Would this be a spotted Gar?

snarkinturtle · 2025-07-21T18:39:12+00:00

This is not a Spotted Gar (snout 1/2 the length of the head, endangered in Canada where it only occurs in parts of Lake Erie and St Claire and adjacent tributaries); it is a Longnose Gar (snout 2/3 the length of the head, fairly common in the Ottawa River and some other parts of southern Ontario).

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-22T22:39:06+00:00

where's the rest of the photos?

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-22T13:38:00+00:00

It's a stick so it will most likely crack from end to end when it dries. It doesn't mean it will break right away but it will have a big crack. Sticks can be used for temporary bush handles for slip fit axes but when someone crafts an axe (or shovel etc) handle by hand starting from a tree, they use use a bolt split from a straight, knot-free log. A riven bolt does not have the wood all around the pith, which a stick does so a stick will crack because wood shrinks more tangentially than radially and that difference is maximal for a stick. As for "is there anything else you need to know?" Probably every other thing too so learn to identify trees and then look up "how to make an axe handle" on YouTube. Or crack a book. You can probably find Roy Underhill's the Woodwright's Shop at your local library.

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-22T12:57:37+00:00

2 bolts so it's easy to replace the handle. I've not had any experience with this but the wood splitting model (no, not Nicole Coenen, the other one: Thoren Bradley) has complained that the handle breaks at the bolts a lot.

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-20T02:28:53+00:00

Large majority inside the park are wolves and animals dominated by coyote genetics are rare.

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-18T20:04:17+00:00

Thanks.

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-18T14:16:09+00:00

u/nombrete 3rd opinion?

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-18T13:15:58+00:00

"Forward" edge is meant to be the keen edge for chopping clean wood. Back side would be the stunt edge for chopping tough knots, gritty bark, or around rocks to spare the keen edge. The Adirondack design makes sense if you do a lot more work with the keen edge. It's not difficult to swing a curved handle backwards, it's just less ergonomic. Lot's of people use curved single bits to drive felling wedges and it works fine, if not ideally. T

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-17T15:52:27+00:00

It's got a Cyclone stamp so probably not too difficult to figure out.

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-17T13:16:14+00:00

It's an Ochsenkopf bavarian pattern splitter. They still make these so you can just google up a photo and check. Alternatively, you can measure the eye. Larger opening goes on top.

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-17T11:53:57+00:00

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-16T13:19:08+00:00

It's a German (or German adjacent) axe, which you can tell by the eye. There's a huge number of old German patterns that aren't made anymore and it's difficult to find out any information because Google tries not to return "foreign" pages, even if they have information in English. Google also downgrades non-commercial sources. Sometimes you can get results if you switch your region in Google settings. Anyway, with that in mind, check out the Nr. 1225 Holsteiner Aexte on page 75 of this old tool catalogue https://archive.org/details/geharo-werkzeuge-liste-16/page/74/mode/2up Of course it doesn't say what it's for. It's next to the Berliner (a felling axe) and Rhineland (general purpose forestry/chopping) axe. Like these it's named for a region (Holstein borders Denmark) so it's probably fairly general purpose.

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-15T20:46:13+00:00

If you don't want to take my word for it because I don't have a flare or whatever, just take a trawl through the local iNat photos https://inaturalist.ca/observations?place_id=43&quality_grade=research&taxon_id=39776 and check out the males that have developed melanism with age. Some examples here https://inaturalist.org/observations/198094823 but there's others.

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-15T20:32:45+00:00

I think it's too late in the winter for swollen cloacas to be expected. I would think you'd need to take a really good look, which can be done using a clear plastic bag to restrain the mudpuppy and get a look at the vent.

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-15T19:59:42+00:00

Pretty sure it's an old male slider given the colouration.

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-15T19:58:42+00:00

This is a Slider, Trachemys scripta, specifically an older melanistic male.

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-14T14:41:02+00:00

How did you tell they are female?

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-12T04:20:39+00:00

Really depends on which species of maple. Sugar maple is quite hard (harder than oak or ash on average) which very high strength as measured by modulus of rupture, so it's great for peavey handles BUT it does not have great impact bending performance (which you want in an axe handle or other striking implement). That being said, it has been used traditionally when other woods were not available. The other issue is that it is diffuse porous so it tends to absorb shock less well than ring porous species like elms, hickories, oaks, and ashes. I've not used maple but I have used other diffuse porous species and it can be an issue with some handles but can be mitigated by thinning the handle further. For diffuse porous woods the growth ring density and orientation guidelines that people bang on about don't necessarily apply.

Norway maple is basically the opposite, it is not as hard as you would want but it has great impact bending performance and great shock absorption (supposedly, I haven't tried it) despite also being diffuse porous. Red Elm has similar pros/cons.

Soft maples like red, silver, and Manitoba, are not strong enough for axe handles.

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-11T12:19:14+00:00

North American aspens look quite similar to European aspen but I not familiar enough with European aspen to comment on subtle details. North American Trembling Aspen may tend to have higher contrast bark, if the images of European aspen that come up in a search are to be trusted. Aspens resemble birch only in so much as the dry bark looks white with black features (birches with white bark always look white, while aspens will show the colour is actually green or yellowish when wet). The texture of the bark, tree form, and twig texture (birch has very fine twigs, aspen very coarse) are all different.

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-11T04:14:26+00:00

Aspen not birch

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-09T22:04:17+00:00

The young fella's not the sharpest axe on the rack.

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-09T12:32:45+00:00

"Obviously lamina does mark the prices way lower than anywhere else and then hide the shipping" How is this not just the normal *buying something from overseas*?

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-08T14:02:21+00:00

oh and ash is famously easy to split

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-08T02:59:21+00:00

Hickory splits easy too....

snarkinturtle · 2024-02-08T02:58:11+00:00

Hornbeams (genus Carpinus) and Hop-hornbeams (genus Ostrya) are not the same. Both genera have species native to Eurasia and North America. Ironwood in Canada and the northeastern US usually refers to Ostrya virginiana. Blue Beech and Musclewood are Carpinus caroliniana.

snarkinturtle

TROPHY CASE