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Joinery with an axe #21489 10/22/09 01:03 PM
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In american carpentry of the 17th and 18th centuries an axe was used much more in cutting joinery than one might imagine. Here is a video if a tenon being cut with an axe in Europe.

http://www.en.charpentiers.culture.fr/thepeople/portraits/petrruzickaczechcarpenter

Jim


The closer you look the more you see.
"Heavy timber framing is not a lost art" Fred Hodgson, 1909
Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Housewright] #21494 10/22/09 02:38 PM
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I'm sure if NA axes looked/felt/performed anything like Eurpean axes, a lot more people would still be using them grin
btw, that's one of fav sites to visit, a lot of great info, old pics and interviews with European masters


there's a thin line between hobby and mental illness
Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: frwinks] #21497 10/22/09 03:07 PM
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I cut to the line with my axe, sometimes I have to force myself to but the axe down and pick up the slick to make it look pretty. I have tried to cut braces as well with just the axe, you can rough out the length with the 45 degree angle on the end and even cut the shoulder but the sawn shoulder is smoother.

Another tool I am starting to use more is the gutter adze, it is like a huge scrub plane, across the grain and with the grain.

One of the first things I look for in old buildings which have come down with an excavator is joinery with axe marks, I see some that is rough but mostly that which the worker took more time with. It is all still fine work in my book.

I haven't seen the video but will check it out later when my server is operating better.

Tim

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: TIMBEAL] #21512 10/22/09 07:15 PM
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I love my axe. It's one of my most used tools.
To cut tennons I make one saw cut, block off with axe, score with axe then pare with slick. Takes only a few of minutes.
It would take some practice to cut to a line with an axe. I'm nowhere near that good.


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Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Thane O'Dell] #21526 10/24/09 06:20 PM
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Doing some cabinetry last winter I sawed shoulders for tenons and set the bit of the carpenters axe on the cheek line at the end grain and whacked it with a carving mallet. But I didn't like hammering on the poll so I quit that. But every chance I get to do joinery with an axe I do, just wish I were better at it.
This is not really related to anything here, just wanted to try adding a picture of this old axe.
Don Wagstaff

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Cecile en Don Wa] #21527 10/24/09 07:37 PM
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Hi Don,

What wood is the axe handle made from ?

Which way is the grain running ?

How did you manage to break it ?

Regards

Ken Hume


Looking back to see the way ahead !
Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Ken Hume] #21528 10/24/09 08:42 PM
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Hi,
You know, I just picked this up a few weeks ago at a tool auction, cost me 15€. The first time I swung it, saw the head was loose and wedged it. I could see the handle was an odd looking wood, clearly a replacement, and after another couple of swings the thing broke there. I was splitting poplar with it, the head got stuck in there and broke off as I pulled it loose. I wrote the folks who I'd gotten it from, not to complain or anything you understand, just to let them know these tropical hardwoods might not be the best woods for replacement handles.
Usually I have a supply of dried, riven ash on hand for tool handles, ( I hang it in the chimney for a few weeks- there where they used to smoke the hams,(any thoughts on that practice) - to dry after it's been outside a year or so), but my supply is used up, it's time to go back out to the woods and cut more. There is that ash out back though...

Don Wagstaff

p.s. Just got back from the Ardennes. Saw some fine timber work down there.

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Cecile en Don Wa] #21529 10/24/09 10:36 PM
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The video sequence was inspirational. It was cool to hear this fellows story. The axe as a language, it is like learning a new language, something that should not be lost. I am doing my part.

Tim

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: TIMBEAL] #21530 10/25/09 01:07 AM
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thanks for the video link, this is the first time i have seen an axe similar to the one I've been working with. Axes and Adzes remove wood quickly.

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Mark Davidson] #21531 10/25/09 03:42 PM
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Though the tools I now reach for, are not the same as in years past, and the ones I reach for today probably will not be the same a year from now, my axes will always be at hand.

While they are not the rarity amongst framers they once were, I don't think they are as commonly used as they probably should be. The reason for this I think, is twofold, it is simply not understood by many that in capable hands axes are an extremely efficient way to cut timber joinery. Even with those that have some sense of this, there is I think some reluctance in that the investment in training is greater, it simply takes longer to reach the skill level where efficiency really kicks in, and that greater investment can any day, just walk out the shop door...

The flipside of that seems to be that folks who work in these circumstances tend to stick, and turnaround seems to cycle slower in such shops. Haven't put my finger on exactly why. Is it job satisfaction or an understanding that their skillset is maybe not salable to the shop a few towns over, or some combination thereof ???

