If you are a hiking enthusiast, then you must have a taiga ax. When a person just wants to acquire one, he thinks about whether he should take up the work of making an ax himself. If you make an ax with your own hands, it may turn out to be even better than those presented in the store.
Technology for making a taiga ax
Initially, you should choose the material for the axe. The length of this part and its shape will affect performance. For convenience, the ax handle should be curved, while the cross-section should be oval. For reliability, the rear part should be slightly wider and have a certain slope. The wood should be selected in such a way that it can withstand vibrations. Among others, it is recommended to consider:
- birch;
- maple;
- ash.
If you will be making a taiga ax, then the wood should be harvested in the fall. The material should be dried and left in a dark place. Fresh wood is not recommended for use, because over time it will dry out and hang around in the eyelet. Such an ax cannot be used.
The ax handle should be as reliable and convenient as possible, because these are the factors that will influence the comfort of work. The holder must be balanced, it must be well polished, it must have the correct geometry, only then the worker’s hands will not be injured. The simplest option among others is still pine. It is quite easy to grind and sharpen, but it has established itself as a not so reliable material, because it is highly brittle. Therefore more a good decision birch will become, this option is optimal and affordable, because this type of wood is easy to find.
In some latitudes, making a handle from ash and maple will be quite problematic, but these two options are optimal. When choosing sizes, you should consider your own preferences. But there are certain recommendations. The handle should have a length ranging from 50 to 70 cm. These dimensions are universal. The hiking option should be 40 cm, but chopping wood and cutting down trees with such a tool will be quite difficult. If you use an ax to split logs, the length of the handle can be increased to 120 cm, in which case you will achieve productivity and high strength blow.
Work on blanks
The next step is to work on the template. To do this, a drawing is applied to the cardboard, which can then be transferred to the material. This will be required for more accurate size detailing. For the ax handle you will need a piece of well-dried wood. The workpiece should be cut along the direction of the fibers. The workpiece should be slightly longer than the planned dimensions.
The part that you plan to insert into the eyelet needs to be made slightly wider. A drawing must be attached on both sides of the workpiece. As soon as all the contours can be redrawn, you need to take care of the allowances. To prevent the handle from breaking off during installation, an indentation should be left in the tail part. Once the assembly of the tool has been completed, you will need to get rid of excess material.
Preparing the ax
If you decide to make a taiga ax, then it is important to make transverse cuts at the bottom and top of the timber. Their depth should not reach 3 cm to the line of the axe. The excess layer of wood can be removed with a chisel. Those places where transitions and corners are needed must be processed with a rasp. On final stage The ax handle should be sanded with sandpaper. Taiga ax in area wooden element must be impregnated with a waterproof compound. To do this you should use linseed oil or drying oil. The product must be applied in several layers.
piercing part
When making a taiga ax with your own hands, you will also need to prepare the piercing part. It is quite difficult to do it at home, so you can choose hardware store. It is important to pay attention to the markings of the steel; it must be manufactured according to state standards. The eye should be made in the shape of a cone. Pay attention to the blade; there should be no nicks, bends or dents on it. If you look at the butt, its ends should be perpendicular to the blade.
Impaling an ax
When making a taiga ax with your own hands, it will be necessary to make longitudinal and transverse cuts on the ax handle, in its upper part. Next, using hardwood, cut 5 wedges. Gauze, which is pre-soaked in resin, is wound over the ax handle to fit tightly into the eye. Now you can hammer the ax handle. Wedges are knocked out into the cuts, and after drying they can be cut off.
What should the blade be like?
The taiga axe, a drawing of which is recommended to be prepared before starting work, must have a working surface that allows it to be buried deeper into the wood. That is why the tool can be used for chopping across the grain. The working part must have a beard. Its main function is to protect wood from impacts. Up to 60% of the force will be absorbed.
The sharpening must be special. The trailing edge is almost twice as thin as the front. This is done in order to use the ax as a cleaver. The ax head should form a smaller angle with the ax handle. This allows you to increase efficiency; in addition, such a solution will relieve fatigue and increase productivity. The impact is stronger compared to a carpenter's axe, where the blade and head are placed at an angle of 90°.
