that's so beautiful

self-evidently well-worthwhile


i don't think we've answered the question about the chipped axe. could it be used as an initial process, with another tool used for finishing? that looks like a lot of metal to wearaway. though it would likely attribute a kind of intensity to the person willing to goto the work.

tim- are you going to leave the wedge like that? thinking it through/getting ready or is there some idea in it as it is?

The wedge is just a chip off the floor, most likely it will serve as the permanent wedge but it will be removed when I get back to it. With this axe I guess one could leave it long to allow ease of reversing the handle. I am not the owner of this axe, I will leave it up to him as to what type of handle he likes, it will suite his purpose. He already mentioned it is too long.

Tim

Giver! get it sharp and go to work. My negative comments are only based on what I've seen at ontario antique shows. pretty rough. Sharpen it up and post your work. Awesome! Look out for knots!

Hi Jim, right here on the bottom of the second page, my axe picture. My latest try at posting wouldn't even get the blue words on the screen. Under "new post" I click on "insert img" and follow the prompts but something is not going right. Not sure what I am missing.

Thank you.

Tim

Ok, what I did was I clicked on your blue image location link, then the picture appeared as a new tab on my firefox browser screen. I then right clicked on the image and selected copy image location, which put the image location onto my clipboard.

When I pasted it into my post text, I added the image tag brackets [img] and then the end image bracket [/img] and it displayed.

Generally I just type in the image brackets around the image location link, and don't try to use the automatic image insertion functions of this forum.

Seems to work easier for me.

Somehow you're getting several image tags and they maybe conflicting with each other or some other problem.

Jim Rogers

I recently bought this axe off ebay:

http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd48...03-03211530.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd481/Weaverofduart/2012-03-03211530.jpg

http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd48...03-03211604.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd481/Weaverofduart/2012-03-03211604.jpg

http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd48...03-03211534.jpg target=_blank><img src=http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd481/Weaverofduart/2012-03-03211534.jpg

It was described to me as ready to use with a tiny amount of damage to one end. Well it is not in really bad condition but its certainly not ready to use.

Questions:

Can anyone identify the pattern? Based on how thin the bit is I'd say its a finishing axe but from when and where?

The cutting edge is mostly straight, at the front and rear of the cutting edge it curves up by about 2mm out of dead straight line. Would the original grind have ben dead straight but its worn more at the front and rear our would it have been more convex in shape having worn more in the middle?

The back is not flat but is concave, like a japanese chisel. This may mean that although the back is pitted it should still be posible to get a good edge. Espeacially if it is possible to hammer the edge like you would with a jp chisel and then grind it flat before redoing the single bevel. Has any one heard of doing this with a european style axe before?

How should I go about getting it in to working order? If it is meant to straight thenif it were a chisel I would grind it back square to remove the chip s. Then I would flatten the back. Then I would reestablish the bevel.

Found one that I reckon is a match.

http://www.toolexchange.com.au/Axes-Hatchets.html

Scroll down to 2496.

If it is a match then it would seem to suggest that I should take of a lot of steel to make the cutting edge convex again.

Hello,

It would be a grave misstep to try regrinding the axe you have to the shape of the one referenced there even though in a general way the forms are roughly similar. Also regarding #2496 you have some clue to maybe where it comes from although not necessarily. One thing I'm sure of is that no axe was intended to be hammered on after tempering occurred and if the back of your axe is truly concave, that is, laying with the non-beveled side down on a flat surface the heel and toe elevate the rest of the blade along the bit, that would indeed be a curious matter and possibly indicate that you have either damaged merchandise or something other than an axe for hewing beams, maybe hewing spars or masts. Or is it hollowed, being something else altogether? But getting the back side conditioned is the key. The function of the axe would then determine the shape of the bit which would likely be, if not straight, either a slight arch or slightly receding heel and toe.

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff

Ok so no hammer ing. In hindsight of course. It would just chip or worse.

The back is only slightly concave. Here are some photos whereI've tried to show by how much.

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd481/Weaverofduart/2012-03-10132351.jpg

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd481/Weaverofduart/2012-03-10132712.jpg

Both photos are of the same view but one is back lit. The largest the gap gets would be 2.5mm. We are not talking very much at all but it seems to be consistent along the width (parralel with the handle) of the bit.

The backlit shows the pittting on the back which is considerable but near the edge it is not as bad.

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd481/Weaverofduart/2012-03-10135338.jpg

The last photo shows the leading point and the chips. If I put even a shallow convex curve on the edge then the chips would be removed. If I keep it straight then I obviously have to take the entire edge back until the chips are gone.

If I keep the bit straight how well will it hew. I would have thought that a straight bit would be inclined to leave tracks in the face being finished.