Jack's first hike and using the Plumb axe a little

Well I took the kiddos out for a hike and got to try out the axe I put together recently. Big sister(Bel) was really excited to take Jack out on his first hike. I didn't think she knew so much until she started showing and explaining things to Jack, LOL! I wonder where she got all that information...

Here we go, I picked an area with a nice defined trail so Jack wouldn't have to be tripping the whole time

 

 

We found an area with a lot of Pine trees and eventually found one with a lot of dead branches that I thought would have some fatwood.  Axe time!

 

No luck with those branches.  Kind of suprising.  Kids in the meantime were busy.  Jack is wondering what all the strange noises are:

Bel is working on her chopping technique

I eventually harvested a branch with some fatwood.  Success!

Moving on down the trail

Had a "Dad" fail when I realized Jack needs his own hat.  Not too sure how I feel about him wearing a pink one

We found another spot in the shade of the Pine trees and had a snack and a drink.  This is usually the kiddos favorite part. 

Here's two more gear shots.  Packs and a little knife practice.  There was a burn ban so no fire today unfortunately.

The view was nice.  After that we headed back out.  It was a great day out.  Jack took the woods pretty good.  He seemed to enjoy himself and Bel and I had fun too.  I can't wait to get em out again.

Thanks for looing



Making my IDEAL AXE!

Hey Folks, long time no see here.  New job and life has me busy.  Anyways, wanted to share a post about putting together my ideal axe.  This axe, while not my favorite(boys axe size), will be the one I carry most of the time.  My region doesn't need a 3/4 axe a lot of the time and my shorter day jaunts and hunts don't need an axe of that size.  This is on the smaller side of a half axe, or maybe the large side of a hatchet.  Either way you want to look at it, it will be very handy for use and packability for me. 

 

OAL:  18.25 inches

Head Weight: 1.75lb (Plumb Cedar Axe pattern)

Edge length:  3 7/8-4 inches

 

Here is the build process

thinning down the shoulder for a nice transition.

top of eye

bottom of eye, if you look closely you can see this eye was not punched straight on the bottom.  This is not a big deal to fit but it is different to get the edge straight with the handle, which is all that matter when when hanging an axe.

that's looking pretty good.

straight alignment even with the crooked eye.

After using this a little I decided the end of the handle needed a little shaping to make it better and I also added a little wood stain to highlight the grain lines for some quick character appeal.  Here is the final axe

thanks for looking