Before you make a taiga ax, you should know that the angle of inclination of the ax should be between 65 and 75°, this is the main difference. It is necessary to use ordinary wheels for sharpening; the main task is to maintain the difference in the thickness of the trailing and leading edges, because this is what will affect the productivity of the work.
Making the tool head
The shape of the taiga ax must be special, this applies to the head. If you decide to do this part yourself, you can use a carpenter's axe. To do this, take a metal head, the weight of which is up to 1600 g. This option is considered optimal. Next, the front protrusion of the blade is cut off; it should be made flush with the butt. The protrusion can range from 5 to 8°, but it is better to remove it completely.
The back of the blade should be rounded; for this, the metal is sawed off so that the entire surface has no corners. This can be done with a grinder or a medium-grit sanding wheel. If you are making a taiga ax, what is the purpose of the notch, you may wonder. It is required for planing or more precise work. This shape allows you to pull up logs and hang the ax on a branch. In addition, the notch will reduce the weight by 200 g. The next step is to cut out a semicircle in the inner part of the blade. The upper corners of the butt are also removed, this will reduce weight and increase maneuverability. You can refuse to perform this operation.
Making a forged ax
If you have special equipment, you can make a forged taiga ax yourself. It will consist of two parts. It is necessary to cut a 170 mm piece from steel with a cross section of 60 x 35 mm. Tool steel is suitable for the blade. In the heated workpiece, it is necessary to make two recesses with ledges to form the butt. The workpiece must be stretched to size and dispersed. Then it is bent on the anvil horn or mandrel so that the mandrel fits into the hole formed after bending.
It is necessary to make a wedge from tool steel with dimensions that will correspond to the ax. The wedge is inserted between the bent and drawn ends of the workpiece, then it should be driven in. The workpiece together with the wedge is heated to welding temperature, then you can do forge welding. After completing these works, the workpiece is put on the mandrel, and the following operations must be performed on it. The beard is pulled back to protect the ax handle. The surface of the ax must be finished, the blade sharpened and hardened using the heat treatment regime for tool steels.
Making a solid forged ax
The handle of a taiga ax can be made solid forged. For this purpose, alloy or high-quality carbon steel is used. The mass of the workpiece must be increased by the dimensions of the wedge. The ax is forged, just like a welded one. The cheeks of the ax are welded and forged to the required dimensions. The blade should be chopped and sharpened using an emery wheel, then it is hardened in accordance with the regime for the selected steel.
Such an ax will have a less stable working part, which means it will become dull faster compared to an ax made using forge welding technology. The connection of the blade to the ax is carried out with rivets, which will be more difficult, so this technique is used quite rarely.
The taiga ax is special kind a tool that has many differences from ordinary carpentry tools that can be found in every owner’s home. Good tool It is very difficult to find and it is expensive, so we will make the best ax with our own hands from ordinary materials. Next, we will consider the main differences, features, characteristics of the product and step-by-step instructions for its manufacture.
Characteristics of the taiga ax and what it should be like
Since the parameters of the ax and blade are very different from the usual sizes of “household” axes and will seem unusual to many, you first need to decide what problems can be solved with this miracle device:
- Tree cutting. Felling in a sawmill, sanitary felling or preparing firewood for a log house - this is exactly what this ax was made for.
- Rough work with logs (that's right, rough!). Suitable for removing branches, making grooves, removing thick bark and similar works.
- Ax for survival. A lightweight hunting tool, suitable for quickly creating bags and animal traps.
- Construction of huts, decking, wooden houses « instant cooking" A hut will not be built without an axe, but with its help you can do it 4 times faster than when working with a carpenter's ax blade.
- Working with firewood. If accuracy is a secondary concern, then this tool is perfect for the job.
If you want to make a tool for precision work, then it would be better to consider forged axes with a straight, long blade. They are of little use when cutting down trees, but the accuracy is very high. In addition to the quality of the “cut,” there are many differences between a taiga ax and a regular one.
