I bought another axe at the flea market. A boy's axe of some variation or another. Maybe a Kelly's or True Temper.



I started by reprofiling the edge and thinning the cheeks to help it cut easily.



Here it is next to a Plumb boy's axe I re-handled myself.



I needed to take down a few Locust trees so I decided to try and fell them with my boy's axe. It actually cut like crazy. It worked super well except a tiny little problem. The head started coming off about 1/8". This looked to be the original handle.



The right way to fix it would be to drive off the handle and then remove the wedge and set it down a bit further onto the handle and set the kerf correctly and wedge it again. I bought it for $10 so I decided to just try using a couple steel wedges and do it the red neck way. I took it out and tried it again today. It only moved about .010" in 30 minutes of hard chopping. It will most likely work just fine for now until I decide to do it right. It might be years before I need to do that.

I cut up 5 more small trees today.  I cut them down and cut them into manageable lengths. Limbing them was actually kind of scary. I put the trunk between me and the cut to protect my legs. It took the 1 to 1.5" limbs off without effort. They just cut clean through like it was nothing. Faster than a chain saw but lacking the same control without plenty of practice.

More important than the lessons learned with my $10 boy's axe are the lessons about felling trees and limbing the tree after.

I found that you really don't need a lot of force. I got a huge amount of penetration with accurate strokes. Accuracy is far more important than force.

I found that the angle of attack was very important to avoid skipping out of the cut and to avoid a shallow, bouncing cut. I skipped out of the log a few times trying to widen the notch.  The angle helped to keep it safe while opening the notch in a few strokes instead of one big one.

I found that I could fell a tree the exact same way as with a chain saw, with just as much control, but just higher on the tree. I couldn't create a nice clean notch closer to the ground. That was no problem.

I found that I had more control with the flatter profile of the red boy's axe, and the Plumb cut faster with its more rounded profile. The rounder profile cuts deep! Both axes have similar cheek profiles and both are nice even convex profiles.


I really need lots and lots of practice. More accuracy and smoother swings. Better technique. I did just fine but I could always use more time with them.  Control is great with both hands compared to a regular hatchet.

Get out there and do. Don't talk about it or expect it to come naturally when you need the skills.

Axes are great but I feel they cant touch a good saw when it comes to cutting wood efficiently. Any good saws that you've come across? Some of the older ones meant to be sharpened rather than disposed like most of the new ones? Thanks in advance for any tips!
FerFAL

I don't disagree. Saws are generally safer and they waste less wood. I would rather fell a tree with an axe than a hand saw. I would rather cut firewood to length with a saw. I would rather limb a tree with an axe.

I wish I knew more about two man saws. That might be next on the list of things to work on. I would like to learn to sharpen a big hand saw.

The main point is that we use our cutting tools now to learn to use them well before a learning error could cost you your life.

I will say that probably 1 in 1000 people who have used an axe have used one that was properly sharpened. It's all different once it's right.

It sounds like a Black art.

any good links on how to put a correct profile/edge on an axe?  Have few that are getting fairly dull and would love to do it right the first time

Trimmed a few limbs from my tree this weekend.  Decided to do all the processing of the smaller limbs with my hatchet and folding saw.  Definitely good to get some practice with them and see how they hold up.

You know, some time ago I was doing a bit of carpentry with a new hammer I just bought brand new from the store. I think I was building some furniture with my grandfather.
Back then if we needed a new book case we would go buy some nice wood and actually build one, not buy it from Ikea. So I'm using this new hammer when I notice that the head is getting loose. My grandpa was a carpenter, one that did pretty well and opened a big carpentry shop employing several people. He sees the problem I'm having with the hammer, says "gimme that", and to my horror he just smacks the handle on the floor a couple times to set it deep, pokes around a little box with some random screws, picks a couple, and crudely screws them on top of the hammer at some awkward angles. No wedge, no propperly set handle, just a couple rusty screws slapped on top. My nice new hammer was ruinned... or so I thought. It sure didnt look pretty, but its been 15 years now and that hammer head never came loose again. Man I miss my grandpa.
FerFAL

Does reprofiling the head get below the case hardening?  I've got an axe head I sharpened last year, and I could feel it was getting softer as I took more material off.

They are not case hardened.  You were breaking through the outer oxidized layer. The heat treating usually goes about 1" up the bit.

I find it hard to own an axe or hatchet without a proper edge geometry.  If the cheeks are too thick the bit will split well but it will not penetrate to cut deep. If the edge and cheeks are too thin the bit will stick and not properly pop the chip.

There is something about the convex edge that makes it really hard to stick a bit into a piece of wood. It pushes the wood further and further away from the bit as the edge cuts. The thicker the edge the more pressure required as the edge penetrates and the more pressure it puts on the chip for ejection. It is really interesting.

I one hatchet that needs a bit of work. I can't fix it right now and it's like nails on a chalkboard...

This is the one I was going to change but I decided to leave. The edge is very "general purpose" right now.

This edge....


On this hatchet.

Funny! I just picked up a small hand axe like that yesterday for a buck at a garage sale. Its in the garage right now drying from its new paint job.

That's funny!
I was going to tape it off and hit it with some new red paint in the morning!  I cleaned up a few nicks and dings with my belt sander so it looks funny.

I got ripped compared to you. Mine was $4.

Guys using junk like belt sanders to sharpen with is why I NEVER loan out any sort of cutting tools or blades.


