Thursday, January 25, 2018

Walking hatchet

A few years ago while making some trails on our property I determined that I needed to make a specialized axe for the trimming that needs to be done. I figured it should have a handle long enough to use as a walking stick with a light hatchet-sized head, that could be grasped in one hand. The long handle would also allow me to reach small branches to 8 or 10 feet up and also past branches that protruded towards me. I bought a few of the longest handles I could find and found them to be too short to walk with and the thick 34 inch handle was also visually heavier than I liked- for an idea see the utility axe (upper) in the image. A couple of not very successful experiments and I put the idea on the back burner. 
Then my brother surprised me at Christmas with the lower axe. This handle is about 40 inches long, the head is 1/1/2 lbs and it's perfect. Though he doesn't claim to be an artist it's also probably the most elegant axe I've ever seen. I just have to remember not to put too much power into my swing- save the bigger branches for other tools.

No comments: