Thought maybe some would like to see this.

[Kevin in Ohio]

This is an old piece that has been handed down through our family for a long time. What may first look like an early hatchet is not.

Short throw and it is 15 1/2 inches from end of handle to where it comes through. Cutting edge is 6 inches.

This is the oldest one I have. It is a specialty axe.

Handle is offset totally to one side. This was used to hand hewn wood beams before the days of saw mills

This is looking straight down the side

I have actually used it too. We moved an original log cabin back on Dad's place and some of the timbers were gone on the bottom. We pulled a few logs out of the woods and did then the old way. We used this and an adz but we cheated some with a saw. Gives you a LOT of respect for the way they had to do it.

You can see the cabin to the right side here. Thought some may have never seen one of these tools and would be of interest.

 

[panolo]

Pretty cool! I had to tear down my old grainery this fall and it was resting on hand hewn beams. I was able to salvage two and a local guy who has a personal mill was giddy when I dropped them off.

 

[crowbuster]

very nice. Folks don't have a soft spot for the old ways much anymore. kudos

 

[LondonNeil]

I like that. It's called a side axe I think. They are made left or right handed, and the original handle had a kink just below the head to offset it enough to give 'knuckle clearance'. They would have started the hewing with a broad axe or adze, or split it with a froe, then cleaned it up with the smaller axe I think. There's a fun TEDtalk called something like 'have broad axe, will travel'

 

[Iska3]

Very interesting Kevin, I always wondered how they did that so clean. When I moved on to this farm, we had several out buildings that were made that way. All the timbers were held together with wooden pegs. Looking back, I wish I would have kept them. A few years back I gutted a building for my boss and all of the interior beams were made that way. Some of the beams were 8x8 and 24 feet long. Many were made of Tamarack and or a Fir type timber... Needless to say he sold all the timbers..

 

[benp]

Nice Kevin!!!!!

I have seen quite a few of those in the antique stores down at my parents in Kentucky.

 

[olyman]

This is an old piece that has been handed down through our family for a long time. What may first look like an early hatchet is not.

Short throw and it is 15 1/2 inches from end of handle to where it comes through. Cutting edge is 6 inches.

This is the oldest one I have. It is a specialty axe.

Handle is offset totally to one side. This was used to hand hewn wood beams before the days of saw mills

This is looking straight down the side

I have actually used it too. We moved an original log cabin back on Dad's place and some of the timbers were gone on the bottom. We pulled a few logs out of the woods and did then the old way. We used this and an adz but we cheated some with a saw. Gives you a LOT of respect for the way they had to do it.

You can see the cabin to the right side here. Thought some may have never seen one of these tools and would be of interest.

those WERE the days,, when men,, were MEN!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[kevinlar]

I found this in the wall of a "barn" converted to triplex built in the 1875's. It had hand hewed beams.