Never lend your axe..........

[Warrigul]

I have a(nearly) 3kg tasmanian pattern axe from a very long time ago(yes very rare but they do exist)

Now let me list some of its virtues:

It is as heavy as most blockbusters

It is extremely hard to sharpen but holds its edge for a full day of tree felling(it is from the days when they used to fell bloody huge trees with axes)

It was made for a better man than I but I am getting used to it and am able to wield it to great effect backing off wood from blocks and limbing.

Its latest handle is hardened blue gum

It was capanble of shaving hairs from my forearm on Friday
Last week this is what it did:

six meters of wood

axe pictures 002.jpg (51.6 KiB) Viewed 5549 times

This is what it looked like AFTER my brother borrowed it this morning while I was away.


Not happy Jan, there is a reason I always lend him the s**ty old cyclone.

Grrrrr you should never touch a mans axe.

For those that don't know(and my brother should know better, he is six years younger but still spent some time in the bush with my dad, grandfather and I) when you are splitting with an axe you twist the head just as it strikes and the axe never goes all the way through.

If you DON'T twist the axe head it sometimes goes all the way through and hits the concrete just below the surface of his backyard lawn.


When he dropped it off the kids said nothing but were wondering as they knew no one touches dads axe.

I noticed he dropped it off THEN called me from quite a distance to tell me he may have nicked the edge a bit,

A BIT!

Aside from the waste of metal that will never be replaced it will take hours to fix.

Sorry, rant over.

(edit to get rid of extra pictures and some of the slightly deranged and over the top sounding hysteria- it is only an axe after all)

[NukeBOMB88]

Damn that's too nice of an axe to mistreated like that!

[cruze82]

Your up for some work to get that back to sharp mate

My grandfather had a couple of really nice axe's he used to cut paths for hydro lines up near tarraleah

I missed out on them in the will but my cousin has taken really good care of them

[Warrigul]

Your up for some work to get that back to sharp mate

My grandfather had a couple of really nice axe's he used to cut paths for hydro lines up near tarraleah

I missed out on them in the will but my cousin has taken really good care of them

The old blokes knew how to work back then, I was on my way back from Campbelltown yesterday and stopped for a quick spin at the dam wall of the Great lake, with the lake so low you can still see evidence of what they did by hand.

Awesome effort, especially the hand dug canals. We have a shack at Breona and dad has dug up a lot of old history.

Dad spent a couple of years falling for the Hydro in the very early sixties, big timber back then I have seen some of the stumps. Your Grandfather would have earned his pay.

[on_one_wheel]

Passion fingers ... I love a good axe, personally I never split wood without a chopping block, no doubt it can be done without striking the ground but I dont like taking the chance, plus im a little too tall to do it without a block... so I've got a few massive redgum chopping blocks.

Hopefully the next photo you put up is one of it looking race ready again.

[cruze82]

Your up for some work to get that back to sharp mate

My grandfather had a couple of really nice axe's he used to cut paths for hydro lines up near tarraleah

I missed out on them in the will but my cousin has taken really good care of them

The old blokes knew how to work back then, I was on my way back from Campbelltown yesterday and stopped for a quick spin at the dam wall of the Great lake, with the lake so low you can still see evidence of what they did by hand.

Awesome effort, especially the hand dug canals. We have a shack at Breona and dad has dug up a lot of old history.

Dad spent a couple of years falling for the Hydro in the very early sixties, big timber back then I have seen some of the stumps. Your Grandfather would have earned his pay.

yeah they had to cut the track up though Wayatinah to tarra by hand, some of that country is as thick as iv ever seen and steep

Was in Tassie last year at Tarra for a family reunion and we went for a drive to Derwent Bridge to have a look at the wall in the wilderness some amazing wood carvings, Greg Duncan is a true craftsman
guys and girls if your ever in Tassie put it on the list to go and see

[FuzzyM]

My axe is a Stihl MS362.

Joking, I grew up running around the family farm with a half axe, the head was one my great grandfather brought back from serving in the army, up near Darwin I think, in WW2.

Awesome size axe for a boy. May or may not have dropped a tree or three growing up. Shhhh, don't tell the greentards!