Shorter rounded blade . The ax is much lighter than a regular one, and small area working surface allows you to bury it much deeper into the wood, suitable for cutting wood across the grain. The tool is much easier to carry (the ax and head together weigh no more than 1400 grams).
Presence of a long beard
. Its main task is to protect the wooden part from breaking under strong impacts. Up to 60% of the impact force is absorbed. But it does not protect against impacts from logs - this is a misconception, because special shape the blades already perform this function. 
Special ax sharpening
. The rear edge of the blade is almost 2 times thinner than the front. This is done for the purpose of using the ax as a cleaver (if struck correctly). In a conventional tool, the edge has the same thickness for high precision works 
Special angle of inclination of the ax
. The head of the taiga ax forms a much smaller angle with the ax handle. This allows you to increase work efficiency, relieve hand fatigue and increase productivity when cutting trees. The impact becomes much stronger than that of a carpenter's axe, where the head and blade are placed at an angle of 90 degrees. All taiga axes self made they try to do it with an angle of 75-65 degrees - this is their main difference. 
They use ordinary sharpening wheels, since they can be very diverse. The main thing is to observe the difference in the thickness of the leading and trailing edges, since it is this that affects the productivity of the forester.
Do-it-yourself taiga ax - making the tool head
It won’t be possible to forge or cast a metal part at home, so let’s take the simplest route and in a few steps make a taiga ax out of an ordinary carpenter’s axe.
STEP 1: we take an old metal head from an ax, the weight of which is approximately 1400-1600 grams ( best option) and cut off the front protrusion of the blade flush with the butt. Protrusion of 5-8 degrees is allowed, but it's better to remove it if you need the right axe. 
STEP 2: we make the back of the blade round, we cut off the metal so that the entire touching surface is without corners. This can be done using an ordinary grinder or a medium-grit sanding wheel. 
STEP 3: cut out a semicircle in the inner part of the blade. It is necessary for a comfortable grip of the ax when it is necessary to trim something or for more precise work. With this form of an ax you can pull up small logs or hang the ax on a tree branch. In addition, you can reduce the weight of the head by 150-200 grams. 
STEP 4: cut off the upper corners of the butt. This will reduce weight and increase the maneuverability of the tool. This operation can be omitted if you are satisfied with the axe. 
Now all that remains is to choose how to sharpen the ax. It is very important to use a low-speed tool (a grinder cannot be used!). Sanding machine with large wheel and medium grit - perfect option. The sharpening must be double-sided and have a moderately sharp edge (a very sharp one will die on the first tree).
Making an ax handle with your own hands
You should not neglect the ax handle, since it is this that affects the comfort of work. The holder must be balanced, comfortable, well polished and with correct geometry so as not to injure the worker’s hands.
The first step is to choose the right wood for the ax handle. The first and simplest option is pine. It is very easy to sharpen and polish, but is unreliable due to its high fragility. You can use birch - the best option and very affordable wood that is quite easy to find. Maple and clear - ideal option, but making a handle from such wood is very difficult in some latitudes.
The size of the ax can be at your discretion; a handle with a length of 50 to 70 centimeters (universal size) for the cleaver is recommended. A hiking option is 40 centimeters, but cutting down trees and chopping firewood is quite difficult with it. If working with an ax only involves splitting logs, then the handle can be increased to 120 centimeters - excellent impact power and productivity, but you lose in comfort of use. Next, let's look at step-by-step instructions for making an ax handle.
STEP 1: We select a wooden blank. The log should be 20 centimeters longer, and its diameter should be at least 12 cm. Without knots, rotten areas, deformations and other defects that may be present on the tree. 
STEP 2: drying wood. First you need to clear all the bark and split the lump in the middle. It is advisable to withstand for a couple of months at +22-25 degrees and 15% humidity. You should not heat it or keep it damp - this will only worsen the properties of the wood after drying, and it may become deformed. 
