How To Pick An Ax in the Bangor Daily News

The second article in the Bangor Daily News from my discussion with Sam Schipani is titled “How To Pick An Axe” and was published on November 12, 2020.

Link: How To Pick An Ax

Ms. Schipani lists six things to consider when choosing an axe. As with the first article she wrote based on our discussion, I think she did a great job with this one. Since speaking with her I’ve gone through and read a bunch of her other articles, all of which I enjoyed and learned something from.

How to pick an ax

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  • Baron Blanchard

    Another solid article!
    I didn’t know about the file technique for finding a good axe head….That makes sense though.
    When you make axe handles, do you start with a pattern blank, round lumber, or milled board?
    Keep the posts coming!

  • We usually start with a part of a tree similar to a bow stave – a 1/4 round of the tree trunk. You can also start with lumber, but it should be quarter-sawn to have the growth rings line up correctly. I’ve only broken one axe handle in my life, and it sheared off along the growth rings. It was a crappy, hardware store handle that had been painted so I couldn’t see the growth rings. For a look at how the growth rings should line up, see Mors Kochanski’s book Bushcraft.

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