[Die Judicii]

Hey there Warrigal,
If you ever get one thats really in need of restoration (as in replacing steel / building up) try using a fine chainsaw file as an electrode, and "bare wire" weld it with a DC unit. I think by memory electrode negative.
Any ways, experiment with negative/positive, and use the one that doesnt lay a flat bead. ie: least amount of heat input.
Dunno about the deposited metal quality from todays files, but would suggest using an old file from yester year if you can find one.

Bare wire welding with DC is quite good when you get used to it, and amazing what you can do.
I once successfully welded a broken seat spring off a Pennyfarthing bike with that method.
Those springs were what was known in blacksmiths lingo as a cold water quenched spring steel.

[Westy]

Looks like he was using it as a whipper snipper not a bloody axe!!!!

[Warrigul]

Die Judicii,

Nice to hear someone still knows which end to use as an earth in tricky situations and that the old ways are still known. Most of the Liberty ships in WW2 were bare wire arc welded, they used a flux apparently but I haven't had the time to research it properly. I am very interested in the old ways of doing things.

I have the gear to carbon arc fuse weld and bare wire direct weld but am slack and often yield to modern day TIG and oxy for tricky stuff. You look at some of the gear they forged for the old traction engines and trains and it is a marvel how well made they were with the technology available at the time.

[Warrigul]

yeah they had to cut the track up though Wayatinah to tarra by hand, some of that country is as thick as iv ever seen and steep

Was in Tassie last year at Tarra for a family reunion and we went for a drive to Derwent Bridge to have a look at the wall in the wilderness some amazing wood carvings, Greg Duncan is a true craftsman
guys and girls if your ever in Tassie put it on the list to go and see

I have watched the wilderness wall grow from when it was first located at Cradle mountain, a truly incredible piece of art and by itself would justify a trip to TAS.

The old Hydro villages(what is left) are fascinating. A trip to TAS incorporating them and the Waddamana, and perhaps the Lake Margaret power station would be worthwhile for any mainlander who has an interest in history.

[Atter]

Someone needs a whack with the flat side.

[Lorgar]

I noticed he dropped it off THEN called me from quite a distance to tell me he may have nicked the edge a bit,

I lent a workmate a Leatherman to get a snapped key out of a lock. Figured he was going to use the pliers or the pry tool etc.

He gave it back, and later I noticed the tip of the serrated blade was snapped off. I asked once I noticed and sure enough, instead of using the tools your expect he stuck the pointiest frailest tool tip in the lock and pried the key out.

"I put it in the lock and it snapped" he said.

It didn't snap, you snapped it you muppet.

[bigfellascott]

Well ya know what to do now mate, get the edge back on that one and buy a cheap as axe for him or anyone else to borrow! I don't lend stuff to people much anymore they tend to break it or loose it and I'm quite frankly f***ing over that! they can f*** right off and buy their own s**t to break from now on.

I don't have the money to keep replacing things because some other tightarse is too cheap to buy their own or replace the one they'd damaged.

I loaned a pair of good German Made Garden Shears to my neighbour years ago and the dumb f*** through them out with the palm fronds he'd cut down with em! so I just said that cost ya $50! he payed up and it wasn't until recently I found the same type at a Garage Sale - so I bought em and a long handled shovel, some pliers and other tools for $10!

[Warrigul]

Well ya know what to do now mate, get the edge back on that one and buy a cheap as axe for him or anyone else to borrow! I don't lend stuff to people much anymore they tend to break it or loose it and I'm quite frankly f***ing over that! they can f*** right off and buy their own s**t to break from now on.

I don't have the money to keep replacing things because some other tightarse is too cheap to buy their own or replace the one they'd damaged.

I loaned a pair of good German Made Garden Shears to my neighbour years ago and the dumb f*** through them out with the palm fronds he'd cut down with em! so I just said that cost ya $50! he payed up and it wasn't until recently I found the same type at a Garage Sale - so I bought em and a long handled shovel, some pliers and other tools for $10!