STEP 3: we shape the ax handle. First, you can remove all excess with a hatchet or a large knife, and all “jewelry work” is done using a chisel and a small hammer. If this is your first hand-made pen and you don’t yet know how to make an ax, then the process will take several hours, you need to check the drawings. A more experienced person will be able to cut an ax handle by eye in 20-30 minutes. You should end up with a handle something like this: 
STEP 4: Now you need to attach the ax handle and secure it. You can use gauze and epoxy resin - a proven option. After 2-3 days the instrument is completely ready for use. To be sure, after mounting the ax you can hammer in a wedge - this will be more reliable. 
STEP 5: sanding and opening with varnish. The ax handle must be properly treated with sandpaper and opened with anti-corrosion mixtures so that the wood is not damaged over time. Now the instrument will also be beautiful! 
Now all you have to do is find out what do-it-yourself sharpening is. You need to sharpen the ax handle on a machine or do it manually and you can go test the tool. True connoisseurs can also make a leather case with their own hands. A piece of leather 30 by 30 centimeters, an awl and nylon threads is all you need. Now the tool will look respectable and you won’t be ashamed to give it as a gift!
You can find out more about how to make a taiga ax with your own hands here:
The ax is the same the right tool V household, during a camping trip or hunting, like a knife. It is not always possible to take it if you are planning a light hike, but in this case there are different varieties of this tool. You can learn more about how to make an ax from wood, metal, a tourist, or a hunting ax.
A battle ax is characterized by the presence of a narrow butt and a narrow, low blade. This is a relatively light homemade ax weighing up to 0.8 kg on a long handle (0.5 m or more). There are one-handed and two-handed, double-sided, with a spike on the back.
In order to make a battle axe, you need to use an ordinary carpenter's blade. The top part needs to be cut so that it forms a straight line. The lower edge of the chopping head is cut out with a hook, and the blade itself is rounded downwards. After this, the surface of the instrument is cleaned to a shine and hardened over fire. The attachment of the battle ax should be such that the lower edge of the blade and the end of the ax are connected by a parallel line, this will avoid additional loads on the handle. The ideal material for making an ax handle would be the butt of an old birch tree. On the ax handle, where the head loop will end, you need to drill a hole obliquely, and then cut a slot under the wedge parallel to the hole made. After this, the head is placed on the ax handle, and a wedge coated with glue is driven into the gap.
How to make an ax from wood
A wooden ax cannot compare to the effectiveness of an iron one, but sometimes it is necessary. Thanks to light weight, it can be taken on a hike to chop thin branches, and it can also be used as a training weapon, or at home. How to do wooden ax? The ax handle and head can be made either separately or one-piece design. The material must be durable, dry, non-fibrous. It is better to use oak or maple. For making blades and axes as individual elements, you will need two logs, sawn in half, onto which the template is applied. Then they are well glued and joined together. The blade of the tool must be sharpened and fired over a fire, or wrapped in a steel plate cut to fit its curve.
Homemade ax for hunting
Indian battle ax Hunting ax Must have good handle balance to deliver accurate strikes. It is best to use an all-metal tool, since the ax handle is less likely to fall off when cutting up a carcass or when cutting the bones of an animal. If it is not possible to forge such an ax, you can make it yourself from a blade and wooden ax. Before you make an ax with your own hands, intended for hunting or fishing trips, you need to make a thin wedge-shaped blade. The tip is processed with a disk with a fine abrasive, trying to give it a rounded shape (but not close to a semicircle) and not to overdo it with sharpness. After this you need to harden the iron. To make an ax handle, butt birch, rowan or elm are used. To determine the correct length of the axe, you need to take it by one end, while the part with the ax attachment should touch the ankle. When attaching the blade to the ax handle, its end must be wedged for secure fixation. In this case, a cut is made obliquely, after which a wedge is driven in. It is better if the wedge is made of the same wood as the ax handle. It can be placed on glue, and if it becomes loose inside the butt, the problem can be easily solved by soaking the tool in water. It is not recommended to use a metal wedge as it will rust and damage the wood. For hunting birds and small game, the ax handle is made light, weighing up to 1000 grams, and up to 60 cm long. For hunting large animals, its length should be at least 65 cm and weight 1000-1400 grams. In this case, you need to focus on the height and weight of the hunter himself.
