Thursday, August 20, 2009

Broad Axe

I popped into the Parry Sound antiques shop today and lo and behold, buddy had an old broad axe for sale, $20. Sold!

This Campbell's Tools, St. John, NB no. 4 just needs a good brushing.
And a handle adjustment.

I've been looking for one of these puppies cheap for a long time. I could buy one new for $150 - $300, but I'm too busy paying off the safety harness for that.

Broad axes are used to hand hew logs into squared beams - the old fashioned way. I can use it to lay down trail beams for woodlot bridges and a whole whack of other things. These axes were used extensively in the new and old world before mills replaced them for the most part in the 1800s. The side shown has a beveled edge for sharpening while the other side is flat for shaping the log. Think of it as a big and heavy wood chisel.

Here it is after power brushing off some rust.
Looks like a sculpture.

And now I have something to bring to those angry mobs!

6 comments:

  1. That is a righteous axe. It exudes honesty.

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  2. Thats a killer axe.

    Too bad it can't be spelled "ax" though.

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  3. Mmm... 'ax' is more to the point.

    It is what it is. Axes are pretty straightforward alright. I was dressing a cedar shake into better shape last evening and caught my finger on the edge of it.

    Quickly was glad that it wasn't sharp. Then I remembered it was as I'd recently filed it. The blood didn't start to seep out for about twenty seconds because it was a pretty clean slice.

    And the cut was healing pretty well until I rotary hammer drill slammed into my finger and face more than a few times today. And now it's healing again.

    I draw blood pretty much every day and my fingernails won't get clean.

    Where's my beer?

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  4. How much does the head weigh? I have used sledgehammers, and when they get over 8 pounds(medium sized) you can start to wonder what's happening to your shoulders. 12 pounds are killers, and I think there's a 16 pound one but I probably just dreamed about it to scare myself.

    My guess is 6 pounds, but it might be more.

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  5. it's only because I've tried getting away with using it in scrabble about a thousand times.

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  6. The broad axe is maybe a pound and a half, one hander, which is the way I like it. The timbers I'd be hewing aren't too big so the five inch blade is about right.

    I went into Lee Valley to try the Granfors Bruks broad axe (7", 3 lb) and that's definately a two hander for me. Not my style - and it's $300.

    I'm an 8 lb sledge man, myself.

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