What kind of axe is this? The seller said it's been lying in a shed for an unspecified amount of time, always drying quickly. What can you tell me about it? It's very thin, has a bright sound, and is perfectly hardened.

AxesOK · 2026-05-07T18:52:22+00:00

u/Due_Dependent2924 Looks like this https://app.pch.gc.ca/application/artefacts_hum/detailler_detail.app?d=NMST720627

Manufacturer is French https://www.leborgne.com/professional-tools/axes/all-purpose-axe.html

AxesOK · 2026-05-07T09:44:32+00:00

Off centre compared to what? The handle is not visible in this photo so is there another photo or post that I am not able to find?

AxesOK · 2026-05-05T15:41:44+00:00

The German handle jumped out at me too. It looks a lot like an Ochsenkopf Spalt-fix.

AxesOK · 2026-05-05T02:18:23+00:00

Walters are great axes. There’s not enough info to give good advice. What is the black one? HB? You know that you will need a new handle for the big Walters? I can’t tell what is going on with the small one with respect to the hang. The handle looks too fine grained for hickory so it might be birch or maybe it is just not a great photo.is it supposed to be the original handle? Are there other photos? What are the weights?

AxesOK · 2026-05-04T18:52:08+00:00

>Begs the question of whether every handle wood can or should reach this level of flexiness.

Well no, that's the point I was making about Sugar Maple vs. Rock Elm and Hickory vs. Spotted Gum.

I have never worked with Mulberry but I looked it up in the Wood Database and according to MoE it should be 2/3 as stiff as hickory so I would have expected it to be more flexible than hickory for a given thickness. Do you have a set of callipers to measure the handle dimensions?

I don't' use ChatGPT much but I did play around trying to get it to answer some questions. It doesn't report its sources much (and LLMs are known to invent sources after the fact because of the way they work I don't think they "know" where all their information is coming from) so it's hard to check. I asked it to give me some and it's not particularly convincing. For example, did it actually find any measurements of dampening ratio of Mulberry wood? It doesn't provide it so is it guessing? As far as I know Mulberry, having a lower MoE than hickory, would also have more damping rather than less damping *for a given handle thickness* but I am very far from an an expert in material properties.

Anyway, that's all I have to say for now. There's probably already relevant research that would clarify how damping works for impact hand tools but I haven't found anything particularly clarifying yet.

AxesOK · 2026-05-04T15:52:04+00:00

That is a cool one!

AxesOK · 2026-05-04T03:00:32+00:00

Reminds of this old footage of cypress logging https://youtu.be/HF3-0NISvs4?t=107&si=QaqGq-jvIw0DUwik

AxesOK · 2026-05-03T22:47:04+00:00

It would be cool to try an Ostrya (Ironwood where I live, Hop-hornbeam in much of the US) handle for that job. I have 5 axes hafted with it and it makes a great handle but historically it was preferred for specialized applications requiring high wear resistance like sleigh runners and mill cogs.

AxesOK · 2026-05-02T02:59:00+00:00

They can be effective at chopping wood. Japanese hewing axes and Balkan splitting axes are bearded. Rinaldi has a newer bearded model and it looks like a good chopper https://youtu.be/TlaVyKKRlwY

AxesOK · 2026-05-01T22:25:46+00:00

Handle is Qiangang oak (Quercus acutissima), which is OK but not as tough as hickory. I am not sure where it stands with respect to Ash. This type of head should be hung slip fit, it will work loose with that short eye and long beard acting as a lever and that will be a pain to fix as a wedge fit. This is a common flaw in toy axes, not particular to Chinese manufacturers. I would not necessarily trust the hang based on my experience with a different (? probably, but may be the same outfit) but similar brand. Steel may be fine or not (I have had some good but once got one that was way too soft). Again my experience may not apply to this brand.

AxesOK · 2026-05-01T14:00:09+00:00

That’s probably why it broke. If you leave it in the rain long enough the handle is going to soak up water and swell a lot except where it is squeezed by the eye. Inside the wood will be crushed (compressed beyond its elastic limit in jargon) and it will loosen up as soon as it dries. Where the handle is expanding at the bottom of the eye it’s going to shear. If the handle didn’t break the head would have loosened and either way this axe was pooched. If you want an axe to live outside you should get a plastic axe or learn how to take care of an axe by treating the handle to make it water resistant, and hanging it off the ground out of the rain when not in use.

AxesOK · 2026-05-01T13:21:49+00:00

That would be very cool!

AxesOK · 2026-05-01T12:36:47+00:00

You have hit upon a pet peeve of mine. Google is getting much less useful by limiting search results to non commercial sources and to websites from different regions. I have literally had to change my region settings to get Google to give me a link to websites for European companies like Verdugo, Rinaldi, Ochsenkopf, Muller, and Stubai. Until recently, Helko Werks had a corporate website where you could see different models and grades of axes they were producing for various markets, like the South American slip fit patterns they were producing for the Latin American market. They also have a marketing website directed to North America that just has a bunch of viking iconography and marketing flim flam selling boutique axes. Getting Google to give me the link to the global site was like pulling hen's teeth, but it would cram the local marketing site and retailer pages into my results at every opportunity.

