My father's axe

[Burnham]

I don't really have significant difficulty getting the axe out of the top of the chopping block . That was hyperbole to emphasize how fast I can accelerate the head of said axe .

 

[Kaveman]

Crap, I'm on the wrong phone, I don't have pics of the Axes I was just recently gifted. A Gransforce Bruk (or however you spell the Swedish Bork Bork axe company) and a Condor out of El Salvador. Both are quite nice axes. I'll get some photos up soon, as I'd like everyone's opinion on just what kind of axe my Condor is.

 

[stig]

Gränsfors

 

[Kaveman]

Gränsfors

GrAnSfOrS with am oomloutt, which I undoubtedly spelled wrong. On purpose. And because I can't be bothered to look it up.

Stig, I want you to know, that in all seriousness, you are one of the highlights of my day! I love you, thank you for being the you that I have met here on this forum. Now go stretch your back, you tree planting machine!

 

[Kaveman]

@stikine knows what pattern axe this is, but I don't lol. I like it quite a bit, swings like an axe, splits like a maul. Full length of handle is 36 inches.

 

[lxskllr]

I call them Euro or German pattern, but I don't know what they're really called.

 

[davidwyby]

Cool axe.

That thing would be STUCK in this eucalyptus.

 

[Treeaddict]

That’s the first axe I’ve seen where the back was rounded.

 

[Kaveman]

That’s the first axe I’ve seen where the back was rounded.

I was always told that felling axes don't have polls. Dunno how true that is.

 

[Burnham]

Depends on your definition of felling axe, perhaps. Where I live, a felling axe is the tool you use to drive wedges when you are felling...thus must have a poll.

 

[lxskllr]

A 'felling axe' brings to mind working with a crosscut saw. Dunno what you'd call a modern wedge banger.

Anyone know how long it took to fell a redwood with an axe and crosscut? Get the gunning cut in with the saw, and you're on the axe team. Chop! a little chip flies out. Chop! there goes another chip... "Kill me now..." :^D

 

[stikine]

Have you ever looked at the size of the ax chips at the base? Pretty impressive.

 

[stikine]

I was always told that felling axes don't have polls. Dunno how true that is.

I think that is more of a European head design that you have there.

 

[lxskllr]

I have not. Do redwoods cut pretty easily? Even if it's a gravy tree to cut, the size is pretty intimidating. That's a lot of big chips to get a face in.

 

[stikine]

Being a very soft wood I'm sure they chop pretty easy...other than the shear size of them. You'll also notice on most of the redwood crosscut saws they used had half as many teeth and double the number of rakers to facilitate clearing the "noodles" out of the saw kerf.

 

[lxskllr]

Dunno what you'd call a modern wedge banger.

Fallers axe. I think that's a good name. A felling axe is primarily for chopping, while a fallers axe is primarily for banging.

 

[Kaveman]

I took a class on cross cut felling. A proper saw makes a huge difference, it's still no job for the faint of heart.

 

[Treeaddict]

I was always told that felling axes don't have polls. Dunno how true that is.

I figured the back of the axe head had a name, so it’s a poll? Or the poll is the back of the axe only if it’s flat?

 

[Kaveman]

From what I understand poll refers to the side opposite the blade. Whether a flat striking surface or just rounded like my Condor, still a poll. Battle axes have polls, some are spiked.

 

[SeanKroll]

When chopping a downed log with an ax, USFS stipulated somewhere that your notch width should be the diameter of the log if rollable, and double if not. Big chips come out faster with wider angles.

You see this in timbersport events.

 

[Burnham]

Maybe as John postulates, a felling axe is for chopping out the face, and a falling axe is for driving wedges and chopping away thick bark.

It always has been fuzzy how the two words get used, to me. Are we felling this tree, or falling it? Some people just mix and match as the spirit moves them, ime. That's sorta where I am on the usage. So the axe thing makes perfect sense, in that there is no sense to it .

 

[SeanKroll]

"To fell" is the act that causes it to fall. Some dictionary told me, recently

 

[Burnham]

No clarity there re which is what for the axe name question.

 

[flushcut]

Have you ever looked at the size of the ax chips at the base? Pretty impressive.

They look like cedar shake.

 

[gf beranek]

I have felled trees with axes. Just for fun or for a stunt. But when falling timber I never carried an axe that was sharp enough to chop a tree down.

Sharp only enough to chip off bark for setting wedges, and freeing a stuck saw once in while.

Toting a razor sharp axe in the woods is a liability for the modern timber faller.

My friend Larry Galliani once told me, "Jer, if you're chopping wood you're not making any money."