Moderator
I'm told this makes a difference with chain saws too.Originally Posted by Tom Stenzel
I once visited a neighbor on my way to trim a tree, chainsaw in the back of the truck. He looked at the saw and ask me how it cut. I had put the chain on backwards after sharpening.
JKJ
Member
I was walking around in the museum one day and went into one of the operating 18th. C. kitchens. The interpreter was talking while using a butcher knife's BACK side to peel a potato. Not paying attention to what she was doing. I got all but one of her knives and took them to my shop where I sharpened all of them. They were horribly dull! Then,I returned them,hoping that the FEEL of a sharp edge cutting a potato skin would tell her if she was using the cutting edge rather than the back,even while talking to the public!!
[OP]
Contributor
What would be the fun of that? Just kidding. I sawed up a hickory for firewood on Sunday and I'm hankering to split up a couple of pieces and make something out of green wood. I'm going to rough in two handles, because I assume I'll screw one up, and then let them dry until I finish the other 33 projects I'm working on right now. Then once they're dry I'll do final shaping.
Contributor
Oh my! Don't tell us she sliced her thumb wide open during the next demo.
Moderator
I have a knife sharpening machine that puts such a good edge on a knife you might be able to drop a piece of paper and slice it in two before it hits the ground. When I bought it the dealer told me when sharpening someone's knife to be sure to warn them that it is not just sharp, it is SHARP. Someone who tests an edge with a thumb might wish he hadn't.
A fresh edge on a good SOG, ahh...
JKJ
Member
Do you use best way to secure axe head in the world, the snakehead wedges, at that side of the world? I don't know it real name, but straight translation from finnish is snakehead wedge. Or I have heard also dog cock wedge. And only right handle material is birch....
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Last edited by Tomi Rosso; 09-27-2016 at 4:07 PM.
Member
Ha! Everyone knows hickory is right and proper. Birch is for growing bark for canoes.
Oh, that's right, you guys don't have any hickory. The mountains run the wrong direction, as I've heard, and ice wiped out all the good trees.
(Ducking)
Fair winds and following seas,
Jim Waldron
Member
In the far North all they have in hardwoods is Birch. That's all we had growing in Alaska.
Guest
Did you hear about the city fella that bought a chainsaw at the local hardware shop to cut down some trees in his newly-purchased rural backyard? He took it home, but returned to the store the next day, worn out and with blisters on both hands. He complained to the store owner that his new chainsaw didn't cut well at all, and that he wanted a refund, dammit.
The store owner inspected the chain, which was not installed backwards. But he noticed that the teeth were clogged with wood fibers. Hmmmm.
Then he checked the fuel tank and saw it was half full. Then he checked the spark plug, but it was perfect. So far so good.
Then he yanked the starter rope and the chainsaw's motor immediately screamed to life.
The city fella was surprised, nearly jumping out of his argyle socks with shock, and yelled "what the hell is that noise!!??"
Member
Birch, pine and spruce, if you need anything more that's just snobbery. Well maybe alder in sauna at laude. Is there any good translation to word laude, the certain bench where you are sitting when you are throwing water to stove? I have heard that one time one fella found an Oak tree, but that is just a rumor.....
Well, yes we have some more trees than those, but forrest are full of birch, pine and spruce. Birch was before obvious choise to axe handle, because when you was chopping birch at firewood and handle breaks, you just take next billet from the pile and make new handle and after that just continue making those firewoods again. Birch is the best firewood in the world too...
If you are buying handles at store, those are many times hickory in here too, but birch is traditional way to do it.
Member
Just remember, much of tradition is built on necessity, not quality of result.
(If birch works well, I suppose we can grant a dispensation for it's use in the frozen North. After all, it wouldn't have worked long enough to become a tradition if it didn't work at all.)
Fair winds and following seas,
Jim Waldron
Moderator
And necessity may be tied closely to availability.
The blacksmith I know who makes reproductions of Viking throwing axes said by amazing good fortune some axes were excavated from an ancient well where enough of the wood was preserved to determine the species. Based on this, he uses ash for his handles to guarantee period authenticity. He said cherry was a second wood found. I suspect Mr Viking might stoop to using what ever wood he could find. Assuming he couldn't find the traditional birch, of course.
Member
I read an article of test what Fiskars was made sometime ago. Conclusion was that good quality handle made from birch was as durable as hickory handle. Birch problem is at more unflexible material, that it may hit more to your hands when using it. Head proper position helps to that. Second problem was that when using it at very cold weather, it could break more easily when making a miss hit and handle hits at something. Most usually at destination what you was splitting. But again, man must do better strikes and how often people are using axe at very low temperatures constantly nowadays.
Last winter I read from newspaper at man, who lost his fingers when using axe at winter. He was made firewoods at more then -30 degrees of celcius without gloves. Fingers were freezed, but axe handle was still undamaged....
You are right of that tradition is not always best way to do things. But many times someone else way to do thigns is not automatically worse. If used right, birch could be as good handle as hickory. But again, it needs right way to use it.
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