Show your Tools: Axes

[Eric Erb]

Here are my current axes. There's another american felling axe, but it's not terribly photogenic

i'm afraid i only know the make on the winchester broad (hewing) hatchet.

What do you chop with?

[David Weaver]

I've only got 3, and no pictures. Well, maybe 6 and not 3.

But the 3 good ones are a Kelly perfect double bit 4 pounder marked stiletto, a kelly 3-2 flint edge double bit, and a good plumb broad hatchet.

[Jim Belair]

Nice collection Eric.

[Tony Shea]

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Here's a pic of my first hatchet/axe I picked up and that I use for roughing out blanks. Don't mind the spoons, these are some of my first attempts at carving spoons so they are really rough.

I have since added a couple more, my favorite at the moment being a Roselli axe. It is a very weird axe but works wonderfully. The picture is not of mine, just something I took offline.


So Eric, I noticed in your pictures that the Viking shaped axe doesn't get used all that much. Would you maybe be interested in selling it?

[Brian Ashton]

I get a giggle every time someone in aus refers to an axe or hatchet, they always call them tomahawks. couple times in the beginning they'd get quite offended because I would start laughing and yell out "hey honey, where's the tomahawk?" and she'd start laughing and say "it's in the teepee honey"...

[Frank Wilson]

I have several other axes that I like, but I don't have photos easily at hard.

First is a viking axe style carving axe. It is flat on one side and has a bevel on the other. I had it custom made to my specs by Michael Deibert. He made the head and I made the handle from Dogwood.

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Next is a rusty axe I found in my grandfathers shed. He died in '99, so there is no telling how long this was just sitting out there. I got it a few months ago.. There is a before and after pic.

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Last is an old broad axe that I am in the process of working on. I only have a before picture and its not a very good one.

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[Frank Wilson]

I forgot that I had these photos on my phone. They aren't the best quality but I think these axes are neat. They are Finnish axes. They were covered in rust and I gave them a vinegar bath and sharpened them. I need to get some handles made and try them.

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[Bob Jones]

I seriously need some axes and this thread is not helping

Please, do NOT pm me if you have a left hand beveled carpenters or shaping hatchet to sell.

[Jim Koepke]

I seriously need some axes and this thread is not helping

Don't feel bad Bob, none of my axes have looks worth putting in pictures.

One hatchet has a brand mark on it that may be of interest, but doubtfully of value.

jtk

[phil harold]

I thought my plumb ax was the schnitz
looks like I was wrong

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I'm pretty good at swing an axe or firewood (although it's been a year or two since I've done so) and after seeing some of the prep work Follansbee does with one I've been intrigued with the idea of picking one up, but a couple of things come to mind -

I'm primarily interested in one for trimming the width of boards when something's too thick to plane, but thin enough you're not interested in the offcut, and just want to get the work done quickly. Currently I use a drawknife in this situation. I most frequently see the axe approach taken by folks like Follansbee, who do a lot of their work in green timbers. I pretty much only work with kiln-dried stuff, although I'd like to pick up some air-dried material. How well does the axe approach work in kiln-dried lumber for this type of task? (Aside from the obvious issues of run-out that would present themselves in non-riven material)

I just spent half a day fettling a bunch of vintage blades; I'm getting tired of tuning old tools. Does anyone make a decent single-bevel axe new?

[Frank Wilson]

Gransfor bruks makes a carving axe that is single beveled. They make different versions with different bevels. Sort of expensive. Not sure if that would meet your needs or not.

I have one I can try to take a picture of later. I won't get home from work till after 11 though.

[Tony Shea]

I'm pretty good at swing an axe or firewood (although it's been a year or two since I've done so) and after seeing some of the prep work Follansbee does with one I've been intrigued with the idea of picking one up, but a couple of things come to mind -

I'm primarily interested in one for trimming the width of boards when something's too thick to plane, but thin enough you're not interested in the offcut, and just want to get the work done quickly. Currently I use a drawknife in this situation. I most frequently see the axe approach taken by folks like Follansbee, who do a lot of their work in green timbers. I pretty much only work with kiln-dried stuff, although I'd like to pick up some air-dried material. How well does the axe approach work in kiln-dried lumber for this type of task? (Aside from the obvious issues of run-out that would present themselves in non-riven material)

I just spent half a day fettling a bunch of vintage blades; I'm getting tired of tuning old tools. Does anyone make a decent single-bevel axe new?

I personally use an axe a ton in my workshop, not just for carving but for hewing an edge close to the line that I don't want to rip saw off. I actually use them less now that I have a bandsaw but still choose the axe from time to time.

A huge misconception about using an axe in this method is that the axe needs to be a single bevel hewing axe. It is just as easy to use a typical double bevel axe to achieve the same result. It will just change the angle at which you chop into the wood. I actually prefer to use a double bevel axe in this situation. A single bevel will excel at hewing large faces flat such as trees into beams. But hewing the face of a kiln dried board is not much fun and really better suited to hand planes. But I hew kiln dried board edges all the time with my double bevel axes, works wonderfully.

[Ralph Juarros]

Frank, that Viking ax is a beauty. The Finnish axes are gems also are. Thanks for posting pics. Ralph

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Thanks guys. It's still a "someday" purchase for me, I can still get by with a drawknife or jack plane for now, but I appreciate the help. Given that I'm primarily looking for thinning down the width of a 1/2 or 3/4 to 1" stock, what size would y'all be looking at?