Falling wedges. What's good, what's not, and why?

[RandyMac]

"Nothing beats a good piece of Hickory"

 

[coastalfaller]

Bob, the only place I've found STRAIGHT straight handles are at old hardware stores that get very little traffic. Even then I go through every one they have. When I'm looking through them I can just about cut the dust off of them with a butter knife.



Sam, the wind is like a woman....

I wish I could think of something clever to finish that with. Kinda cloudy today. Sounds like you're havin fun though!

Haha, I've got one for you! Quoted from one of my fallers, women are like the big rotten hemlocks, you ask them politely to do one thing, but they still end up doing whatever the hell they want anyway! lol

 

[2dogs]

For good handles.......House's Handle Factory, Cassville, Mo. ask for Chris, he owns the place. They source their hickory locally,makes handles on machinery dating back to the late 1800's. They will custom make handles as well to fit your specific needs. I re-handled a bunch of old hand tools buying from his place. For splitting maul handles I just buy his seconds, 2.00 a piece. Leave a axe head or maul head and they will put the handle on for you. Top notch people, they supply a lot of the handles sold under other names at retail. I even bought some 14' oak gig handles there for 10.00 a piece. Try finding a gig handle at your local sporting goods store.

If he sells on ebay I may have done business with him.

 

[2dogs]

"Nothing beats a good piece of Hickory"

Or John Wayne in "The Sons of Katie Elder". "Hey!"

 

[HILLBILLYREDNEC]

Axe

The Stihl short handle axe's are my new favorite toy.

 

[paccity]

:monkey:

 

[Cedar Ed]

Yeah, I like the Madsen's wedges,and I got a nice double bit Truper ax from them, and it has a nice hickory handle.

 

[nw axe man]

Does anybody have a good link on where to buy quality handles? Last week-end I went to just about every store in the area and I found mostly junk. I bought the least junky one I could find but it still isn't real great.

Madsens has them made somewhere back east to their specs. They buy them by the bulk. As with most handles you have to pick through them to find the right grain pattern and straightness. I would imagine especially in bulk you'll get more than a few dog leg handles. That brings up another point about axe handles, the grain and how it runs through the handle. I buy them with the grain running parallel to the axe head. The handle takes it a lot more than when it runs perpendicular to the head.
You might give them a call to see if you can get someone to run through some handles for you. Most of those guys have a clue about what to look for.

 

[nw axe man]

When logging you'll learn that that is not what works. Why would you fight yourself and wait till the tree sits HARD and try getting a wedge in and beat on it JUST to get the kerf open....now...imagine if you already had a wedge in it and you didnt have to mess with it all that time...and just hit the wedge half the times you would have before and down it goes....and it lifts alot easier without all that pressure too....alot easier huh?....all of the sudden you are getting more production and your less tired right?...beatin wedges wears you out alot faster than anything...and if you mess around with it it is wasted energy that you could have put into getting more trees on the ground if you already had a wedge in it. Try it sometime.

Well said.

 

[nw axe man]

For good handles.......House's Handle Factory, Cassville, Mo. ask for Chris, he owns the place. They source their hickory locally,makes handles on machinery dating back to the late 1800's. They will custom make handles as well to fit your specific needs. I re-handled a bunch of old hand tools buying from his place. For splitting maul handles I just buy his seconds, 2.00 a piece. Leave a axe head or maul head and they will put the handle on for you. Top notch people, they supply a lot of the handles sold under other names at retail. I even bought some 14' oak gig handles there for 10.00 a piece. Try finding a gig handle at your local sporting goods store.

What in the world is a gig handle?

 

[slangegger]

I've seen this posted on here before (I think it was Slowp).

Thought it was pertinent to this thread

http://www.pcta.org/pdf/an_ax_to_grind.pdf

 

[GRTimberCO]

I carry a light boys axe for driving wedges and I've yet to find a way to carry an axe that I really like. through the belt loop in the pouch it keeps trieng to slide out. How do you guys carry them?

 

[Joe46]

What in the world is a gig handle?

I'll take a stab it:msp_biggrin: I think It's for hunting frogs and things like that. The head you put on it has tines with barbs. Frog gigs.

 

[nw axe man]

I'll take a stab it:msp_biggrin: I think It's for hunting frogs and things like that. The head you put on it has tines with barbs. Frog gigs.

Not sure why, but that really got a laugh out of me. Must be the context of logging forum and axe handles. I never would have guessed. lol

 

[nw axe man]

I carry a light boys axe for driving wedges and I've yet to find a way to carry an axe that I really like. through the belt loop in the pouch it keeps trieng to slide out. How do you guys carry them?