I had the good fortune, along with Laura Viklund, Jordan Finch and Timberbee, to spend four days working with Petr at Handshouse a few years back. I cut shoulders to the line with my axes (like in the video link) that weekend and enough times since to know I can do it efficiently, but it will not be an every day technique for me, while axes will continue to be.

http://www.handshouse.org/zabludow/coursework.html

Interestingly, a friend brought me to a number of late 19th ca. scribed, ax-cut, lap joinery barns in central Wisconsin. It seems some fully trained eastern European carpenters emigrated and just continued to use the skills and tools they brought with them. Their carpenters marks were much like those in the pictured at the top of this page - http://www.dalzielbarn.com/pages/TheBarn/NorthAmericanBarns.html Though ofttimes the corner chisel cut flags were not flags at all, but just a series of triangles.

Jim – I took note of your suggestion that Jack wishes to be informed of errors or omissions for a followup volume of HATJ – Central WI is also plumb full of edged halved scarfs with bladed & bridled abutments. There is the suggestion in HATJ that they are not commonly found in historical frames. How do we update him – hardcopy photographs and snailmail ?


"We build too many walls and not enough bridges" - Isaac Newton

http://bridgewright.wordpress.com/

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Will Truax] #21548 10/26/09 07:42 AM
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Hi Will,

Did the Zabludow synagogue ever get built in Poland ?

The Dalzeil website is excellent.

Regards

Ken Hume


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Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Will Truax] #21551 10/26/09 10:19 AM
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Originally Posted By: Will Truax

Jim – I took note of your suggestion that Jack wishes to be informed of errors or omissions for a followup volume of HATJ – Central WI is also plumb full of edged halved scarfs with bladed & bridled abutments. There is the suggestion in HATJ that they are not commonly found in historical frames. How do we update him – hardcopy photographs and snailmail ?


I'd call him and ask him.


Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Ken Hume] #21555 10/26/09 12:41 PM
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No Polish project yet, though I have just this morning returned from a two day planning session to budget and schedule a 6 part event spanning two years to get this thing underway.

The museum has made a commitment that construction will begin in 2010, but we have no deposit or contract in hand at this moment.

Expect to see a very short presentation at the conference slide show; announcing the event and opening the window for recruitment of leadership and participants.


Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Joel McCarty] #21567 10/27/09 03:21 AM
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that is an excellent technique. thanks! i want to try that.

i think something changed fundamentally with the introduction of the saw. the repetition of the cutting edge broke an intimate link with the wood. it's like a war by attrition. phelps makes a point along these lines.

it's the idea of cutting straight down, across the grain that is so radical about this. beyond just roughing out with the axe, to get closer, then closer, then closer to the line and to vertical, chop by chop.

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: toivo] #21569 10/27/09 07:17 AM
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Hi Toivo,

It's Phleps not Phelps.

That young fellow sure seemed to be able to control his axe with breathtaking accuracy. I am not sure that many could emulate this skill - but with practice who knows ?

I also now understand why those axes have such a pronounced curve allowing the axeman to work closer and closer towards the line or end of his tenon cut.

If a significant number of hours went into converting the log, laying this up in the stack and scribing same then is it really that important to run the risk of ruining everything with one misplaced swing of the axe or an entire chunk being pulled out of the tenon face due to brittle grain falure following the course of the annual rings ?

Regards

Ken Hume


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Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Ken Hume] #21570 10/27/09 10:59 AM
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Yes, take the risk, you must, if the skill is to be gained. That is how we learn. Steve Chappel at Fox Maple had commented that axes weren't allowed for just the reason you mentioned Ken, too bad, well almost the same reason, his timber was s4s and pretty in a different way. Learning which way the grain is moving is a big part. Pat the cat, if you go the wrong way the cat gets angry. This is easily seen with a hand plane and the axe.

Tim

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: TIMBEAL] #21574 10/27/09 12:37 PM
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But Ken, if you've just hewn the wood out, you've shaped many feet of wood to a line with an axe. Why not do the few inches of tenon, too?

I found that after learning to hew, chopping joinery with an axe was no longer scary or mysterious.

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Gabel] #21581 10/27/09 06:10 PM
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Hi Gabel and Tim,

Clearly, I'm not worthy !

I think that I will have to bite the bullet and have a go.

I like the cat analogy !

