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@@devinmoran59 gday mate, the green hytest, the lamaca and the tui see the most use out of this lot. The lamaca is nice for processing smaller trees but lacks in splitting, the tui swings nice and spits chips well but can be a bit thick, the Hytest is a happy medium between the two. Cheers for watching! 👍 🪓🪓

@@Kiltedwoodsmith Nice, mate! What are you gunna get?

@@kurts64 Cyclone

Gday James good on ya mate! Much appreciated 👍 That's a fair move from WA to Tassie, beaut part of the world though, Tassies on my bucket list for sure. Thanks again mate🇦🇺🪓🪓

Gday mate, yep it's still going, and cheers for watching! Feel free to use the hash tag, and check out the vids by the other folks who participated. The Indiana Doug channel has a playlist and I believe the Wolly's World channel as well. Sucks about PTSD man I hope your doin alright 👍👍🪓 Great YT name too btw 😀

@@kurts64 Thank you Brother. some Days are Better then others But I will Not QUIT

@@Kiltedwoodsmith good on ya mate💪👍👍

That's awesome mate! I wasn't real keen on em at first but I've found they're a pretty handy tool to have in the arsenal. The HB 1.2 is one of the first axes I'd replace if I lost em all. Cheers for subscribing man, hopefully more vids up soon👍👍🪓

Gday mate, they are a nice axe for sure but yep gettin pretty pricey these days! 👍👍🪓

🤣🤣 cheers mate! 👍👍🪓

Gday mate, an axe is usually sticky because of either: the cheeks are too flat from heel (bottom) to toe (top) behind the grind; or, not enough relief/hollow between the ground edge and the eye. That's often why (apart from racing axes), vintage axes tend to perform better than new ones - most vintage axes tend to have a high centreline (swelling in the middle of the cheeks) to both lift the wood chip and minimise friction in the cut. Thanks for watching mate! 👍👍🪓🪓

@@kurts64 awesome, makes sense, thanks mate.

Gday mate, thanks a lot man, glad ya like the vids and are getting some shed time! Good on ya mate! 👍👍🪓🪓

Thanks alot mate, much appreciated! But this was actually a fresh fallen tree, down less than a week at that point, so was probably about as soft as Spotted gum gets. Aussie hardwood, makes ya work for it that's for sure! 🥵 Cheers Tim 👍👍🪓

@@kurts64 wow. I should be used to being wrong by now, but it looked like it's been there a while..Either way it's hard work and I appreciate your ability.

Thanks a lot mate!👍👍🪓

Gday, hultafors and Muller both make great axes but both of those might be a bit thin to use for splitting (the current production Hultafors Agdor Tasmanian patterns are much thinner than the vintage ones). If your keen on a new axe, I'd look at the Helko Tasmanian 1.8kg or maybe the Hultafors Agdor Yankee/Dayton pattern in 1.5 or 1.8kg. All these new axes will need some degree of sharpening and handle tuning. If your happy to go a vintage axe and tune it yourself, Hytest, Brades, Elwell, Gilpin, or Plumb all make a good allrounder tassie. 👍👍🪓

@@kurts64 cheers, me mum has an old rusty Tassie pattern axe in her shed she used to split Jarrah with all the time. Was thinking from pics the only issue with the Hultafors may be that it's too thin in comparison. I found the 1.5Kg Yankee Agdors pretty cheap, so they're tempting. I do find restoring things a fun challenge. Grind, sand, polish, reprofile etc on something like a Kelly Dandenong or Hytest Challenger/Craftsman. There's a few ok heads out there I'm watching with minimal pitting. Thanks 👍

Thanks a lot mate, much appreciated!👍👍🪓🪓

Agreed, mate! For an axe of its size and use, it's hard to fault. And still going strong. Cheers!👍👍🪓🪓

I'll get my hands on one one day! They're a beauty axe for sure🪓 🪓

Cheers mate! Nah I've never tried a Wax 1 or 2 model, they seem like a nice one though 👍👍🪓

Cheers Adam 👍👍🪓

Gday mate, cheers. Most of my axes, including this one, have Engineered For Axemen hickory handles. They've just started producing handles in beech and spotted gum as well I believe. Some other brands worth checking out are Van Diemen/Chris Hadley, and Bush Skills Australia/Jimmy Findlay as well. Should be able to find these guys on Facebook. Cheers mate👍👍🪓🇦🇺

@@kurts64 thanks Kurt. I will check them out.

Great comment! I'd agree with all this except: I don't mind the sheath on mine, for what it is. Mine holds snug with no rattles, and I like that it's little maintenance. The Condor one would be nicer than the nylon though, and I have considered making a custom leather sheath for it. I chose not to sharpen the whole throat. I considered it, and noticed that other parangs the grind does come further back towards the handle, but I was OK with just bringing the grind a centimetre or so further back. I even considered adding some light jimping to the throat area but decided against it. The grip on my one is a nice shape, but at times can be a bit slippery. Overall I love it, it's still attached to this little backpack and still gets used alot for this kind of work. It's not so much a tool for slashing tracks through light vegetation (where a longer machete would be better), but as you said, more suited to clipping small branches, hacking/ light chopping, and handles the odd finer task better than a machete. Cheers for the comment, and checking out the vid👍👍🪓

@@kurts64 great reply. To clarify one point: by "rattle" I mean if you shake the sheath the blade moves around in the sheath. I do not mean it makes audible noise, especially when walking with attached to belt. I'll change my word to "sloppy" fit in the sheath. As to your "slippery" grip, best I can think of is a light pass with 80 grit sandpaper in a cross cross pattern and seal with linseed oil

​@@notfoolediknowthetruth3101 Which Condor sheath did you buy exactly? Kydex, Nylon, or leather?