I have a standard cyclone wood axe in the shed and everyone is allowed to borrow that but he borrowed my good axe when we were splitting up about twelve meters of wood a while back (he was a blockbuster man) so he borrowed it instead as it is a nice heavy brute(imagine a 2kg cyclone than add another pound and a quarter). I even have a woodheap axe for the family to use that I wouldn't have shed much of a tear for..

I was going to take all the nicks out of it but decided to just take the rough edges off as it will need sharpenening again one day. I don't want to lose any more weight off it than I have to as it really only gets used as a splitting axe these days.

This is my axe, there are many like it but this one is mine........................................................ I am starting to sound a bit unbalanced now.

[Jack V]

Actually it's a huge risk to lend that kind of tool at all nowadays . He sure made a mess of it . Looks like he's been cutting tree roots in the ground or something .
I have had some bad experiences with lending stuff and now I just don't do it for anyone . Let them go to the hardware and buy a cheap Chinese axe for that kind of thing .

[bigfellascott]

Well ya know what to do now mate, get the edge back on that one and buy a cheap as axe for him or anyone else to borrow! I don't lend stuff to people much anymore they tend to break it or loose it and I'm quite frankly f***ing over that! they can f*** right off and buy their own s**t to break from now on.

I don't have the money to keep replacing things because some other tightarse is too cheap to buy their own or replace the one they'd damaged.

I loaned a pair of good German Made Garden Shears to my neighbour years ago and the dumb f*** through them out with the palm fronds he'd cut down with em! so I just said that cost ya $50! he payed up and it wasn't until recently I found the same type at a Garage Sale - so I bought em and a long handled shovel, some pliers and other tools for $10!

I have a standard cyclone wood axe in the shed and everyone is allowed to borrow that but he borrowed my good axe when we were splitting up about twelve meters of wood a while back (he was a blockbuster man) so he borrowed it instead as it is a nice heavy brute(imagine a 2kg cyclone than add another pound and a quarter). I even have a woodheap axe for the family to use that I wouldn't have shed much of a tear for..

I was going to take all the nicks out of it but decided to just take the rough edges off as it will need sharpenening again one day. I don't want to lose any more weight off it than I have to as it really only gets used as a splitting axe these days.

This is my axe, there are many like it but this one is mine........................................................ I am starting to sound a bit unbalanced now.

Too much Full Metal Jacket Pte Pile! How do you sharpen your axes? I just use a file on mine and they seem to get a good edge on em (good enough to split wood with anyway)

[Warrigul]

Too much Full Metal Jacket Pte Pile! How do you sharpen your axes? I just use a file on mine and they seem to get a good edge on em (good enough to split wood with anyway)

2nd cut mill file is good enough for me generally, I will finish it off with a small stone occaisonally but you don't need to to split wood. I never use a grinder.

[bigfellascott]

Too much Full Metal Jacket Pte Pile! How do you sharpen your axes? I just use a file on mine and they seem to get a good edge on em (good enough to split wood with anyway)

2nd cut mill file is good enough for me generally, I will finish it off with a small stone occaisonally but you don't need to to split wood. I never use a grinder.

Nah bugger using a grinder to sharpen anything, not a good idea is it, just buggers the temper of the steel from my understanding.

[Die Judicii]

Die Judicii,

Nice to hear someone still knows which end to use as an earth in tricky situations and that the old ways are still known. Most of the Liberty ships in WW2 were bare wire arc welded, they used a flux apparently but I haven't had the time to research it properly. I am very interested in the old ways of doing things.

I have the gear to carbon arc fuse weld and bare wire direct weld but am slack and often yield to modern day TIG and oxy for tricky stuff. You look at some of the gear they forged for the old traction engines and trains and it is a marvel how well made they were with the technology available at the time.

Yeah Mate,
You are on the right track with regard to bare wire welding on the WW2 ships.
I happen to know what info your missing,,,, so here goes.
I've done 40 years as Maintenance Welding,, Boilermaker,, and Pressure Vessel welding.
In the very early part, I was taught an awful lot by my Father, who was a Boilermaker, and during WW2 he was retained as Reserved Occupation, and worked in the Sydney Drydocks repairing the damaged ships.
Now,,, to your missing bit of info,,,,,
When the idea of flux first came about, they used to try just about anything, and each tradie seemed to have their own preference or "cure".
Obviously most of them didn't really do anything, in fact a lot probably made things worse.
However, the first so called flux that was fairly successful was something that would make most people these days shudder in fear.
What it was,,,, They used to wrap Blue Asbestos cloth around the Bare Wire electrode.....

