OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

137673 "Hugh Jenkins" <h.p.jenkins@b...> 2004‑10‑11 Axe Handles
A big thanks to all who have replied on this. Both Richard Wilson and I
thought that the list would have plenty to say, and as a new member I
must say I'm pretty impressed.

It certainly doesn't sound as if there is an Authorised Version on this
matter. My own view, for what it's worth, is partly based on the game of
golf; I play with old hickory and nonstainless clubs, which are just as
much fun to restore as tools. When you hit a golf ball, you want maximum
acceleration of the clubhead just before impact. This means keeping the
hands in front of the club till the latest possible moment, when the
wrists are straightened with a whiplash effect. (Occasionally). A curved
axe handle helps keep the hand in front of the main mass of the axe head
from where it can be propelled at the moment of cutting - the same
effect, in practice.

BTW my mentor on this list says it's polite to contribute a brief note
on who you are when you join up, so here goes: I'm not a collector of
old tools; my interest in them comes from looking after an ancient oak
woodland as a conservation project. That yields lots of green timber and
plenty of opportunities to work with the basic tools that convert a tree
into a usable object. The best edge tools for this job - axes,
billhooks, drawknives, two-man saws etc are nearly always old, and as
such have much more personality than the new equivalent. So I joined
this list to find out the best way to use and preserve them.


Recent Bios FAQ