Hello,

That backside bevel should not be there. That is not to say that, sharpened, it won't cut wood but the intention of the axe has been destroyed and can only be set straight with an inordinate amount of reparation work. Were one to choose that route I'd say it would be economically smarter to get one of Fitzi's broadaxes new or even one of our forum colleague, nebruks's axes. Buying a broadaxe from ebay is risky business. The Japanese one was a good score though. Better luck with your 50 cm blade.

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff

Today I had some parcels to pick up

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd481/Weaverofduart/2012-04-20175400.jpg

The quality is superb. The roughing axe (for want of a better name) has been repaired but is free of rust and pits.

The Austrian finishing axe is covered in surface rust but that will clean off very quickly.

The goose wing is beautiful.

The rough axe and the finishing axe need some minor shaping but are basically ready to sharpen. While the goosewing just needs a hone. All need to be handled with care because while they are blunt they are still sharp enough to draw blood if handled carelessly.

All of these broad axes were without doubt worth buying. I'm so happy.

How much cash tied up in these tool? Better than paper currency or other monetary forms. Call Axe Line, today. Trade your fiat paper in for tools!

Hello,

All that solicitation stuff aside, I'll wager guesses in rounded-off figures at $50 increments, drawknives excluded:

Roughing axe $50
Austrian axe 200
goose wing 150

All in all not bad prices and reflective of the hobbyists freedom from having to justify his or her enjoyment in economic terms all of which I support.


Greetings,

Don Wagstaff

Roughing axe about that, Austrian axe a bit more, goosewing about that.

Hey yo Stuart, you have much experience (or any) hewing with these axes? Do you have hewing experience in general?

Also, what do you have for a notching axe? The roughing broad axe can do it, but at the end of the day it pays to have a lot smaller axe to do it -that thing will wear you out.

I personally hew with a 3-axe German/central european style. I use a very narrow-bitted "Bundaxt" for my notching, it's small and light and makes quick work of it and also handles knots with ease do to its narrow bit. I use this same axe to chop off the bulk of the waste, then use the rough broad axe to hew the faces down to the line and give them their final dimensions. My goosewing -a large version- is used only to remove a parper thin layer of wood when I want a smooth surface.

These tools require some highly specialized technique, and have a very sharp learning curve!

DLB

Over the last few years (10) I have been building and working with wood and over that time the tools I have been using have been getting older and older.

I converted a potatoe packing shed into a cottage with modern tools.
I have built my own mill and with the wood I have sawn made furniture and some small sheds.
I have helped to build a stand alone kitchen modeled on english 14th century examples (sawn timbers, hand tooled joints).

As for hewing experience I have made 3 axe handles.

For notching I have a 4.5lb plumb felling axe or an axe which I think is of the style that you mentioned.

By you have made 3 axe handles, do you mean you have hewn extensively and thus worn out 2 handles?

What is your experience with the use of a roughing out axe? It is a finicky tool,, but when you figure it out you can get some incredible results out of it. For most timbers, I never even bother with using a finishing axe. I can get more than satisfactory results out of this tool.

My narrow-bitted Bundaxt has a bit maybe about 2 1/2 inches wide, very narrow. Again, it is picky but once you learn it it will work wonderfully. I use it to chop very narrow notches (less work) which it can do since it is so narrow, then split the waste from the top. Using this tool, you can actually get a really nice finish. The rough hewing axe is actually unnecessary, but is a big time saver. A common method is to trim the faces down to their final dimensions with the narrow axe, and if a smooth finish is required use the goosewing to remove a paper-thin layer of wood, along with any irregularities. I have done this, it is actually quite easy, but takes a good while. If you have the roughing axe, you can trim the waste to about 1/4" from the line, score the face and use the roughing axe to trim it down to final dimension. My preferred method is to stand on top of the log and let the axe's weight do all the work, though if you want to move faster you can stand beside and chop down, which is tiring. You will have to chop down around knots, or the grain will cause a great deal of tearout.

And by the way, this 3 axe method inherently results in a sharp bottom corner.

No the only handles I have worn out are on my splitters (We go through about 20m3 of fire wood per season).

I meant that I have taken my froe broken up a length of timber and made 3 handles. Two for my axes and one for a hatchet. They are not pretty but they work.

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd481/Weaverofduart/2012-04-25205111.jpg

http://i1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd481/Weaverofduart/2012-04-25204933.jpg

If you plan on doing a lot of hewing, do yourself a favor and make your handles smooth. Any roughness will wear away at your hands after a while