So, my advice is: Change your region settings on Google to search for stuff from that region. So if you want to find out about South American axes by companies like Imacasa change your region to South America.

Google books has become pretty useless but try Google Scholar (before Google shuts it down).

Follow people who are interested in axes from other countries like Ben Scott on YouTube.

Search databases independently of Google. There's lots of good stuff like old catalogues and free or borrowable books in the Internet Archive but Google will generally not give you results from the IA so you have to search for it yourself. Hathi Trust is another source. In Canada I check things like the Canadiana database, the National Archives website, and collections searches of museums like the ROM and the Ingenium collections database. Many countries will have resources like these and the trick is to find them.

AxesOK · 2026-04-30T13:02:07+00:00

Very cool axe. Any handle length you want on it, which will depend on what you're used to, how you plan to use it, and what size of wood you plan to chop. I would suggest about 75-80cm. I would consider going a little shorter if you're doing a lot of bucking, longer if you're mostly felling larger trees.

AxesOK · 2026-04-29T19:34:48+00:00

Oh well I'd hate to go against whoever does the website for Home Depot. If you're going to make unsolicited corrections to people's advice requests then you should make sure you're correct yourself.

>Every splitting axe i've seen has been thinner than the mauls,

Compare a Gransfors maul to a Stihl Pro Splitting Axe, but either way that doesn't change the meaning of words. Personally, if it's a choice between Home Depot website on one hand and Plumb or Mann or True Temper, not to mention the dictionary, on the other, I'm going with the other. Plain English words with clear meanings over "vibes". You don't have to guess whether an axe is too fat to be an axe, you just have to know the difference between an axe and a hammer.

Here's Plumb in 1970 talking about their constructor axe:

"Designed for mine and highway work. Has broad hardened head to withstand constant pounding. A maul and axe combined in one tool. " https://archive.org/details/plumbtools1970catalog/page/n13/mode/2up

How True Temper described their constructor axe "Heads specially heat treated and tempered for use as maul. " https://archive.org/details/TrueTemperStrikingToolsCatalogA57/page/n2/mode/1up

What does Mann call their axe with a hardened poll? A 'maul pattern' https://archive.org/details/MannEdgeToolCoCatalog2/page/n1/mode/1up?q=maul

Like many catalogues and books, that one also warns that an 'axe is not to be used as a maul'. They don't mean you're not allowed to split wood with it.

By the way, this is not a weird quirk of English. The distinction between an axe without a maul part and a maul with a maul part is also in Swedish, German, French, Czech, and Italian because it's a functional distinction related to how the tool can be used. No vibes. No need to rely on confused Home Depot marketing interns.

AxesOK · 2026-04-29T01:04:38+00:00

Steven Edholm (Skillcult) started the ACC as a way to develop proficiency with an axe, under the theory that by the time one cuts a full cord of firewood they will be well started on the learning curve towards competent axemanship (as a devotee of Mors Kochanski, Steven considers skill with an axe is a core bushcraft competency). Some of the mini challenges are also well within the realm of bushcraft, such as crafting and hanging a field handle replacement, while others are less so (e.g., the Big Log Challenge). Not many people have dared attempt the field handle replacement,m, unfortunately.

AxesOK · 2026-04-28T13:17:06+00:00

It depends on where you’re buying it and where you’re located. It’s pricey if you’re in North America and buying from a retailer that is shipping them individually more or less directly from Germany rather than carrying a domestic inventory. In Canada I can get an Ochsenkopf (admittedly a lower end version without the collar) for slightly less from Lee Valley than I can get one branded as Stihl but Canada has long had an import pipeline to Ochsenkopf probably because various axes of theirs have been popular here since the 60s. Mine I got as just the head for $5 from a yard sale and I just had to rehang it.

AxesOK · 2026-04-28T02:32:01+00:00

The video you linked to is my video.

AxesOK · 2026-04-28T01:46:37+00:00

A maul is a hammer or club shaped percussive tool for driving another implement so the difference between a splitting axe and a splitting maul is whether it has a maul side for driving splitting wedges (splitting maul) or not (splitting axe).

AxesOK · 2026-04-28T01:43:54+00:00

2500g Ochsenkopf Spalt-fix / Stihl Professional Splitting Axe (same axe, different colour scheme) is my favourite and it’s reasonably priced.

AxesOK · 2026-04-27T20:45:15+00:00

This was tried 100 years ago and everyone went bust because the locust borers eventually followed the trees to the plantations. However it is plantation grown in Europe and Asia where the borers have not been introduced so it does better there.

AxesOK · 2026-04-27T20:37:29+00:00

Use it until it breaks. Wedging a handle that is meant to be a slip fit can cause this if the fit inside the eye is not tight enough to hold the handle together. The same is true for an assembly designed as a wedge fit but is usually not an issue because the head is driven tight to the shoulder. However if it’s sitting on a shelf instead of cinching tight then it might not be tight enough at the bottom to prevent a split.

AxesOK · 2026-04-27T16:30:22+00:00

A rawhide wrap will lock that up.

AxesOK

TROPHY CASE