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Broad axe "refinement" for Peter Gott


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Just a note that I got to work with Peter Gott, a master log builder from North Carolina in the 1990's. He was giving a log building class and I got to participate for one week if I could pay the tuition by doing some ironwork. Besides a little architectural hardware, Peter wanted his three broadaxes to have a bit of camber to the blade. He wanted the finished blade, as it's unbeveled side lay on a plane surface, to have each corner/end to rise about 1/8". I was a little leary heating up his personal axes, but I went ahead with it, and was able to provide the required curve and heat treat, hardening in oil and tempering carefully with a torch. If the tempering colors ran too fast in any one area, I cooled that portion down with a wet cotton swab tied on the end of a stick.

After facing a log at the class beginning, one student asked about the chalk line that had been snapped. He said " Mr. Gott, you said to hew to the line. Are you hewing to the edge of the line or the middle of the line?" I had a hunch that this student was trying to put Gott on the spot. Peter answered, "I'm hewing to the middle of the line." When he was finished hewing, the class went up to inspect the log and sure enough, he hewed to the middle of the line! Blew us away!

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11 hours ago, Frank Turley said:

...Peter wanted his three broadaxes to have a bit of camber to the blade. He wanted the finished blade, as it's unbeveled side lay on a plane surface, to have each corner/end to rise about 1/8". 

I'm hand hewing a hickory log in my yard right now. The idea is for a mantle similar to the one at the Hermitage, supposedly made by Andrew Jackson. That 1/8" rise on each end of the broad axe blade sounds like a really useful tip. I'm a long way from atempting to do it myself, but can you share any more info on this particular broadaxe "cambering"? Thanks. 

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Adun, I didn't get into the whys and wherefores of the camber. I just did what Peter wanted. I assume he wanted to avoid the corners catching and/or marking the wood. It was a full camber on the blade length, not just bending the corners up. I have no idea whether other log builders treat their broad axes with such a camber.

I tempered the edge to a full blue, 560F degrees. I directed the torch tip backwards, that is, directed away from the cutting edge allowing the temper colors to chase. The torch tip is 6000F, so I was carefully heating at first near the middle of the blade width.

Peter had the log on horses. He was right handed, so he stood to the right of the horizontal log so as to work on the log side facing him. The log was pre scored with a felling axe and then the broad axe was used not so much with an up & down chopping motion, but rather a shearing motion combined with the chop...a bit of pull back.

You should learn about marking with the chalk lines in order to get  90 degrees on the log cross-section.

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Thanks,  Mr Turley- your answer concerning the location of your "bluing" is where I was wondering about. Did the torch heat alone perform the "camber", or was there any mechanical coercion involved? (Hitting,  bending, et cetera ).

Going behind someone else's work to do what you did is a class in itself; thanks for taking the time to answer. 

Also, Peter Gott was giving a log making class, with people in attendance, so I see his tactics as some to emulate. That is all. JHCC - yes sir,  there's a heap many types of these axes- modifying the one I've got to be a bit more forgiving is where all this is headed  (but no time soon/ no rush ). 

Thanks 

Brad 

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Adun, The torch heat was for tempering only. It is done after quench-hardening in liquid. Heating a distance behind the cutting edge after removing scale down to bare metal will allow you to see the tempering colors. You are watching the "bands" of color move slowly toward the cutting edge. Old timers call this "chasing color." The temperature range of the colors goes from about 430F to 630F. This heat rainbow method of tempering is quite old and works on high carbon and some low alloy steels. High alloy steels often require more elevated temperatures for forging and heat treating. The tempering colors beginning at 430F will head toward the cutting edge as follows: light straw; straw; dark straw; copper color; red; purple; full blue; pale blue; ocean green.

To obtain the full camber, I had to take a big red heat on the blade and bend it with a wooden mallet. I wanted to avoid hammer marks. Then another red heat to air cool (normalizing). After normalizing comes hardening and tempering.

There is much more to know. I made some log dogs of 1/2" square mild steel. They hold the log steady while you hew away.

 

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On January 22, 2017 at 1:31 PM, Frank Turley said:

Peter answered, "I'm hewing to the middle of the line." When he was finished hewing, the class went up to inspect the log and sure enough, he hewed to the middle of the line! Blew us away!

The trick I use is when no one is looking run the side of your pencil lead down the edge of the cut.  Looks like you split the line, and you can blame any mistakes on the layout guy (grin).  Of course all my timber framing crew know that trick, and I tend to be the layout guy, so...

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1 hour ago, Judson Yaggy said:

The trick I use is when no one is looking run the side of your pencil lead down the edge of the cut.  Looks like you split the line, and you can blame any mistakes on the layout guy (grin).  Of course all my timber framing crew know that trick, and I tend to be the layout guy, so...

Crafty Vermonters....

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