Axe types

Here are my axes there are several different types, only a few are redundant

Also in the picture is my attempt at replicating the rule from the Mary Rose, the larger marks are one inch, the half circles denote 6", so you can get a sense of the scale of these things.

Fist is the standard American felling axe. The us had a great many trees, and the shape of the axe had to change because there was so much to do.  Long handled.

here is a lath hatchet, these were used for cutting, splitting and nailing on lath in preparation for plaster.  Being flat across the top lets you nail into corners.  Thin lightweight blade for all-day chopping.

not entirely sure about this hammer-hatchet, though i'm pretty sure the previous owner put the handle in the wrong side of the head.

same basic idea, but an octagonal poll (the hammer side) and a notch in the blade for pulling nails.  This makes it more of a shingleing hatchet.

This is probably my most frequently used.  I've had it a long time, bring it camping.  the hammer is a bit flaked off on one side, and i burnt the handle at one point doing something stupid. 

Now we are getting into the broad-hatchets.  These next three come to a bevel on only one side.  These are for hewing and finishing off surfaces that have been split and preparing them for the planes.

This one is made by Winchester.  It is quite heavy but it works very well.  The handle will need to be tightened up a bit but this is a great hatchet.  I expect to make a lot of use of this.

here is another broad hatchet, no make indicated.  This one looks good, but it needs to be sharpened much better than it is currently for it to come into it's own.

Another broad hatchet.  This one is quite interesting.  the poll has prongs toward the helve (handle) that seem to me to be a nail-puller, but i can't imagine why you'd be pulling nails when hewing.  Makers mark stamped deep into the blade, three curved bits with a square in the middle.  i think there's a VA in the square but it's hard to make out.

Ah, the broadaxe.  Again, bevel only on one side, more like a chisel than a knife.  Don't know what happened to the handle, and i havent' made a replacement yet.  Maybe when that shavehorse gets finished.  The funny thing is, i had an adze, and that handle i have but i can't find the head!

Here is the biggie, 12" broadaxe.  Heavy!  long handle, bent away from the plane of the blade.  Haven't used this guy much at all yet.

And here is the medieval axe.  small and lightweight, it does a decent enough job, but the other ones work better.  But it looks so cool!

The last tool is one that gets a lot of use as well, especially on the shavehorse, is the Froe.  the side of the blade that is away from the handle is the sharp part (toward the ruler in the picture)  that gets driven into the end grain where you want it to split, with a fore club or wooden mallet.  This will convince the log to split where you want it (to a degree at least)

 

There are also the maul and iron wedges, though you can make wedges out of wood, which would be called gluts, to help you pry boards out of your logs.

Snow

Just a few flurries here and there this morning, when I went out to ope the chickens. Low temp today was 33.2