Regards

Ken Hume


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Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Ken Hume] #21587 10/27/09 11:32 PM
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it's true one starts to get to know grain as one moves up and down a log. it's like a cat with fur sometimes going this way, and sometimes that. sometimes they purr, and othertimes it's all claws.

thanks for the correction Ken. always appreciated.

anyone have an idea of what the red marks are edited onto the video?


Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: toivo] #21589 10/28/09 08:22 AM
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Hi Toivo,

Aren't these race knived piece marks ?

Regards

Ken Hume


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Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: toivo] #21590 10/28/09 08:29 AM
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Originally Posted By: toivo

anyone have an idea of what the red marks are edited onto the video?


I believe the red marks edited into the video are suppose to show the viewer what the marks on the actual timber look like. They represent the marks we can't clearly see, but they are there and should show when closely inspected.


Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: toivo] #21591 10/28/09 10:42 AM
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I took it to be that for some reason, they chose to highlight ax blows.


"We build too many walls and not enough bridges" - Isaac Newton

http://bridgewright.wordpress.com/

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Ken Hume] #21598 10/29/09 12:19 AM
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Hi everyone

I just had to comment here that for many years I cut good tight tenons with a carpenters adze, even shaping the ends of large tusk tenons and many other mundane jobs just pops up during the fitting process.

Using the adze is not for everyone but when mastered and you become familiar with your handle and adze head the finished product will be pleasingly smooth, extremely close to the line, and work will progress quickly.

NH

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: northern hewer] #21599 10/29/09 01:00 AM
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likewise- it's a toss up between a slick and an adze for fitting. i like how one can just bump the adze against a face and get the littlest bit off. the adze has more 'gears' than most other tools, short of axes and chainsaws. and it's easier on the back.

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: toivo] #21600 10/29/09 01:08 AM
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What is a carpenter's adze? A picture would be nice.


Life is short so put your heart into something that will last a long time.
Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Thane O'Dell] #21602 10/29/09 01:17 AM
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to my understanding a carpenter's adze would be a regular old flat bladed adze, distinguished from a shipbuilders aze which would have a slight curve to the cutting edge, or a lipped adze with raised edges, or a gutter adze which has a real scoop- for gutters or lateral grooves.

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: toivo] #21621 10/30/09 12:34 AM
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Here are some pics of a brace making session we had today, using adze, axe and chainsaw to shape 4 braces at once. These braces all came out of the same 10 ft log.
Thanks to Raff for some great energy and inspiration.






Last edited by Mark Davidson; 10/30/09 12:36 AM.
Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Mark Davidson] #21622 10/30/09 12:41 AM
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Here are a couple photos of my adze, and a japanese axe I use for scoring




Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Mark Davidson] #21624 10/30/09 02:50 AM
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Mark,
-sigh--
Wish I was there!
Looks like awesome fun!
d

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Mark Davidson] #21630 10/30/09 05:11 PM
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[quote=Mark Davidson]Here are some pics of a brace making session we had today, using adze, axe and chainsaw to shape 4 braces at once. These braces all came out of the same 10 ft log.
Thanks to Raff for some great energy and inspiration.



that is a great idea.

for the layout of that curve i've traced the curve from the adze handle, which happens to be just right.

mark- i covet your scoring axe

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: toivo] #21631 10/30/09 11:24 PM
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The scoring axe came from "the japan woodworker" in california, and was not too expensive.
http://www.japanwoodworker.com/page.asp?content_id=10045

scoring axe

We got those braces joined and fitted today...

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Mark Davidson] #21632 10/31/09 02:07 AM
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Nice work Mark. Are they part of a Hammer Beam?


Life is short so put your heart into something that will last a long time.
Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Thane O'Dell] #21633 10/31/09 04:11 PM
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These are part of the new door for my new shop


Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Will Truax] #21637 11/01/09 01:11 AM
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Originally Posted By: Will Truax

Jim – I took note of your suggestion that Jack wishes to be informed of errors or omissions for a followup volume of HATJ – Central WI is also plumb full of edged halved scarfs with bladed & bridled abutments. There is the suggestion in HATJ that they are not commonly found in historical frames. How do we update him – hardcopy photographs and snailmail ?


Will, I sent you a PM regarding this topic.


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Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Mark Davidson] #21668 11/03/09 03:56 PM
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Originally Posted By: Mark Davidson
Here are some pics of a brace making session we had today, using adze, axe and chainsaw to shape 4 braces at once. These braces all came out of the same 10 ft log.
Thanks to Raff for some great energy and inspiration.



