Lets use those axes for what they were ment for.

Thats excellent Dave.
Yes, the wood wedge on the fly has saved my buried steel wedges more than once.
I do like, for a lot of the general clean up or medium processing work my 3½lb Dayton pattern Mann True American - About 4½lbs on near 28" of octagonal hickory. It's with me almost all of the time. In the truck now actually...its great for any size wood i may come across this time of year for quick work and get it in the truck.
Keeping your better half warm and happy, that alone keeps us fit and alert.
Talk again soon...I will let you know what axes i bring out this season

 

Miller, thanks for these notes on you're experience.
I have a Mann True American Boys ax on a 26" haft. I use it for lighter limb work. It can do a lot but less than a 2 lb. head. So, not splitting. A good shape for cutting and hardness for edge retention. I'm surprised how often I carry it.
I enjoy being out cutting fire wood. As there are many benefits of this activity. I know not all can do it, for different reasons. Should you get the chance or invite,-- go. As you'll enjoy it and learn a lot. DM

 

Excellent you still have and carry your true american. I love the mann True American S.B. I have. The bit holds its sharpness thru the worst.
It's funny, i have always enjoyed processing firewood. Growing up and into my late twenties i was always worked the farms in my hometown...some now are gone.
But we always looked at firewood as a fun activiity that even made us extra cash for beer and gas...probably at an age when we didnt need either lol!
The day i cant split my own firewood...well, lets just keep active and healthy and keep that day far into the future.
Happy and safe chopping!!

 

please forgive me butting in

as an axe neophyte, having recently been bitten by the bug (seeking to actualize a childhood dream perhaps), does anyone have any advice as to someone living on the urban fringe about collecting timber?

a walk out the backdoor and I'm basically in a national (US) park. I want to get more into woodcraft, but I'm wondering what the deal is with collecting wood from utility easements and public land.

I had been imaging no one would care if I went out, found a dead tree, said a prayer and dedicated the merit before removing some wood to make myself a wood mask and shillelagh or "walking stick"

any advice would be appreciated! not necessarily just about common law, but wood collecting etiquette generally

 

MB- No wood collecting is allowed in US National Parks. But if you live that close to a National Park you most likely live close to a National Forest. With a permit, you can cut in the National Forest. To get a permit go to the district office. Basically, you need permission to take anything from any land that you do not own.
Good etiquette is to use common sense about leaving the area at least as good as you found it. If you are cutting anything standing, KNOW HOW TO FELL A TREE WITHOUT DOING DAMAGE TO ANYTHING STILL STANDING (or to yourself for that matter). Do not leave a dangerous or ugly stump. Do not cut anymore saplings than necessary for safe felling. and cut the saplings flush to the ground. Cut up and scatter any slash (limbs, saplings) into small pieces and scatter around the area. And of course, leave no trash.
Thank you for asking this question, I just hit some of the points, I hope others here chime in.

 

I am very happy you responded to this post @Old Axeman ...i wasnt sure how to put it into words this morning before I had coffee.
I agree...always be ethical...whats not yours isnt free. Leave No Trace...leave it as you found it...no extras lol! Saftey, always survey and clear whats needed as Old Axeman states. I would suggest not felling, only becasue it sounds like a lot of private or state lands around you, but search out the already down.
That said, always ask first. Grab the permit for the forest lands. They stopped that here in CT about 4 years back but it can't hurt to ask your forestry dept in your state.
Private lands, farms...always ask first.

I live in a rural suburb...we are hidden but only 30 minutes from major city's...my best source of free timber for firewood and projects has been the local UTM (urban tree management) companies.
Power lines always need clearing, pre and post big storms they are always out. Just always ask if on private property is my best advice for that.

Sometimes i get a craigslist alert for free firewood that a homeowner is letting go or a tree company is not taking the wood and offering it to regular joes.

Good luck and keep us in the loop.

 

Coffee is a good thing to have before morning posting. Add proof reading to that as well.
Here, U.S. Forest Service Dept. wood cutting permits are 10$ for 1 cord. The trees should be dead. Some areas you can go 100 yds. off the road. Others only 6 ft.. Check first as they're out looking & one could get cited.
Most people like to cut alligator juniper here. It cuts & splits easy. Puts out hot heat but doesn't last like hardwood and it's more sooty. Thus you need more. Clean your flue every year (like now) no matter what wood you burn. Is a good rule of thumb. DM

 

^that gives me a good idea (besides cleaning the flume, we've been waaay too negligent in that regard)...

a little closer to the holidays I'll take trip up to the local USFS Ranger Station and deliver some (a) fancy fresh coffee and (b) delicious homemade mince meat (fruit mince) pie!

sometimes the only thing that gets me out of bed is fantasizing about new and fun opportunities of doing something nice, if potentially a bit sentimental, for someone else.

who better than the USFS people!!!! and they can tell me what the deal is with getting a permit/collecting local firewood

with fire season ****hopefully**** winding down here in Southern California, the local Angeles National Forest staff could use some coffee and pie

all the advice and feedback is much appreciated!