Seriously...

http://www.tormek.com/en/jigs/sva170/

Do you have any idea how $5000 custom blades come into existence?  I do. Belt sanders and grinders. Flat grinds, hollow grinds, and slack of belt sanding.

That silly rig you posted only gives a hollow grind which is a very poor edge for an axe. You can't properly thin the cheeks or set up a proper convex edge.

You need to watch that forestry video. It will thoroughly destroy the concepts behind that rig.

I just put red paint on my boy's axe, my hatchet, and a very nice cruiser sized double bit I bought for $3 at the flea market.  I will have the double bit hafted, profiled, and sharpened by tomorrow.

All three of them were red at one point. What color do you use on your cutting tools?

A Tormek would easily get it so sharp you could shave with it - And it would do so without creating any sparks or heat. If one really did not 'want' a hollow grind they could easily use the side of the stone for flat sharpening of something that small. With the Japanese stone being used the edge would come out looking like a mirror and have NO need for any further honing at all...


You simply don't know any better because you have never used any good or proper sharpening tools.

You simply have no idea what you are talking about. Watch the video I linked above. It will explain how to properly sharpen an axe or hatchet. There is far more to it than a shaving sharp edge. Your axes sharpened with that system will never even come close to cutting the way a bit with properly thinned cheeks and properly sharpened will.

That is beside the point. A properly used belt sander will not come close to over heating the steel. Every single solitary knife maker I know and all of the production knife companies use belt sanders. There is nothing improper about using them right.

I had to grind the piss out of a carpenters hatchet this evening to give it a reasonable working edge. I had to start with 36 grit, 80 grit, 100 grit, 220 grit, and then 400 grit compact grain. The edge when done was very functional and beautiful to look at. I finished it with very fine diamond and white ceramic. It dry shaves flawlessly. The hardness of the steel is perfectly unchanged.

You are being critical of practices that are perfectly legitimate while your own understanding of what makes an axe cut well is lacking.

The part I bolded is complete and utter nonsense. I would imagine that even the 'Chinese' knife makers have better tools than that in this day and age...



I DID try to watch the video you posted. I saw enough of it to see what tools the guy was using and his method and then stopped watching.

The guy was using those tools most likely because that was either all he had or because it was all he could afford. The method he was using was slow and not very accurate because he had very basic / beginner level (garbage) tools to work with.

Even one of those cheap 'worksharp' tools would have been a substantial upgrade for that guy in terms of speed, accuracy and repeatability of his preferred blade angles.


Bevel angles make a big difference as well depending on the particular wood that one is cutting. I am guessing you have no idea what your current bevel angle even is... (you never mentioned it)

That guy is a historian and authority on axes and their use. He knows more about axes than any 10 guys who think they know something about the subject. He recently retired and his collection fetched huge money.  

My angles range from 25 to 30 degrees. I find that I do just fine in soft woods with 25 degrees so I tend to stay with that. Most of the reason it works is the convex edge that pushes the wood away from the body of the blade as it cuts. My latest refurb is a double bit that is probably just a bit closer to 22-23 degrees. I'm not worried about it sticking with the proper edge it has on it.


You need to rewatch the video until you see what a properly sharpened axe bevel looks like. You will not duplicate it with a work sharp and you show that you really don't understand what that edge geometry achieves.

Thanks for posting the vids. A great source of info. I paint mine red or fluorescent orange. I like the brighter colors. It makes them easier to spot.

Join the club!  I just re-handled two that were begging for new handles.  A hatchet and boys size axe.  Then after putting new handles on them I realized that I have to many axes and hatchets for the corner they were stacked so I build an AXE rack!  I will have to post pictures when I get a chance.  Rustic and actually came out pretty well but now it makes it look like I have WAY to many axes and hatchets!

I just found another double bit on a job site, so I have to find a handle for it.  That plus two other full sizes I have had since last year need handles.

Knives, axes, hatchets, hawks, bow saws, folding saws...  When I put all of what I have in a pile I start to wonder, however I enjoy the project of refurbishing equally to using.

ETA/ for good youtube vids reference axes, or homesteading in general check out Wranglerstar:

https://www.youtube.com/user/wranglerstar/

I have two boy's axes, two single bits, two double bits, a double bit cruiser, and seven hatchets.

This makes sense.  I'd always wondered why cutting trees with an axe sucked so badly.  The chainsaw was the answer I was seeking.  

However...  There is nothing more fun that using a properly sharpened splitting maul.

It's crazy to feel how deep an axe will penetrate and how easily when it's done right.

Poor lighting at 3am but you can still get the "idea" of my axe rack:





Made it with some rough sawn scraps I had collected.

You know, you have a serious blade addiction when you have to build a rack just for your axes and hawks!

I'm freaked out about all the axe and hatchet covers I need buy to protect myself and my family from them.

Addiction, hobby, -eh same thing...  
start using it, put the darn sheath in your pack and leave it there until your packing it out again or whatever.  Don't keep taking it on and off during use because eventually you will set it down, or it will fall off, get forgotten or lost and you will be out a sheath, or my case a custom one that I had made for my pipe hawk years back.
While I don't have a sheath for each and every, I have several, and one that will work for each if necessary.  I make my own now, and only make one if its a favorite or I plan on using it a lot.





-That said my "man cave" is a gear disaster which needs a serious overhaul.

Damn