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Thread: Show your Tools: Axes

  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mikkel Frederiksen View Post
    Here's the one I use for spooncarving and hewing bowl blanks.

    I designed it and a friend of mine did the forgeing.

    It is a great axe, and it has been my favorite, since it got it this summer

    Attachment 282071Attachment 282072Attachment 282073Attachment 282074
    Wish I had a friend that was a blacksmith! That really turned out nice Mikkel. Are you a lefty or are you using the bevel side for hewing? I assume you're using the flat side to hew but I have seen where someone uses the flat side of a hewing axe on the outside of their body.

  2. #32
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    Just got my new carving Axe. Bought from Country Workshops, made by Hans Karlsson. A little smaller than I thought it would be, handle is 13" instead of 15" and feels lighter than the advertised 24.5 oz too. Works well though.

    IMG_0102.jpg
    Last edited by Mike Holbrook; 02-11-2014 at 7:46 AM.

  3. #33
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    Mike, despite its size, does it perform as expected?

  4. #34
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    Mike that is a beautiful axe you have there. I assume it to be the Sloyd Carving axe Hans makes? I have been seriously contemplating ordering one up, such a great resource the Country Workshop is for getting these tools that otherwise wouldn't be available to us. I also would love to know how the axe preforms in use, might just put me over the edge and end up ordering it.

    By the sounds of it you are really getting set up with some high quality green woodworking tools Mike. Not that I'm getting jealous or anything.

  5. #35
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    Yes, the axe came from Country Workshops and was made by Hans Karlsson. I am not sure if the axe I have is the standard Karlsson axe or not. According to Drew Langsner's page he asked Karlsson to make a change or two to his original design. As I mention above my axe is not the exact dimensions Drew shows on his web site either. Of course these are individually hand made tools so there will be some variety. Woodland Craft Supplies in the UK offers a Hans Karlsson Carpenters axe which looks similar but may be another version.

    I have been very impressed with my axe thus far. It is smaller and lighter than I imagined it would be. I have large logs and stumps that I am interested in carving large bowls, chairs etc. from. For the more typical sized spoons and bowls I think the axe I have is probably about all one could ask for. Drew finds the Gransfors Carving Axe a little large for his taste with it's 2lb head. I have seen videos of guys carving with Svante's larger Viking Axe 3 1/3lbs though, carried at Woodland Craft Supplies not Drew's place. I think the Sloyd axe I have will wind up being my smaller axe at 24.5 (?)oz. Drew likes the small Svante 14.5oz. axe. I plan to buy another axe or two in the 2-3 lb range for larger work. I am use to carrying large dogs around attached to my arm so my impressions concerning weight may be atypical.

    I talked to Drew earlier about tools I ordered back before Christmas that I thought were due to arrive back then but still have not shown up. Apparently there has been a major increase in interest in green woodworking recently and all the Sweedish makers are apparently backed up with orders.

    Tony I am finding that I like working with green wood even more than working with the dry, machined wood. I also happen to have several trees lying on the ground with part of the root ball still buried, a good, relatively long term source of workable wood that I will have to do something with. I have this very nice large black walnut tree that fell across the creek, still alive laying in the creek. These large trees fall in the creek regularly with all the rain we have been having. Ice storms in the are, right now as a matter of fact, bring down some of the nice hardwoods on the steep hill I live on too. I am planing to thin trees on an acre or two of land come spring. Apparently the area I live in is an excellent source for most of the best green woods. I have always enjoyed sculpture. Maybe it's fate? I have decided to go with the flow.
    Last edited by Mike Holbrook; 02-12-2014 at 1:50 PM.

  6. #36
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    Here is another axe I think is excellent Svante Djarv's Little Viking Axe, available at Woodland Craft Supplies or Woodsmith, both in the UK. I believe this would be considered a mid weight carving axe between the Gransfor and the HK, Hans Karlsson:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjUOCIjIQBY

    I find it inspiring to see how much detail can be achieved with a tool which one might think is about as "crude" as they come.