 

That is a very nice gesture! We have some deserving FS employees in our area as well. Our problem, a little further north, is that the FS has not been in their offices since March, and all offices are closed to the public! Chances that any offices will be open before the first of the year is 0%.

 

I grew up in E. TX. and both my grand fathers had farms. My great grand fathers before them too. Thus, I worked a lot on it with them. A good experience. Splitting Post oak with a 2 1/2 or 3 lb. Kelly was not the right ax but all we had. Glad it was in the South and we usually only needed 1 cord for the winter.
No chain saw, they fell using a cross cut saw and ax up until the 80's. They knew how to use an ax. Of all my cousins there are maybe 3 of us that still cut wood.
We have a cold front moving in on Monday and its forecast to drop to 32* with rain. Sure glad I have my wood cut. DM

 

I've been following this thread for a bit, and think about the difficulty of finding trees for using axes, gathering firewood, etc. Most larger cities around here have some public works facility where they turn trees from homeowners, arborists, and utility companies into mulch. The craigslist source is another. My outlet for wood cutting and firewood processing is nearby in the farm areas around me. Eventhough I don't currently have anything but a fire pit, I cut for a workout and to be outdoors. Used to give this wood to some older people who burned it in stoves, and have seen actual programs nearby that provide firewood to those in need. I grew up feeding two Riteway stoves for farmhouse heat, and for splitting all I had at first as a boy was an old doublebit axe. Man that was a workout! I would have killed to have a maul. Nowadays, I use splitting axes and am working on some vintage Kellys to put back into use for splitting and bucking. Funny thing is now I'm enjoying bucking almost as much as splitting. I have to credit the forum and some YouTube sources for that. Here's one of my favorites (Plumb 3_2 on 32 inch House handle) bucking a downed and still alive hickory. Hope to make some handles out of the lower trunk.
SwedeFP

 

Something a bit different.... I've been working on an unusual project that needed old pallet boards shaped, they didn't need to be perfect or pretty so this old no-name Kent pattern hatchet has been just the job. I ground some of the shoulder out to make finger space for choking up & got it super sharp, it's been a joy to use so far shaping around 200 pieces........

 

Single or double beveled?

 

I ground it pretty flat on the left side seeing as I'm right handed. I'm really happy with it in use.

 

Ok, so an asymmetric double bevel, nice. That's not apparent from the cuts.

 

That got me thinking, because this isn't a hewing axe (which I need to find...) it isn't totally flat on the left hand side as the poll sticks out further than the blade, but look what happens when it's laid flat-

Laid on it's left side.



Not easy to see in my poor images (sorry), it's lit from behind in the top image & there isn't any shadow in the middle, it's flat, I can run my thumb nail up to it & rides up the blade.

Laid on the right side.



It's about 1 mm high or so, hence the shadow...

One thing that has to be remembered using it is the big difference in the attack angle when using chopping/cutting one way or the other, left or right hand side as they are now very different, but both ways have their uses, advantages & disadvantages.

This is what it's created so far.... very rough here, since this image it's had a lot more shaping with the hatchet.

 

This is a relevant observation, the relationship of the axe resting level on a flat surface and the stance of the bevel resting on that same plane. I've noticed it earlier on particular axes, the Gransfors Carpentry if I remember it correct; the bevel(s), (symmetric) in-line with the poll.
Nowhere is it written that a hewing axe is synonymous with an asymmetric edge composition. |Plenty (if not the majority, universally speaking), of axes used for hewing have a symmetric double beveled edge configuration.

 

@Ernest DuBois , thank you for the explanation. I was just thinking about how the bevel would be on a flat surface like trueing up the edge of a board, I hadn't realised when the flared cheek is taken into account it leaves little or no effective bevel on that side. Mostly when I'm using it the cheek is my side of what's being cut so in the real world that isn't an issue.

 

Concerning this aspect of the bevel the applicable principle is, straight/flat work - flattened bevel; rounded or curved work, convex, (to slip us into the territory of jargon), bevel. It's a simplification, ok, but it's also a wide open forum and you've got to begin somewhere.

 

Sure is nice to see the variety of how folks use their axes!

I’ve restored a dozen or so axes in the last month, gave the others to gents at my deer camp in honor of a member who passed away this year at age 91. Here are the ones I restored and gave away:



And the stamp I put on the butt of each one