Broad axe for me?

[Kees Heiden]

I am playing with the idea to get myself a small broad axe. But this is completely new teritory for me, so I'd like to get some advice.

I can find big goosewing type of broad axes all day long, but they are quite expensive and look quite out of place for my kind of work. I won't start to build log cabins any time soon. I would like to play with a smaller type of broad axe to cut down on jack plane work when dealing with very cupped or twisted boards. I looked at a video from Peter Follansbee so I have a vague idea how to use it for this purpose.

So, I found a guy overhere in Europe who seems to make those axes in a slightly smaller format, 1250 gram or 2.7 lbs, for not too much money.

My questions:
- Am I crazy to even think about this for this purpose? I tried a bit with a normal hatchet, and it kind of worked, but it wanted to dig into the wood all the time instead of shaving wood off from the surface.
- Does this even look like a suitable broad axe?

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[Nicholas Lawrence]

Funny you should post this Kees. I was just looking at the Vaughn and Bushnell Broad Hatchet, and thinking about asking if anyone has used anything like that. It looks like it has a "flat" face.

If you search for it, it will come up on the American version of Amazon.

I was also watching an episode of the Woodwright's shop that Jim Koepke posted the other day, and he was using a neat hatchet/adze combination thing that I have never run across. It looked like it could be pretty useful.

[Karl Andersson]

Hi Kees,
I have used my broad hatchets (single-bevel) as you describe– but mine are lighter; the largest is about 1 pound. The results were fair,but when I was working on rough-sawn lumber that I wanted to eventually plane, Istopped using the hatchet “early” to avoid any stray cuts going too deeply intothe wood I wanted to keep (I don’t use the hatchets daily, so there is always askill warm-up period when using them).
I use my hatchets for spoons, bowls, riven wood lumber shapingand carpentry. I use a large (18”) drawknife instead to remove large amounts ofwood on sawn lumber that is out of square, etc.. I am sure that if you set thewood up so that it and your blade stroke are vertical (so you shave the wood,not chop it) you could develop the hand-eye coordination to use the broad axefor your purpose; it just takes practice.
The goosewing or bearded style that you show should be veryeffective – with your hand up behind the blade, you’d be able to control thecut a lot more and take fine shavings.
Karl

[Rick Malakoff]

Hi Kees,
This is the profile I use for that kind of work, it's a flooring hatchet single bevel and is easy to control. This one pictured is a PLUMB and it's NOS about 60 years old.
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Rick

[Roger Nair]

I have used a lipped adze across the grain in a very efficient manner for leveling surfaces on boards and timber. For spot usage, the slick is my preferred tool, working across the grain: Rotate the blade 85 degrees and make gauging cuts, then lay the blade flat and remove the bulk. The main advantage of a slick is that two hand provide close control and with the butt of the handle bedded against the upper thigh great force can be applied. For use on boards, my preference would not be an axe, mainly because the axe will work best in the vertical orientation and that will present control problems over the board.

[Jim Koepke]

You might consider a hewing axe or hatchet. It would likely cost a lot less. Here is mine, it was found at an estate sale:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?210967-Estate-Sale-Find

One popped up on the auction site by searching > true temper hatchet <

There are a few other interesting items also found in the search.

jtk

[James Pallas]

Kees I have and use a hatchet, not so much anymore. They work well along the grain and cross grain but not so well against the grain. You see people that are good with them go against the grain flipping the work over. I was never very successful at that. I quickly learned the meaning of tear out going against the grain, halfway thru the work was my specialty. Tried a broad axe once or twice over the years not fun at all works your muscles in both directions, starting and stopping the axe.
Jim

[Kees Heiden]

Those single bevel hatchets look a lot smaller and more usefull for the scale of work I do. What kind of weight are we talking about?

When looking on ebay, it seems plenty of these are available in the US, but I haven't yet found one overhere in Europe. Only the much bigger ones.

[James Pallas]

Kees The one I have is about 2lbs. It weighs about the same as my Plumb rigging hatchet (28oz). I think I got it from Garret Wade about 20 years ago. I also have a broad axe, old one. It looks like a regular axe not one of the big sweeping type. It I probably 5 or 6 pounds.
Jim

[Kees Heiden]

When hacking with my normal hatchet I found it much easier to go across the grain. With the grain I also found the meaning of Tearout with a capital T pretty quickly!

2 lbs sounds way more doable then 5-6!

[James Pallas]

Kees After my brief experimentations with a broad axe a few things come to mind even after 20 years. Steel toed shoes shin guards, back breaking and knuckle buster. I don't have any idea what type of men it took to cut railroad ties enough to span America in that era. Or those that cut and trimmed all of the beams to build the modern world.
Jim

[Rick Malakoff]

Kees, this is the one I currently use a PLUMB 2# 2.7oz with a new handle, usually work on a stump with a wide stance.

Rick

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[Andrew Pitonyak]

I find that flooring hatchet very interesting in the profile (flat on one side and not flat on the other). Makes sense given the use (well, what I think the use is).

Interesting that there is a screw in the top of the handle.

So, what is that notch in the bottom of the head? Surely that is not for pulling nails.

[Brent Cutshall]

I use a hatchet like the one Jim Koepke was talking about. I'm half woodcarver, and I can take that thing and hew within an eighth of an inch of the line on both curved and straight pieces. I would recommend a small hewing hatchet like that, but it your choice.

[steven c newman]

At one time, I had an Official Scout Axe ( Plumb) that used a screw to tighten the head of the hatchet.

First axe shown is also called a Bearded Axe.

Most Broad Axes I have seen: 1) have no bevel on one side of the blade, 2) the handle is NOT straight out from the head (saves your knuckles), and 3) the handle can be inserted from either the top or the bottom of the head,depending on which hand you will be using. 4) They usually have a nice curve to the edge...about like this...)...and tend to make a slicing cut.

[Kees Heiden]

I would love to find a vintage smaller single bevel broad axe overhere, but it seems that is not going to happen anytime soon. So , I'm probably going to order that somewhat larger one. It has a nice handle like Steven describes above.

[Rick Malakoff]

That's exactly what the notch is for!

[Rick Malakoff]

Kees, I would think something along these lines would work and their right in your neck of the woods and only have 300 years experience.

http://hultsbruk1697.se/products/tibro/

Rick

[Kees Heiden]

Nice, but what makes this axe different from my all purpose hatchet? It doesn't seem to have a single bevel.

[Rick Malakoff]

My mistake forgot you had a hatchet!