Thread: Axes!

Originally Posted by basil

I remember jimmy saying something about axe men always bidding on three line swatys?

Yep. 3 line swaty and vintage nortons are bought by axemen. I think it was Howard from the perfectedge who knew this from axemen friends.

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http://www.bestmadeco.com/

Originally Posted by Grizzley1

This may sound like a stupid question but what exactly is a bastard file? I've used my father's tools my whole life and he has a lot of files and I have no idea what the names of the different files are, other than a rasp.

Not a stupid question, as most people nowadays would probably ask, "Is it a Word doc, pdf, or jpg? I asked the woman at teh computer store for a bastard and she slapped me."

Originally Posted by Hirlau

What I was taught was that it means a file that is neither a smooth or rough cut; in other words it is a "bastard" , in between.

Right you are. The file classification is evenly numbered, so mathematically speaking the "bastard" and "second cut" are the middles--the bastard being rougher as in courser. A single-cut means there's one row of diagonal teeth running up the file. A double-cut means there's two opposing diagonal rows running up the file, crossing each other, that form little diamonds. The single takes off less material per stroke but leaves a smoother finish while the double takes off more material per stroke but leaves a rougher finish.

Originally Posted by coachschaller

I will be camping in Michigan as well, where will you be?

I don't know yet. I have never been to Michigan. A friend of mine from Michigan is looking into it for me. I should know more the second week of July. I will get back to you when I find out.

Keep me posted! I will most likely bring my splitting maul! We heat our house with fire wood and I like splitting logs so I have a hardware store special.

do throwing/battle axe's count?

so the first of my axes came in today..today it was the mini hatchet.

When i got the axe i wanted to see if it was as sharp as everyone keeps saying. It easily sliced through hanging paper so i was impressed. Next i took it to the yard to clean up a bit. I was very impressed with this tiny little beast. took care of small branches up to 2 inches no problem, chopped up everything very easily into nice little bundles for me.

Afterwards i treated it with a little coticule touch up and it was even sharper than before. I will say this is by far my best wilderness acquisition to date.

I will be sure to post pics soon but for now I'm going to see if my neighbor needs help in their yard.... :P

Originally Posted by Bruno

Isn't it rather pointless to strop an axe?

I once sharpened an axe all the way to 8000 grit mirror polish and shaved with it. Only for the novelty of course. Because such edges don't last past the first couple of strokes once ou start chopping a tree. I can only see that being useful for timber sports, where time is measures in hundreths of seconds, and you only need a dozen strokes of the axe. And of course benchmarks or shaving challenges ,

Of course it's pointless! Same as having my general use knives shaving sharp. Apart from carving tools there's no need, but when you know you can get an axe atom splitting sharp it's kinda hard not to!

Will let you young guys dink around with axes I pack my chainsaw when I go camping.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Will let you young guys dink around with axes I pack my chainsaw when I go camping.

Chainsaws for felling!!!! I have a Stihl 440 magnum and mauls for splitting!