Thank YOU for the gig, working with that green hemlock was SUCH a treat cool can hardly wait to start shaping our massive cruck blades...

who would've thought that axes and adzes can be so......accurate and efficient whistle grin




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Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: frwinks] #21688 11/05/09 01:24 PM
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oooh. that cut nice.

that's a significant point for axe/adze work- wood selection. i spent yesterday trying to emulate mr. davidson's brace curve work on dry, knotty spruce that had been chain-saw hewn a year ago, and it was an exercise for sure. i was reminded of the reason i used a chainsaw to hew it in the first place.

green clear wood is best suited to edge tools. not that other kinds won't cut, but for the sheer pleasantness of chopping at a newly fallen tree, it's helpful to make that distinction between what may be necessary and what is just plain good.

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: toivo] #21705 11/06/09 09:43 AM
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[img:center][/img] [img:center][/img] [img:center][/img]
Hi, Some work done with the help of an adze but that I do not think of as joinery.

Greetings

Don Wagstaff

Last edited by Cecile en Don Wa; 11/06/09 09:47 AM.
Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Will Truax] #21732 11/10/09 11:50 PM
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Along the lines of joinery with an axe, does anyone have any information about how mortising axes were used? It seems to me that they were used more on fence posts and small troughs rather than timber framing.

Thanks;
Jim


The closer you look the more you see.
"Heavy timber framing is not a lost art" Fred Hodgson, 1909
Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Housewright] #21744 11/12/09 02:13 PM
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Hi,
there is a web site link referenced a time or two on this web site which would indicate that mortising axes were used primarily in timber framing. Though the tool here- a bisaiguë - is used without an extended wooden handle. This is simply the French version of a kreuzaxt. [email:http://www.en.charpentiers.culture.fr/tools/paulduboisstoolbox/thesecretsofatoolbox]http://www.en.charpentiers.culture.fr/tools/paulduboisstoolbox/thesecretsofatoolbox[/email]
Greetings

Don Wagstaff

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Cecile en Don Wa] #21751 11/12/09 09:50 PM
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Maybe fence posts would be good practice though.

Don Wagstaff

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Housewright] #21752 11/12/09 10:59 PM
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Don, I think Jim is talking about a different tool, also often referred to as a Mortise Ax.

Jim, I looked into this pretty deeply a few years back when I acquired a few of them (Yes, I have an Ax problem, now fully under control) The name is a bit of a misnomer, I don't believe they were intended for use in mortising, but are a tool used by Logcrafters from the Nordic countries, used primarily to cut a dovetailed slot in the endgrain of window & door wells to let in what we know as a buck.

Gränsfors Bruks still sells them, and lists them under log building tools and I know they are still used in this way by traditional logcrafters from that area.

I found both of mine in areas settled by folks from those regions where there was a long logbuilding tradition.


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Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Will Truax] #21754 11/13/09 05:42 PM
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Hi,
sorry my images don't come up so good I just can't figure out which method to use to set them on here. Anyway, if this comes over clearly you can see that the head of this mortising ax is almost exactly the same form as the French bisaiguë. This is an austrian mortising axe with a double bit or kreuxaxt, the one from Gransfors is, we can presume, a Scandinavian version of the same thing called Stemmaxt but then with a single bit and possibly more suited to work in softwoods which are more abundant in Scandinavia, which is not to say it was not used in timber framing.

So what we have under the English word "mortise ax/axe" is, in French, bisaiguë, in German, kreuxaxt, and in Swedish, Stemmaxt, in Dutch, steekbijl,... . Even though this French tool pretty radically differs from the one in the picture they both have similar origins.

This is from that French web site regarding the bisaiguë :


"This tool consists of two complementary parts – a chisel at one end and a mortise chisel at the other. In its long form, it is French in origin, and probably is the descendant of a much more hazardous tool, which had a longer handle and shorter head. It was known as a twybill, a piochon in French, and a Kreuzaxt in Germany...."
[url=]mortise axe[/url]

That web site goes further into it including pictures of it in use., all you have to do is in the English version type in "mortise axe" in the search space.

It seems mortising axe can mean many different things. Still, depending maybe on where you are, it is just as much a timber framing tool as a broad axe, an auger or or a slick. I think further, its use would be straight-forward in theory but in practice would take a lot of practice. That one there with the pink background is for sale second hand, maybe I'll see how many €'s they want for it...

