yeah that would be interesting to see! This was red paint though. They didn't bother to clean any rust and just painted it. I didn't have a large enough container to soak it in evaporust which would've removed the paint in the pits. So i just used a wire wheel and some elbow grease with wet 400 grit.

Yes that's why. I have seen axe heads and old cast iron pans put into camp fires and when they come out the rust turns a very consistent dark pink/light red color. If that was an old rusty pitted head that had everything painted over, that would explain the look.

Yankee Josh · Nov 21, 2018

This is how it looked when i found it in the bay.

It was reasonably priced all things considered. A lot of them i see appear quite worn. This one looked hardly used to me even though a little rough. I'm happy with it. Steel was quite hard which I was pleased with. It hurts me to think about axes and fire...
I got a call over the summer to go work on a house near where i live. The homeowner had lived there his entire life and had been "collecting things"the whole time. I wanted to appear professional so i didn't ask about any axes thinking I'd be able to ask him when i started the job(s) for him. Well their house, barn, SHEDS, cars everything burned up one night while they were on vacation. Poor people. Poor old tools! There was nothing left. I learned my lesson. I'll never wait again! My imagination runs wild when i think of what he probably had... it hurts!