Axe

[carlt]

If a ukelele is an offensive weapon where does accordion come in the axe family?

The accordion comes immediately below the axe head, when chopping it up for firewood. Concertinas make better kinding, though.

Edited September 28, 2010 by carlt

[RLWP]

<snip>

I have a billhook, for making kindling and a hefty butchers knife, for making pegs, to bung old spike holes, in wooden boats.

 

A curiously satisfying tool is a billhook. Very useful for turning bits of sawn-off tree into manageable parts

 

Richard

[Québec]

If a ukelele is an offensive weapon where does accordion come in the axe family?

 

Presumably as carried by The Accordion Death Squad

http://www.myspace.com/accordiondeathsquad

 

or, alternatively, by this lunatic

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvLA-J6eLtY

[carlt]

A curiously satisfying tool is a billhook. Very useful for turning bits of sawn-off tree into manageable parts

 

Richard

I use a Kent pattern side axe, for snedding (removing the little branches, from felled trees) and a billhook for splitting small logs, into kindling.

[RLWP]

I use a Kent pattern side axe, for snedding (removing the little branches, from felled trees) and a billhook for splitting small logs, into kindling.

 

I only have the billhook, so that's what I use. It's surprising how big a little branch you can take off with it.

 

Richard

[Athy]

Quebec, not dissimilar but of rectangular rather than diamond section.

I'm loving the specialised words which are cropping up in this thread: snedding, for example, and riving, which according to the S.O.D. is synonymous with splitting or cleaving. Perhaps a left-handed riving tool would be a Rive Gauche.

[RLWP]

Quebec, not dissimilar but of rectangular rather than diamond section.

I'm loving the specialised words which are cropping up in this thread: snedding, for example, and riving, which according to the S.O.D. is synonymous with splitting or cleaving. Perhaps a left-handed riving tool would be a Rive Gauche.

 

Different pronunciations of rive. The i in riving is long, not short as in rivetting

 

Richard

[Guest]

Actually at no point has Martin I think actually indicated intended use.

 

An axe suitable for splitting up offcuts of "two by two" to turn into kindling is a rather different beast to if you want to split large logs for burning as the main fuel.

 

We only do the former, so any little axe will do us. If I was into serious production of large fire logs, what we have would not be adequate.

 

So which, Martin ?

 

Or both ? - in which case I'd say two axes.....

 

To clarify and yes I realise I should have first off -

 

It's for chopping down into smaller bits the lumps of wood we've bought (where best to get them from is another subject because we haven't been luck enough yet to stumble across a boat seelling it.

 

These lumps are of the size that you buy at DIY stores or when we've been stuck garage forecourts.

 

So a small(ish) type that can be weilded with one hand should do it - I don't want to start chopping trees down or any thing.

[Nine of Hearts]

... Perhaps a left-handed riving tool would be a Rive Gauche.

Different pronunciations of rive. The i in riving is long, not short as in rivetting

 

Quoi?

 

Shurely the i in Rive Gauche is not pronounced with a short i, but one pronounced as in "Jaguar I-type", "I by gum", or "This fruit juice has a lot of i numbers"?

[Athy]

Indid.

Martin, you need a hatchet (as I call it)!

[XAlan W]

Possibly one of these?.....

 

Clicky

 

 

In my part of the world[sW France] both the above & the tapered metal wedges are known as a COIN with a quoted weight ie 1kg 2.5 kgs The large splitting axes are known as MERLIN/S, long handled axe HACHE/S, small short handled axe HACHETTE/S. The plastic/ wood wedges used in tree falling are known locally as PITON/S don`t know if that is the country wide name though as the Occitane dialect in a lot of cases has little in common with the French spoken in other parts of the country

[WotEver]

Ecofaxe (doesn't actually cut anything. Most people reckon it's an expensive toy)

[Athy]

Thanks for that information. I think I learned the words hache and hachette when I lived in the Rodez area; several of us rented a farmhouse with a wood-burning stove, and we used these tools to chop wood of varying sizes to feed the stove.

[Christine]

We bought a cheap axe from B&Q - useless as the shoulder that holds the handle is very fat and gets stuck in the log. I would, in hindsight, try to find a good old secondhand one in preference to new. Also some means of sharpening it.

 

The best tool I ever used on logs was owned by Ben Law (of Grand Designs fame) It was a machette type with a very thin, sharp blade. Excellent.

[Amicus]

As winter approaches and we now regularly have the stove lit I wad wondering what type of axe folks on here have.

 

Was thinking about just popping down to local b and q but before I do any recommendations as to type

 

Bugger title should be axe.

 

or chopper

 

 

 

an axe for every occasion

 

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axes-dept814756_pg1/

[Guest wanted]

one of these

 

and

 

one of these

[RLWP]

We bought a cheap axe from B&Q - useless as the shoulder that holds the handle is very fat and gets stuck in the log. I would, in hindsight, try to find a good old secondhand one in preference to new. Also some means of sharpening it.

 

The best tool I ever used on logs was owned by Ben Law (of Grand Designs fame) It was a machette type with a very thin, sharp blade. Excellent.

 

An axe is usually not very hard, so a file is a good tool for sharpening one

 

Richard

[SimonRNABO]

At least a couple of axes of different sizes I would say. I have three personal favourites I use: small hand axe for splitting up kindling, a bit bigger one for small logs, through to a 7lb long handle for the big rings we get from the tree surgeons.

 

As per the previous post, a file to keep them reasonably sharp is imho also an essential.

 

At the risk of stating the obvious a safe clear space to cut with a good block or something underneath and gloves is the usual recomendation... Be safe!

 

Boot-sales and bric-brac shops etc are where I get most hand tools from - if you have the time hunt around and you will often find some good tools at bargain prices that way.

 

Chainsaws - I say treat with suitable respect and if possible get some safety training if you go down that route. I love my chainsaw but I love keeping limbs attached etc too. When they go wrong they can go very wrong so make sure you know the safety points.

[FrigateCaptain]

We have a spliting axe, felling axe, small hatchet and a few wedges

[koukouvagia]

 

We also have a couple of metal wedges, each about 4" long, which are inserted in a crack in the wood and hit with a mallet to split awkward logs that won't yield to axe blows. Is there a special name for these? They are not identical, as one tapers at a more acute angle than the other.

 

 

Yes, a wood grenade. Screwfix do them. Highly recommended.

[Athy]

Thanks KKV, but they are not like that: they are rectangular section and taper to an almost flat point.

[Smelly]

The good thing about wood grenades is that they split along two planes thus adapting best to the grain of a big ring, rather than a wedge that in bits of hardwood, even hitting with a 7lb maul, have got stuck and needed careful cutting out with a chainsaw. We've got a ~32" and getting wider Beech log to burn this year... It's nearly eaten my grenade once already...

 

I don't know about using a mallet, but I use the back of Bagpuss's maul (I nearly needed an edit there...) and it stands up well to the treatment...

 

If not a wedge, a felling axe will do, as long as there's a big enough hit behind it...