Taiga ax
The taiga ax is characterized by a rounded blade and light weight, making it easy to carry. The total weight of the ax and head is approximately 1400 grams. It is intended for cutting down trees, rough processing of logs, constructing huts, and working with firewood. Therefore, it differs from a regular ax in the presence of a long beard, which protects the ax from breaking during strong blows; special sharpening of the blade, in which the rear edge is twice as narrow as the front, as well as a smaller angle of inclination of the head in relation to the ax handle compared to a carpentry tool.
To make a taiga axe, you need to follow the instructions:
- You need to take an ordinary carpenter's tool, from which you only need a metal head, with which the front part is cut off so that it is level with the end of the butt.
- The back is cut down to a rounded shape using a grinder or a medium-grit sanding disc.
- A semicircle is cut out on the inside of the chopping head for a comfortable grip on the ax and for carrying out precise work.
- To make the tool lighter, you can saw off the upper corners of the butt.
- Sharpen the blade with an emery machine or a medium-grit grinding wheel on both sides until a moderately sharp edge is obtained.
Next, the ax handle is made. It should be comfortable and made of durable wood. Birch, maple or ash are best suited for this. For comfortable use, the handle should be 50-70 cm long. Before making a taiga ax, you need to select a suitable piece of wood without knots or rotten areas, with a diameter of at least 12 cm. The selected lump should be split in two and dried for a couple of months at a temperature of +22 degrees. After this is given required form axes according to the template. Excess wood is removed with a small hatchet, knife, and then processed with a chisel. All that remains is to attach the butt and secure it using epoxy resin. The finishing process of the ax includes grinding and varnishing.
The ax is one of the oldest tools used by man in his activities. He has come a long way, accompanying the evolution of man from the stone ancestor to modern product from steel itself High Quality. The scope of application of this tool has the widest range of all kinds industrial production, and for home use. The need for its use will not decrease in the near future.
Tool classification
Depending on the area of application, they may have different shape designs and size.
The specialization of this tool can be classified as follows:
- Lumberjack's axe.
- Large and small carpenter's axe.
- Cleaver for harvesting firewood.
- Tourist or hunting camp hatchet.
- Hatchet for the kitchen.
- All kinds of souvenir axes imitating ancient military weapons.
- Sports tomahawk for throwing at targets.
- Firemen's axe.
- Butcher's axe.
Some design differences
Specialization may give rise to some design differences between axes, but basically any of them consists of two parts: a working chopping metal part and a handle attached to it, called an ax handle. The ax handle is mainly made of wood.
Some models of tourist and kitchen samples can be made entirely of metal with wooden or plastic covers to give the flat metal handle the required shape.
The lumberjack's tool is distinguished by a rounded blade and an elongated axe. It is most often used for preparing brushwood from branches. A special type of ax, a splitting ax, is used to prepare firewood from logs. Its metal part is more massive than that of ordinary axes, and has a more obtuse angle at the pointed cutting part.
The firemen's weapon also has a longer ax handle. In addition, the back side of the metal part, called the butt, may differ significantly for such axes. For ordinary tools it is simply flat, but for firefighters this part can be made in the form of a hook or a sharp narrow wedge.
Butt kitchen hatchet usually made in the form of a hammer for beating meat, and the ax with a round cross section manufactured at lathe.
Carpenter's axes
This type of ax is probably the most used in the world. Even with modern technologies no construction can be completed without such an ancient tool. Its versatility is unique.
Carpenter's axes are large, they are used for chipping logs, for making all kinds of notches during construction wooden houses and other buildings.
Small hatchets that are used for smaller jobs.
The chopping blade of carpenter's axes is usually smooth and very sharp.
There are various types of ax handle. Its shape generally depends on the personal preferences of the owner, aimed mainly at ease of working with such a tool. Often a good ax is the face of a carpenter as a specialist. Good master values this instrument more than any other. Therefore, he never uses a purchased ax, but makes it for himself. However, in in capable hands it has to be changed very rarely.
Manufacturing methods
For ordinary person you have to use an ax most often when working on summer cottage. Here, along with the work inherent in such a tool, not very qualified workers are used for various jobs. Therefore, axes, as a rule, do not withstand prolonged use, and they have to be changed quite often.