Imagine breathing in those fumes 10 hrs a day. Told you it was scary..
Cheers

[Gregg]

I have had some bad experiences with lending stuff and now I just don't do it for anyone .

That's my philosophy too.

s**t happens, even when it's no the persons fault you still have to deal with it, if you don't lend stuff out there's no risk to your mateship with someone.

[Die Judicii]

Nah bugger using a grinder to sharpen anything, not a good idea is it, just buggers the temper of the steel from my understanding.

Dead right there Mate, the speed and action of grinding on the thin edge very quickly buggers the tempering.

What is needed is a "Wet Stone"

The old fashioned hand operated grinding wheel where one person did the turning and at the same time trickled water on the stone, while the other person applied the axe to the wheel.

Or, have a tray of water underneath that the wheel travelled through.

Nowadays you can buy electric versions of the above mentioned.

The key to the success is of course... Slow speed.

[Jack V]

I remember those huge round stones, some were operated by a foot pedal crank. I think shearers used them also to sharpen hand crutching shears.

I know where one is sitting unused in an old shed on a property way out in the back block.

[BBJ]

The key to the success is of course... Slow speed.

That looks like it's a big ask the way you see some guys sharpen things.

Can't waste precious seconds, even if it means your blade is spewing sparks from the grinder.

[Jack V]

That's my philosophy too.

s**t happens, even when it's no the persons fault you still have to deal with it, if you don't lend stuff out there's no risk to your mateship with someone.

I had a funny thing happen with a neighbour that was always bluging on me but never ever returned any favours.

I was using a vibrating sander one day on the side of the house and he came over and wanted to borrow it. I just said to him sorry I don't own one. He looked perplexed. He said your using one. I said no I'm not , I don't own one. He looked bamboozled and then suddenly he fell in and walked away. He never came back again which suited me fine because he was a total parasite of a man.

That's when I decided no more lending of any kind. I notice now he annoys the other neighbours trying to sponge off them.

[on_one_wheel]

That's gold Jack.

I had a similar thing happen. The bloke that lives behind me had a tree go down and asked if he could borrow my saw to cut it up, so generous me lent him my brand new husky chainsaw.

The next morning I was woken by the sound of my saw being started and hitting full noise stone cold, when I got it back later he said the chair had fallen off but all was good.

The saw looked like it had aged 2 years, it was covered in sap, had a chunk of alloy missing from the side cover where he attacked the bar nuts with a shifting spanner and the chain had chewed parts of the saw and damaged the bar where it came off from him not paying attention to the chain tension. I was so pissed! I just assumed that a bloke of his age would know how to use a saw.

Months later "can I borrow your saw ?" I said " sorry mate I don't lend stuff like that out because it generally comes back stuffed". He gave me a sh!t eating grinn and he never spoke to me over the fence again.

[Old Fart]

Lending something that's brand spanking new is always a recipe for agro.

It always comes back worse off and you feel like you never even got to use the thing.

[Jack V]

That's gold Jack.

I had a similar thing happen. The bloke that lives behind me had a tree go down and asked if he could borrow my saw to cut it up, so generous me lent him my brand new husky chainsaw.

The next morning I was woken by the sound of my saw being started and hitting full noise stone cold, when I got it back later he said the chair had fallen off but all was good.

The saw looked like it had aged 2 years, it was covered in sap, had a chunk of alloy missing from the side cover where he attacked the bar nuts with a shifting spanner and the chain had chewed parts of the saw and damaged the bar where it came off from him not paying attention to the chain tension. I was so pissed! I just assumed that a bloke of his age would know how to use a saw.

Months later "can I borrow your saw ?" I said " sorry mate I don't lend stuff like that out because it generally comes back stuffed". He gave me a sh!t eating grinn and he never spoke to me over the fence again.

I don't know why I did that it was not my usual nature but I think I had just had enough of the free loading . Now I am stronger I just say sorry I don't lend tools and walk away .