Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Restored Axes, Mallets, Etc

Waybigoon that double bit axe is called a grubbing axe [ at least up in western Canada],
one with longer narrower blades would be a falling axe , much harder to find


Talus my biggest problem is finding good hickery handles that have the right head shape to fit some of the old tools.
norm

Definitely agree.

I know exactly what you mean...

Jeff just seeing this... I am glad you posted this stuff finally... I was fortunate enough to be a guest at Jeff's home last time I was in Phoenix..

he showed me his shop, and a couple of his finished production axes....to see all of this in person, was the biggest treat of all...
(and lets not forget he and his lovely wife's gracious Hosting..)..

Jeff is a very talented man...and a salt of the earth kinda guy...

Jeff, Merry Christmas, to you and your lovely wife Bunny.....

and thanks again for your hospitality and your friendship...

Heard of them seen on the internet, never had one on my bench.

Paul, Art, John, thank you. That means a lot to me.

I know exactly what you mean. There is not an acceptable axe haft sold by a big handle maker in the US that I know of. However, there are some good ones made by individuals. Check out Liam Hoffman of Hoffman Blacksmithing; Whiskey River Trading Company; Ryan Lambracht; Christopher Killinger. Possibly Owens Axe and Handle, don't know a lot about him.

Sometimes I buy handles from Beaver Tooth Handle company to use as blanks for a hickory haft. They have been acceptable for that purpose. No big axe companies I know of, including Gransfors Bruks and Hults Bruks, have handles worth a hoot (aesthetically; they are fine functionally). A guy even commissioned me to replace the handle on his brand new Gransfers Bruks. All the beautiful fawns foot (and other) hafts are being made in small shops by men and women dedicated to that craft.

Norm99, I get mine from house handles, those older axes rarely flt w/in the selection of eye size and I just get a larger size. They also sell wood and metal wedges. Lots of rasping and sanding will usually solve the problem. They offer a select and you can get them unfinished [no varnish].


mike r

I've never had a handle from anywhere slide right into my axe head without some fitting. Of course, a little is better than a lot

Some heads ready to hang;

A maple-hafted hewer for a guy who makes a lot of mantles;

My daily-driver ball peen with mesquite handle.

This is the double-bit axe from the cabin I grew up in. Retired it without ever removing it from the haft.

Maybe the only hatchet in the world hung on manzanita. It's the worst wood possible for a tool handle, except as a looker -- gorgeous.

A double-bit "saddle axe" on olive wood;

My own spokeshave and drawknife;

Another head ready.

This is acacia wood. Trying to show how beautiful some of these local woods are. In some cases I actually dug the wood out of a dumpster; in others a local backyard sawmill salvaged the wood, then cut pieces off in the process of making larger work like slab tables, countertops, or mantles.

I got all excited, yard sale, axe with a "W"< something on it. Of course I grabbed it, it may have been Western.

Where do the Plumb brand axes, and hatchets fit it?

Fit what?

Sorry, how do the Plumbs fit as to quality?

Beautiful work, Talus. You are a master of the craft.

Thank you Simon!

Plumbs are good axes, one of the famous American brands. The Plumb National is fairly valuable. Plumb probably made axes for some big hardware chains, which sold them under their store name. Dunno if they ever had a USFS or Mil contract, but it would not surprise me. Actually the last axe off my bench was a Plumb double bit.