WORKS FARM STORE

a new series

Billet, n. 1. lodging for a soldier, esp. lodging in private or nonmilitary public buildings.

Billet, n. 1. a small chunk of wood; a short section of a log, esp. one cut for fuel.

The billet pictured here was rived from a Hickory tree sometime in the 1990’s in the Minisink Region of the Upper Delaware River near the Walpack Bend in Pennsylvania. Put up as handle stock and reserved for my personal tools.

Collins 4lb felling axe: likely manufactured by the Collins Company in Canton, Connecticut first half of 20th century. Collins closed the factory around 1966 and the name continued under The Mann Axe Company in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. This axe retains the graceful lines and tapered cheeks of a genuine Collins axe and is the finest example in my 30+years of looking. The poll retains a stamped number 4 and the faint remnants of the factory worker’s initials (as was common in the day) is a quality touchmark. It has never been abused.

The objective is to marry these two together for the ultimate bushcraft, car camping, sportsman, RV and all-around tool of first or last resort.

Roughhewn and started into the eye.

A cluttered shop is a working one, and when the work is done its’ presentation speaks for itself.

537 and 3/4 trial fittings later and a snug fit. Ya’ gotta’ want it! Now we have a good start on a great tool. Ready for shaping the haft.

A heavy half axe with no rebound, a wedge with an edge. Split kindlin’, build a shelter, hew a pair of snowshoes, set stakes, break out of a sinking vehicle or gather DNA from an attacker.

Just don’t act like a madman or she might make a play for a shin.

Just swing tools till your arms won’t lift anymore, or the sun goes down.

The only power tool used in this process was the chainsaw to fell the tree. An unparalleled level of intimacy between wood and the maker, this sort of work largely disappeared shortly after the industrial revolution. There are still a few of us, but very few.

Kiln dried timber makes for an inferior handle; air dried timber retains the life of the tree at the cellular level, and riven wood is the strongest wood of all. Follow the tree and the growth rings run end to end, not interrupted from bisecting with saws nor contrived by a lathe. A proper tool purpose made.

A lot more discussion on these topics would serve us well, but we won’t go into them here because we’re building something. Tomorrow is another day and every good day’s work will end, although we’ll not always admit to doing a good day’s work.

One way to describe what you are seeing here - is sculpture.

If the fates allow, and mercy intervenes, then at some point following trial and error, tools will begin to perform (more or less) as intended. It’s there we enter what has been described as the Flow State; the same place performing artists go when their total focus is on the performance; form and function combine in a rarified moment and time disappears.

Mind over matter the Mighty Atom (Joseph Greenstein)

Now it’s time to reflect. Why build an axe when a chair would be better?
Well, if great scarcity should strike, even the chair could be burned for fuel - if only we had an axe.

Never strike your axe with anything other than wood, and never strike your axe on anything other than wood. Metal on metal in Wood world is a cardinal sin.

Never throw your axe, especially while an angry horde is closing the gap.

Unless you’re going to eat it, flesh is the very last thing you want your axe to strike.

Sharp enough to shave with is never the goal when cutting wood is what we’re after.

A good axe is not a toy, instant karma is never nearer then when atoning for foolish antics while wielding an axe.

Anytime calamity should befall us, it would be a good idea to take a moment and ask how we arrived there.

An angel might appear all wrapped in roughhewn garb.
An Angel of Mercy.

The stave being tamed, its’ final form starts to arrive; simple, elegant lines that belie its’ nature and designed only to fit the human body, with places for hands to communicate tactile messages and execute a purposeful arc while staying close to the work.

Yup, you’re seeing it, a two-tone handle with the Hickory (Shagbark, Carya ovata) sapwood being lighter and the heartwood the darker.
Sometimes we get lucky.

No machinery, no nails, screws or glue, no sandpaper, paint or finishes; just sharp tools and native good sense.

To understand the implications of such a tool we’ll have to go back in time…

Photo by DDP on Unsplash

We evolved among the trees.
Our first tools were made of wood, then bone, then stone, then copper, bronze and finally iron and steel. The elements range from the cosmic to the very, very old. The purpose of the tool never changes, and its’ uses are as varied as ever before - until recently.

World wars and industrial revolution depleted both the knowledge and practical use of hand operated/complex tools. When the desire to sell axes outstripped the desire to use them the era of quality construction ended abruptly. Since wood is cheaper and easier to mass produce using machinery, handles were the first to suffer. The metal working parts followed soon after.

The Stoneman, the Huntsman and the Timberman remained close kin until innovation rendered them obsolete, taking their native good sense with them. An example of this is a problem that plagued those souls and every soul since, and every soul for all time: keeping the head and the haft together. Every one of them is guaranteed to loosen, and no advancement in technology has defeated that, or ever will. Not the fault of the maker, or the wood or the axe, but water. Dissimilar materials, one being fairly static and the other being fairly dynamic. Wood possesses capillary action meaning it will take water and release it. Water is not compressible and even the ancient mind understood that nothing defeats it. Humidity changes and then so does wood; it swells when moisture is higher and shrinks when it is lower. When a threshold is reached wood will swell and then not return to baseline especially when encased within a much more robust material, in this instance bone, stone, copper, bronze, iron or steel. The wood and water must either defeat its’ captor or more likely the wood will compress until the water retreats and the wood is left denser and slightly shrunken, hence the loose handle. All this happens at the molecular level, where we don’t see it, so all we see is a loose handle and we blame the maker.

Fast forward to the present.
Built in obsolescence.
If there is no use of a tool, there is no need to make a good one. If the goal is to make and sell as many axes as possible then best case scenario would be a market that still wants one but will likely never use it. Just make an attractive or implied “perfect” tool and the unwitting market will buy it.

Never pick up an axe by its handle until you ascertain it will not land on the ground or cleave a foot, or worse, swing it and give life to the meaning “fly off the handle”.

If you have an axe and are unwilling or unable to teach yourself how to make a proper handle and “haft a celt”, then at least teach yourself how to make a wedge from wood. Any metal wedge to fasten the tool will guarantee a short useable life for the handle. A wooden wedge is much easier to make then a handle and will need to be replaced likely twice a year in most places. They are not reuseable, and spares are handy. Check the wedge before use and take a trial test. At the first signs of loosening remove the old wedge and replace it with new. Be it wedge or sinew or whatever holding the two together, the tool will require maintenance. Store bought and even expensive hand forged tools are no different with the exception of being non-repairable.

Eons of practical use bears all this out and no amount of cleverness can improve on that. We learn from our forebears.
If you want to repeat what has been done here so far, 30 years or so will about do it.

Normally what is said is there are no shortcuts - however in this instance there might be…

But another day is ending, the fires burn low, and the chores go wanting.

All that’s left now is setting the wedge and dressing the edge, and finally making a keeper (leather).

She’s a gem, heirloom and museum quality. Angel of Mercy. The mystery is what will become of her? With care she will outlast me and a century to come.

Let’s have an auction!

This angel is looking for a home. Her mission is feeding Works so that Works might one day feed others. This is the first of what will (with luck) be many offerings to come.

If you want this axe (and you’ll need to really want it) leave an offer or make an inquiry, we’re not hard to find.

Fair warning: there is a reserve on this one of a kind once in a lifetime offer. Look for her to appear in her completed state in upcoming editions of WORKS FARM STORE.

And thanks for hanging out.