Most suitable material for the handle is birch. It is durable, relatively light and smooth material to work with. For zealous owners, it will be useful to place birch bars to dry. Birch should be dried for a long time, at least 3-5 years, and always without exposure to sun rays. To make a good ax handle, you will need well-dried birch. Otherwise, it will dry out in the ax itself, the handle will begin to dangle, which can lead to significant inconvenience in work and injury.
There are several in various ways how to make an ax handle correctly. But all of them can be divided depending on technological equipment:
- Using electric woodworking mechanisms ( a circular saw, planing machine, various types grinding).
- Manually from ready-made boards using a plane, rasp, and so on.
- Handmade from birch logs.
- With a minimum of tools.
Technological production of an ax handle
First of all, it is cut out on woodworking machines. necessary preparation. All its dimensions (width, thickness and length) are made with a small margin for further adjustment.
The thickness and width are determined by the size of the ax's entrance hole, which is called the eye and is located at the bottom. It must be remembered that the upper outlet hole is much wider than the lower one, and they should not be confused when taking measurements.
For comfort further processing It is advisable to plan the workpiece on a planing machine in order to make its cross-section close to a triangular shape with an acute angle at the bottom of the future ax handle. Using a cardboard template, a drawing of an ax of the chosen shape is applied to the workpiece. A template can be made by making a drawing according to the dimensions of an old broken tool, or you can find a suitable shape of an ax in specialized literature or on the Internet.
It is most convenient to cut rounded areas using electric jigsaw. Next, smooth out all the corners using a wide chisel and pre-grind the product. It is not worth processing it completely to working condition, because if it is directly connected to the metal part of the tool, when significant forces and impacts are applied, the wood may split, and all the final finishing work will be done in vain.
Mechanical grinding should be done on a flat surface. Using a regular stone sharpening disc is not effective. It is better to make a special disk, with the same hole in the center as the corresponding sharpening stone.
It is better to use the material for the circle from hard electrically insulating plastic, at least 5 mm thick. Sandpaper is glued onto it using PVA glue. You should know that you should only use waterproof paper. A simple one will quickly break. In addition, a circle covered with waterproof sandpaper can be washed to remove wood dust. hot water. Therefore, if such a circle is made from plywood, then washing it will be problematic. Plywood can become deformed when exposed to water.
On such a wheel it will be convenient to grind the smooth and convex parts of the axe, especially the part that is inserted inside the ax. This must be done very evenly so as not to weaken the thickness of the wooden part.
For sanding internal curves, it is good to have a vertical sander. You can also make equipment for it yourself. To do this, you will need to turn a wooden cylinder on a lathe with a through internal hole corresponding to the shaft of the engine being used, and paste it on the outside with waterproof sandpaper.
The finished cylinder should be tightly placed on the shaft of a vertically mounted engine. For grinding the ax itself, the diameter of the cylinder is not so important, but the thickness of the walls from the inner hole to the outer surface should be quite massive, at least 10-15 mm.
Ax head
The upper edge of the ax, which should be inserted inside the ax, is made slightly conical so that it fits tightly enough. Before this, perpendicular axial lines are drawn at the end so that during the work, focusing on their location, the workpiece does not skew in any direction.
Before the final mounting of the ax, a cut is made under the wedge. Its depth should not exceed the width of the ax itself.
How to properly place an ax on an ax handle is shown in the figure:
It is possible to make a wooden wedge from another, softer type of wood, which is more susceptible to compression than birch. To prevent the wedge from jumping out of the ax handle even at the slightest drying, it is advisable to lubricate it with waterproof glue. This is necessary in case the ax gets into water.
After the wooden one, you can additionally wedge it with a metal wedge. Such wedges are specially forged in a forge, making notches along its edges for better adhesion to the wood.
It happens that the upper hole of the ax is larger than the lower one not only in thickness, but also in width. Small gaps remain on the side of the inserted axe, into which additional wooden wedges also have to be driven.