Well, with my axes there's just no way to get around it. You have to carry them from tree to tree. Sure makes you conscious of where you put it and makes you consistant where you put it. One thing I've found is always lay it down by the next tree to fall or the stump of the one you just fell. On flat ground never lean it up against the next tree. One time I did that and came up to the next tree forgetting that I'd leaned it up against the far side. I spent the day with a one foot axe handle that I had a hard time wedging trees over with. At least I didn't cut the axe head and ruin a chain to boot. As I look back on it it seems like there isn't a stupid thing that I haven't done at one time or another. I guess that's that school of hard knocks, eh? Anybody relate?

 

[Joe46]

Well, with my axes there's just no way to get around it. You have to carry them from tree to tree. Sure makes you conscious of where you put it and makes you consistant where you put it. One thing I've found is always lay it down by the next tree to fall or the stump of the one you just fell. On flat ground never lean it up against the next tree. One time I did that and came up to the next tree forgetting that I'd leaned it up against the far side. I spent the day with a one foot axe handle that I had a hard time wedging trees over with. At least I didn't cut the axe head and ruin a chain to boot. As I look back on it it seems like there isn't a stupid thing that I haven't done at one time or another. I guess that's that school of hard knocks, eh? Anybody relate?

Yes Sir. Not a logging story, but.......... Many years ago I worked as an ornamental ironworker. I made elevators. We used a lot of 4'X8' sheets of steel.We'd cut them on a shear. We generally work down to 32nd of an inch. On more than one occasion I'd hit the shear and cut the end of my tape off. As soon as it came flying back at me I knew I'd screwed up

 

[Gologit]

Well, with my axes there's just no way to get around it. You have to carry them from tree to tree. Sure makes you conscious of where you put it and makes you consistant where you put it. One thing I've found is always lay it down by the next tree to fall or the stump of the one you just fell. On flat ground never lean it up against the next tree. One time I did that and came up to the next tree forgetting that I'd leaned it up against the far side. I spent the day with a one foot axe handle that I had a hard time wedging trees over with. At least I didn't cut the axe head and ruin a chain to boot. As I look back on it it seems like there isn't a stupid thing that I haven't done at one time or another. I guess that's that school of hard knocks, eh? Anybody relate?

Yup...I can relate. I had to quit laughing about the one foot axe handle before I replied, though. I've done the same thing but I had an 18 incher when I was done. And leaners to wedge the rest of the day, too. I think that at the end of that day my right arm was longer than my left from swinging that short axe extra hard.

And you're right about "stupid" stuff. If you made a list of every goof-up that a guy in the woods could make I think most of us could put a check mark beside every one of them. I know my list would probably run at least two pages. They're learning experiences if you let them be but that sure doesn't take the sting out of them.

One question, though. Why is it, that when you screw something up royally, there's always somebody there to see it? And that person is always somebody you'd rather not make a dumb mistake in front of? Like the bullbuck or the side-rod? Or your partner? Or your wife? Never fails.

Ever notice how a lot of times lunch time conversations are about screw-ups? Nobody ever talks about the 500 trees that old so-and-so put right where they should have...they talk about that one tree that went sideways and took out the boss's new pickup. No mercy at all.

And thanks, everybody, for the advice and links on the axe-handles...there's gotta be some good ones some darn place.

 

[indiansprings]

A gig handle is what we put a multi pointed barbed head on, you guys prolly call them a fish spear, we use them for harvesting frogs out of farm ponds and streams. We hang coleman lanterns or bright lights on the front of a flat bottom boat and float down these crystal clear streams in the Ozarks and spear or gig suckers and other rough fish for fish frys. A handle is usually is about 2-2.5" in dia and 10-14' long.
It's a dying tradition, people just go to a fancy restraunt to eat frog legs instead of going out and catching their own.

 

[outdoorlivin247]

A gig handle is what we put a multi pointed barbed head on, you guys prolly call them a fish spear, we use them for harvesting frogs out of farm ponds and streams. We hang coleman lanterns or bright lights on the front of a flat bottom boat and float down these crystal clear streams in the Ozarks and spear or gig suckers and other rough fish for fish frys. A handle is usually is about 2-2.5" in dia and 10-14' long.
It's a dying tradition, people just go to a fancy restraunt to eat frog legs instead of going out and catching their own.

Sounds way to easy...We just blind them with a spot light then grab them with our hands...

 

[STEVEGODSEYJR]

This is now the forestry and frogging forum