    This is the same guy using another Viking axe. I believe this one is made by Stefan Ronnqvist. Woodland Craft Supplies is the only place I have found it for sale and they have been "out of stock, expecting any time, for months. This axe was very popular a few years back. It is the axe Jogge Sundqvist uses in the "Carving Sweedish Woodenware" video he did at Country Workshops. It is a little lighter axe closer in weight to the HK Sloyd axe.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9JO5y6QwnA

    Gransfors favorite axe for this type work is their "Swedish Carving Axe" designed by Wille Sundquist, Jogge's dad and a major influence on this craft. Some people find it a little on the heavy side. Axe work is half way through the video. first he shows Adze work with what i believe is Hans Karlsson's excellent Adze. I guess an adze is an axe too. The third tool he uses appears to be one of HK's heavy duty gouges.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbHcFw92B1A
    Last edited by Mike Holbrook; 02-15-2014 at 10:16 AM.

  7. #37
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    I found another interesting link, this one is especially interesting because it offers pictures of most of the better carving axes in one place. Check out Svante Djarv's Little Viking Axe, which is usually referred to as a"medium" sized axe for general comparison. There is a comparison, side by side, shot of the regular Svante Djarv "large" Viking and the "Little" Viking axes. The regular Viking looks very big...until you look at the picture of the Svante Timber Axe, single bevel hewing axe above it, which in turn makes the big Viking look small.

    In order of size, the small but popular Svante "Baby" Axe weighs in at around 14 oz. The Hans Karlsson Sloyd Axe head is around 24 oz. The "Little Viking" is another 4-6 oz. The Gransfor Carving Axe maybe 34 oz., then comes the big Svante Viking Axe at over 53oz. I can't even find a weight for the Svante Timber Axe but I can see that it is substantially larger than the Viking Axe. The selection of sizes then is quite large. Also various places that sell these axes may list different weights for the same axe, possibly due to conversion from grams to Kilograms to ozs. to lbs.... Since these axes are hand forged they will each be a little different too. I also believe that companies, like Country Workshops, request modifications to specific axe models. Still I think it helps to have a rough idea of size and weight for the various models we may have access to. Handles are an even more difficult part to predict from these custom makers. Species of wood, size and shape can and do change between batches made. My suggestion is read all the detail available from whomever you might purchase one of these axes from and be aware what you get may not be exactly what you were expecting.

    http://www.small-scale.net/yearofmud.../axes-we-love/
    Last edited by Mike Holbrook; 02-17-2014 at 10:03 AM.

  8. #38
    Surprised that I have something so soon to contribute to this thread but aside for the McKinnon which I paid 15 for I paid 5 dollars for the large one which is a Rixford?(R45) and 2 dollars for the small camping Stanley.




    I got enough information on the McKinnon in the other thread I posted, but the Rixford I can't find any information on aside for one thread on a blade forum so was wondering if anyone here knew anything about them.

  9. #39
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    For the axe fans out there. I ordered a Svante Djarv Little Viking Axe, back in February. I just got it today April 14. I ordered it from Woodland Craft Supplies in England as I could find no source in the US. Some of these Axes are very hard to get as guys like Svante have long backlogs. It might be a good time to check Woodland Craft Supplies for stock. The axes were listed in stock when I ordered mine. So I would call or email first to make sure they have more in stock before ordering. Love the weight, head and handle of this axe....

    So here it is next to the Hans Karrlson Axe so people can see the differences. As I hope the picture shows the two axes have many basic similarities. The main differences are the Svante axe is a little heavier, has a larger cutting edge, more curved cutting edge and a little different handle. The Svante axe is a medium size axe, making the HK axe more toward the small side. Svante also makes a larger version of the Little Viking Axe simply called The Viking Axe. The Viking axe is large at 1.5 k or 3 3/4 lbs vs .8 k or a little under 2 lbs for the Little Viking. I plan to use the HK for small work, like spoons, and the Svante for larger work, like big bowls.

    IMG_0109.jpg
    Last edited by Mike Holbrook; 04-15-2014 at 2:16 PM.

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