If the connection of the ax with the ax handle went well, proceed to the final finishing of the wood using a finer-grained sandpaper. This process is done manually.
Making an ax by hand
Despite the apparent complexity of this process, it is quite possible for a more or less skilled owner to make an ax handle without using electrified equipment. Especially if there are boards of the appropriate size available. If there are no boards, then the blank on the ax handle can be cut out of a birch log. The log for these purposes should be selected, if possible, without knots and with a straight-layer structure.
To grind the ax handle using sandpaper, it must be secured in a vice. Cut narrow, fairly long strips of sanding material. They will be very convenient for the grinding process, wrapping strips around the ax and moving the ends of the strip back and forth. In this position working surface sandpaper fits tightly to the surface being processed without special effort from the human side.
Working with purchased axes
If a person does not want to bother making an ax handle on his own, there are always some already available for sale ready-made samples. Of course, serious manufacturers of such parts know well how to make an ax handle correctly. But still, when buying it, you should adhere to some rules so as not to 
make mistakes. First of all, you should very carefully measure the entrance hole of the existing ax. The discrepancies in sizes between different axes are sometimes very significant and individual, especially if this tool was taken from my grandfather’s stock. The main condition is that the dimensions of the acquired ax should not be less than the required values.
You should also pay attention to the quality of the wood of the finished ax handle. The density of the structure, the presence of cracks and the possibility of chipping when inserting it.
Work with a purchased ax will be limited to adjusting its end part, which directly fits into the eye.
Sharpening and operation
Carpenter's axes require the most careful sharpening. It's okay if the sharpness of these tools allows you to sharpen a pencil or even make a toothpick.
Before sharpening the cutting edge of the ax, it is necessary to check the hardness of the metal and, if it turns out to be too soft, the ax will need to be additionally hardened by exposure to high temperatures. It is best to do this in a forge, trusting a professional specialist.
The tool blade is sharpened after connecting it to the wooden handle.
Like an ax, the picture below explains.
Useful instructions
The correct use of an ax can be described by following some basic rules:
- Try not to cut metal products.
- Carefully check the wood being processed for the presence of foreign solid objects in its body.
- Do not use the tool in a capacity that is not inherent to it: as a lever, hoe or shovel.
- Do not throw the tool onto a hard surface, especially from a great height.
- Do not store it for a long time open place exposed to sunlight or in an extremely humid place.
If treated with care, the ax and its wooden handle will serve for a long time and please its owner.
Marco A.G(ma36and6)
I have long wanted to make an ax like in Shipulin’s 1982 article Taiga Axe. And it seems like I don’t have a taiga nearby, so there are tens of square kilometers of forests and I only go hunting with a barbecue, skewers and ready-made meat, but I wanted to make a product in the image and likeness.
I tried to do this twice before. It worked with varying degrees of success.
And then I found an ax at my friends’ dacha. Quite an old carpenter from 1974, weighing 1.3 kg.
The ax was bad. The eyelet burst right through on one side almost immediately after purchase, it was boiled, the split was repeated and the owner abandoned it in the barn for many years. Despite the crack and rust, the ax rang amazingly; the crack hardly spoiled its ringing. And the ringing of the butt and the ringing of the blade were little different.
It is obvious that the ax was overheated in the butt.
The ax itself was not even properly sharpened. RK walked from side to side. This was an ideal candidate for experimentation.
I decided to make that same hunting ax out of it.
Weld the eye, grind it into another shape, make a comfortable ax handle, sharpen it and see what happens.
So let's get started.
The first step was to weld the crack. The crack was previously sharpened with a grinder to a depth of half
the thickness of the ax and then handed over to a professional welder.
The welder was an ordinary one, from our HOA, the one who welds heating and water supply pipes in houses every day.
The seam was welded by electric welding on both sides, outside and inside. The grooving and welding work itself took about an hour.
In general, it turned out to be not as labor-intensive as it seemed at first glance.
Next, the search for the form began. Because I don't forge new thing, but I’m just sharpening the existing one,
then the flight of fancy is limited by the dimensions of the current product.
Shipulin proposed the following form of turning. The front protruding toe is cut off and a notch is made
in the back and the blade is rounded.