@@MrFreeman0179 kydex

@@MrFreeman0179 it's a nylon sheath..

Gday mate, for years I just used a kids pivoting ruler and a protractor/compass, like from a school maths set. Couple of bucks. A better option though is a Digital Angle finder (like a pivoting ruler with a little screen on it) about 300mm long. This lets you measure both cheek and edge bevel angles. For quickly measuring just the edge angle, I use an Engineered For Axemen "Work Axe" angle gauge. A super budget option that works is 2 old hacksaw blades riveted together to pivot, measured up against a compass. Cheers for watching mate👍👍🪓

@@kurts64 thanks Kurt, found your channel today , enjoying your videos, catching up on a few, learning as I watch . Cheers mate 👍🇦🇺

@@ericchilver9113 Awesome mate, no worries! 👍👍🪓🇦🇺

Thanks mate! 👍🪓🪓

Gday mate. I'm a big fan of closed hangs on most axes but it's pretty much a necessity on a tassie. With such a wide bit and broad, heavy head, hanging too open changes the whole feel of the axe (make it feel longer and awkward to swing) and also affects how it hits relative to where your standing (on the log, behind it etc). I'll keep this in mind for a future vid. Cheers for watching mate! 👍👍🪓

Gday mate. Yes using a grinder can affect the temper. Go easy until you get used to how much pressure and time you can apply. Feel the steel with your hands, including the edge. I work bare handed and check the temp as often as every few seconds if I'm going hard, maybe every 20 seconds if I'm going easy. If it's more than warm to the touch, give it a quick dunk in a bucket of water. Coarser discs keep cool longer than finer ones. If you do apply the final edge with a grinder, keep it cool, take your time and watch out for any dark spots on the steel. Dark spots along the edge can mean "burnt" steel. Even using a grinder it can still be an hour or more to get a tassie down to where you want it. Cheers for matching mate! 👍👍🪓🪓

@@kurts64 Thanks for the detailed reply. Hard to believe that 3 seconds of grinding in your video equates to an hour or more of work, wow. Take it easy mate.

It gets like that hey. Sometimes ya just gotta switch off. Cheers mate👍👍🪓🪓

That's bloody awesome mate!

Gday Harald, thanks a lot mate, and cheers for watching!👍👍🪓

Thanks mate!👍👍🪓

I'd consider the Keech a pretty free axe but it would stick more than the Tui. The Tui camp is just so thick it doesn't stick, but it doesn't quite get the penetration of the keech either. I would consider both as two of the world's best axes available, for sure. As for choosing one or the other, Keech now go for crazy prices. Over $500 is average and I've even seen em over $1000. A brand new Tui camp on a handle is cheaper, and even a brand new Tui Work Axe (if you were after a 5lber, same as the Keech) would come in cheaper. Another super-premium axe in this class would be the Engineered For Axemen 2kg work axe. If your trying to decide between the two, there's more footage of both chopping blackbutt in "The Axe Balance Challenge". Cheers for watching mate!👍👍

Gday mate, I like the challenge and fun of balancing on logs, branches and weird angles. Plus, chopping in the underhand position is often the most efficient once your used to the motion. Cheers for watching mate! 👍👍🪓

Thanks Tim, I appreciate that mate. Times are definitely difficult for a lot of people at the moment. Being lucky enough to find the odd peaceful minute can help a lot

Gday mate, im in northern NSW. Cheers👍👍🪓

Gday mate, cheers. No better place to be than out bush! 👍👍🪓

Gday, thanks a lot! 👍👍🪓

Gday Glen, cheers mate. The Plumb is fairly flat. It does have a centreline but not as distinct as the Craftsman. That little stone is just an old one found at an antique store. I'd guess it's about 400/1000. 👍👍🪓

Gday mate, yep that's a good one. Two others you might like are "Artisans of Australia- Timbercraft" and "Timbergetting in Western Australia", prob my two favourite old films. I'm about halfway through that Dan Dustin vid, he knows his stuff! Cheers Tim!👍👍🪓

Cheers for watching mate. I have done a bit of hewing over the years and have thought of a hewing vid a few times. Aussie "sleeper cutters" have been an inspiration of mine for a long time. I'll check out the Dan Dustin vid for sure, cheers for the suggestions 👍 🪓🪓

@@kurts64 lol. I should have known that you have done it before

Gday Daniel, much appreciated mate, cheers for watching!👍👍🪓

Thanks mate! Yeah might not be true ASMR stuff, we'll call it bushmans asmr🤣🤣

Gday Joey, thanks a lot mate! Cheers!👍👍🪓🪓

Joey ;I'm gonna watch it a few more times too !! You really do Need a full Tassie BTW 😁👍

Thanks mate! 👍👍🪓