Greetings

Don Wagstaff

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Will Truax] #22582 02/08/10 03:59 PM
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What type of axe are we using most for joinery? Carpenters hatchet or simply a felling axe?
I always wondered how the so called mortise axe would be used? Is it actually possible to cut a good mortise with one of these? tb

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TB- I have been meaning to answer Dave's query about what axes for joint cutting, but guess I'll do it here-

There are three I lean on most, all of which I've been using for pushing twenty years. Two of them I call hand axes, (one handed, but a bit bigger and with a longer handle than what I think of as a hatchet ) and tend to always use them interchangeably, one in either hand, switching the user to my dominant left depending on circumstance. The first is a Snow & Nealley Hudson Bay Pattern, http://www.snowandnealley.com/products/axes/pbka18.htm I like this pattern for chopping joints, I find the strait top and the beard are advantageous for chopping close up to the layout lines. Like some of my other axes I've reworked the bit so it's a bit thinner than it was originally. The small Side Ax I use is an antique made by Garden City and is the finest piece of steel I own, so hard I have to use diamond systems to hone it, but not so much so that it chips easily. It's hung to be swung with my left hand , on a curved handle like you might see on a bigger broad ax. When I'm roughing a joint bigger than a housing, a scarf or a deep dap, I do reach for a two handed ax, but one still on the small side, in the “boys ax” class. 2 ½ lbs and with a handle only about 24” long. I both want to stay close to the work, and to avoid over-penatration by not multiplying the force too much.

I have of course, also experimented with the Mortise Axes I own, so lets revisit that question here -

I stand by my statement above, I don't believe such axes were ever used to cut mortises, at least in the way we think of it, in heavy timber. And that they were and are a logcrafters tool common to the Nordic countries. I'd based this on three things, where in the country I'd come across the most examples, their continuing inclusion in the Gränsfors Bruks catalogs, and the expert use of one filmed in Norway for episode 1313 of The Woodwrights Shop “Timber Building in the Land of the Midnight Sun” - Stave Churches and expert ax-men, not yet out on DVD and no longer any VHS anything here except boxes in the attic.

I did look again when you brought it up, opened up my copy of Ancient Carpenters Tools. Mercer cites the inclusion of the term Mortise Ax in these early colonial records http://bit.ly/awohpn as evidence that they were used by English colonials. He also describes them as having an alternate name “Post Ax”, and describes their use in making Post & Rail fencing, in cutting out the material between two bores in fence posts to form relatively quick & dirty mortises for the rails. Like many of us, I typically dismiss much of Sloane's writings as revisionism born of supposition, but I think he got it right on pg 63 of Reverence for Wood, this page reprinted on pg 22 of Miles Lewis's fantastic must see collection of photos and drawings on the history of framing - http://mileslewis.net/pdf/history-of-building/traditional-framing.pdf Also worth your time - http://mileslewis.net/pdf/history-of-building/puncheons-and-dragons.pdf Some repeated images here, but the section on lifting engines is also a must see - http://mileslewis.net/pdf/history-of-building/european-develpmts.pdf

Some of what I am about to say is supposition. So it may seem somehow overly critical and ironic that I'm about to suggest that many are wrong when they describe the use of mortising axes. But there unfortunately is no way to completely avoid some educated guesswork in doing so.

If you google around, you find a number of emphatic descriptions and drawings of their use, sometimes driven by mallets, mortise chisel like, or even more curiously, to pare shoulders in the cutting of tenons. Sometimes it is suggested that they are found in different widths to accommodate differing tenon widths, (though I would argue this is evidence against, in that examples found 2” and less are uncommon enough to be described as rare) some of these descriptions are found in recently published books.

I now believe the name is not a misnomer. But that the name, the odd shape, and the long defunct use the name is based in, has led to much false supposition. That for some while now folks have been assuming that they were used to cut the still commonly found mortises in historic timber framing. But in truth the name is based only in the crude mortises once so commonly found in post & rail fence. (how may miles of this once existed but has now returned to the earth – How many pairs of hands spent day upon day riving both posts and rails and mortising the posts) Fences and mortises that never entered the mind of those wondering, because such does not really exist any longer.

Much of my assertion however, is not based in supposition. Instead it is based in the long and almost daily use of axes to cut timber frame joinery. It is the daily doing, that teaches how to both best use axes, and conversely, how it was they were not used.