The ax base is carpenter's. Its shape is such that there is much more iron in the front than in the back.
With this method, the final ax turned out to have a very narrow blade; it became difficult for them to hit a log or trunk.
In addition, the ax is lightened beyond measure.
For example, the first attempt with an ax of the same size resulted in a final weight of 900 grams from the original 1300.
Actually two previous attempts They failed because of this. They turned out well battle axes, very narrow and too light.
In general, this is not a product that can be used to chop logs or fell dry wood.
Therefore, I decided to “unfold” the ax so that there would be less “meat” to be cut from the front and the ax would retain a larger width after turning.
And I didn’t want to lose the weight of the ax. I consider 1000-1100 g to be optimal for a household axe.
A small digression. I rotated the pictures from Shipulin’s article for ease of comparison with photographs of what happened.
So if you read the original article, don’t blame me for distortion.
There is a downside to such a reversal. With this method of turning, the final product has an eye on the side where the ax enters it
it turns out a little wider than when exiting.
The actual thickness of the butt and the internal inclination of the eye are the main problem when turning the ax.
The cone turns out in the wrong direction. I decided to deal with this problem already during the nozzle.
The reverse cone shape was not particularly disturbing for another reason: there is no cone in our axes,
there is some uneven resemblance. And taking into account the fact that there was a welding seam inside, I decided not to give a damn about some kind of reverse taper.
Further work fully proved the correctness of this idea.
Turning was done in two ways.
First, the protruding corners were cut off with a thin cutting disc.
The second method is to grind the grooves and residues from the previous processing with a thick abrasive disc.
For ease of turning, the drawing of the future shape of the ax was first drawn with a black marker, and then those parts
which were about to be cut off were sealed with white paper. I glued it to cyanoacrylate.
With this method of marking, even in the presence of a large number of sparks, you can always see where the tool’s RC is located.
The glue did not fail, the paper held on until the end of processing.
The rough turning was done quickly, within an hour the conceived idea was embodied in new form. The ax lost 200 grams.
and became much more elegant.
A birch blank was chosen as an ax handle. In general, I don’t like birch as a material for ax handles.
but this particular example of the ax fit perfectly under the eye, there was no need to even adjust it.
The ax handle was purchased in the summer of 2012 and weighed 495 grams when purchased. After 7 months of drying, the weight became 473 grams. Overall this
it was still a bit too much and after installation the ax handle was further sharpened to fit the hand, the weight dropped further to 430 grams.
It seems like such a small thing, 43 grams. But this little thing shifted the CM 1.5 cm forward towards the iron, which overall slightly improved
overall balance of the axe.
Wedge using your favorite method: 5 wedges on gauze with epoxy + sticking wood chips into the gaps with reverse side,
They probably still remember about the reverse cone.
It turned out just like Shipulin’s. Well, except that I ended up with a product that is slightly larger in relative width and
The deflection of the ax is less.
Speaking of deflection.
To be honest, this deflection in the original article always confused me with its excessiveness.
Apparently this is still the fantasy of the author, who wanted to pass off what he wanted as reality.
Because if you look at the photo of real products in the same article. Then the deflection of the ax is much less.
It simply can't be that big due to the lip at the bottom of the eyelet.
And with such a deflection, the tree must be bent, and not turned, so that it does not break along the edges of the fibers.
Birch is unlikely to do this, except beech.
But I had 2 attempts with beech before and I can’t say that they were too successful.
Then stained with non-aqueous stains. The color turned out uneven, despite two honest attempts.
TTX before/after
Weight: 1330g/1120g
Assembled weight: 1570g
Blade width: 145mm/120mm
Height from butt to RC 200mm/200mm
Eyelet height 61 mm (it became the same on both sides)
Butt thickness (after turning and turning)
-internal 18 mm
-external 15 mm
Length 600 mm
The ax was later sharpened and successfully used for its intended purpose. Preparing firewood for barbecue in the forest.
The ax has a good balance, there is no recoil in the hand, in general, the ideas that Shipulin has been expressing for 30 years
ago were completely confirmed.