"We build too many walls and not enough bridges" - Isaac Newton

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Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Will Truax] #22656 02/13/10 01:10 AM
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The axe I use is similar to the Snow and Nealley you linked to. About 24" and 1 3/4 pounds. The head is of a similar pattern, i.e. the rectangular body with an angular beard on the bottom, but I don't think the edge is that curved. I'll have to get a pic of it.


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Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Will Truax] #22657 02/13/10 01:31 AM
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TIMBEAL Offline
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Interesting, Will. I have tried to clean the triangular sections left after the boring machine with my common joinery axe, it is not a practice I continue. The axe head is too short. I can imagine a design which would do this, a longer head that would reach into the mortice without banging ones knuckles on the surface of the timber. The morticing axe as pictured in Miles Lewis's collection almost fit my thoughts. But I see a slick mounted in such a manner to resemble a axe. I just go back to my slick it works very well for me.

I could go along with the fence theory.

Nice pdf from Miles Lewis.

Tim

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: TIMBEAL] #22685 02/16/10 01:40 AM
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Will Truax Offline
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Tim – That is just what I'm speaking of. I too experimented with using an ax to remove the waste after roughing out mortises, mortising axes included. And came to the same conclusion, there is no efficiency there. It is chisel work.

Interestingly, though I didn't mention it above, a number of the descriptions I found refer to removing this triangular waste with a mortising ax. Which is a large part of how I came to the conclusion that these are mostly the musings and suppositions of folks who have not cleaned out many mortises, or taken an ax to many timber frame joints at all for that matter.

Jim – I just rolled back up to the part of the thread where you introduce the mortising ax question, and see that you were wondering out loud if this was a fence post mortising tool. What led you to to wonder if that was a probability?


"We build too many walls and not enough bridges" - Isaac Newton

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Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Will Truax] #22766 02/22/10 11:54 PM
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In following Jim's Up & Down Saw You Tube links I came across this nice video on Axe forging at Gränsfors Bruks and Logcrafting in Sweden, Good stuff - 9:35, but you may find you wish it was longer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbCpDsxUHVc&


"We build too many walls and not enough bridges" - Isaac Newton

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Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Will Truax] #22769 02/23/10 11:49 AM
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Nice pick, Will. Things I noted. No cleaning up with a chisel, either. Any video with a cat in has too be good. The inlay was set in place cold, they skipped reheating just before they put it in the big hammer, but they did. The resounding thud just as the wedge is driven into the handle seemed unreal but final. I loved the knot just under the spoon bit, probably not planned, just life.

Tim

Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: TIMBEAL] #22775 02/23/10 08:02 PM
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Thanks Will, I will send that link to some friends who may not see it here!

Jim


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"Heavy timber framing is not a lost art" Fred Hodgson, 1909
Re: Joinery with an axe [Re: Housewright] #22868 03/01/10 02:43 AM
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Cool video. I'd like to work with that fellow. I've never tried to cut a tenon only with an axe, but why not? I'll give it a try.
The way I do it now requires saw, axe, mallet, and slick.
handsaw shoulder, align edge of axe with cheek line on endgrain and whack with mallet. Score cheek lightly with axe, finish with slick.
It goes really quick, especially in straight grained stock.
Whit

Re: Joinery with an axe #24003 07/02/10 06:42 PM
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D L Bahler Offline
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There is another 'axe' not mentioned here that is extremely useful for the cutting of tenons and mortises, a tool that is used extensively into modern times in those regions of Europe that ever came under German influence, which is pretty much all of central and western Europe. This tool is the German Stossaxt, also known as stichaxt


This tool lies somewhere in the strange world between the felling axe and the framing chisel, and it leads me to suspect that the chisel itself is descended from the axe.
The French Besaigue is a very close relative of this tool, descended from it I believe. t is essentially the same thing, only with a mortise chisel added to the other end.

In my opinion, this tool is the best tool I have ever used for cleaning out the sides of just about any joinery, especially deep mortises.

AS I understand it, the hollow handle on the end of this tool once had a wooden handle mounted inside of it, but eventually they discovered that was totally unnecessary. You use the tool by gripping the steel handle in one hand, and holding the body of the tool just below the handle in the other, then pushing it somewhat like you would a slick, but you can also use more of a chopping action should the need arise. This tool is very easy to use, and extremely accurate. I doubt now that I'll ever use a slick again...

Another tool is the German bundaxt

this is a multi-purpose tool that German carpenters seem to put to good use. It is used for notching out when hewing, and for cutting joinery.

Ochsenkopf makes a bundaxt, and Müller also makes one. I plan on buying a set of them sometime soon


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