Working with an axe

[Badger]

  I find I can easily go 8 hour hard stretches with a draw knife, spokeshave, rasp or scrapers but for some reason if I try to work with an axe my forearm seems to blow up like a balloon and completely fatigue in just minutes, I have to think I am holding it wrong, been using hammers and such all my life just can't seem to adjust to the axe for some reason. Very short session are about the best I can seem to manage and then arm is shot for the day.

[billy bowmaker]

are you choking up on the thing?

[George Tsoukalas]

Badger, I don't have a bow grade bandsaw so I have to use a hatchet for roughing out. I keep it sharp and let the tool do the work. I do ned to choke up and take short controlled strokes for the fine work. Jawge

[deerhunter97370]

Just my opinion but may its because the nail absorbs some of the impact of a hammer strike and an axe or hatchet doesnt get absorbed by the wood. Maybe

[Pappy]

Steve I have the same problem,so I let Jesse do the axe work. No kidding we were trimming up some small cedar for our Hide racks and it would wear my forarm out,Jesse could do it for hours.
He said it was technique but didn't show me what he meant by that , just left me to suffer.
   Pappy

[DarkSoul]

I was having the same problem a few years ago as well. The problem was solved for 75% when I used a SHARP axe. A high quality sharp carpenters axe is completely different from a $5,- hatchet you can buy at any hardware store, but which you can never get sharp enough. A sharp axe makes the work so much better. I can now work for an hour with the axe, without having serious pains or cramps. I get blisters before my lower arm feels like a balloon ready to pop.
Another 15% was solved by using a lighter axe. An axe weighting 1½ pounds is much, MUCH more tiresome than a 1 pound axe.
The last 10% was solved by a combination of improved technique and increased muscle strength in my lower arm. The first time I used the axe, my muscles were not yet completely developed, but after a few times my muscles became used to the motion.

[crooketarrow]

   Darksoul has it right although I only use a drawknife I've heard other people say the same thing Darksoul saided.

[dwardo]

If your forearm is blowing try keeping your wrist straight and transfer the force to the bicep shoulder and tricep.
Choke up on a heavier axe too, i could never get on with hatchets a proper weight limbing axe is much easer and let the weight do the work.

[Badger]

Some good suggestions, I have a good quality sharp axe but not sure of the weight. I think choling up as suggested might help, I have tried that but felt awkward, maybe with more practice it would become more natural. Axe really is a great tool t master. One of the guys at our pasadena meet uses and axe, he works in an office and I know he doesn't have nearly the arm strength I have but he can go for hours just like Pappy said Jesse does. Maybe I will study up on tecnique and check the weight of my axe.

[RidgeRunner]

Good Post.
I have the same problem when I try to use a Hatchet.
It not nearly so bad if find something to hold the wood and then use both hands on the hatchet.

I have a $3.00 (made in China) hatchet that I bought new, 20 years ago, from one of those, way out in the boonies, road side junk stores.  I thought it was a good deal at the time.

David

[Kegan]

I love axes and hatchets, but if I'm trying to remove all the wood from a quarter split of dry (or even green for that matter) hickory with just a hatchet I can't do it. I get tired- and bored- and give up for later. So whenever I can, I cut down outside marks with a hand saw and split off large amounts of excess. Smaller amounts are no issue, and the whole job becomes about the finer removal down to the lines. Sure is easier than otherwise.

[mullet]

 I use a hatchet for almost all my rough in and wood removal. I choke up near the handle and let the sharp blade and weight of the head handle the work, also using short strokes, like Jawge. I also use it to rough in the shape of the bow. It will follow the grain down the sides if it is sharp and you don't force it. I also use it for removeing the sapwood on Osage.

[Del the cat]

I used to have a heavy axe which I put a slightly longer handle on so I could use it hand-and-a-half. But I got bad tennis elbow.
I bought a lighter good quality axe which helps, but I still find some woods are much harder on the elbow than others. Ash is a right pig, Yew and Hazel are much kinder, the bandsaw is best, but I still have trouble picking it up and swinging it
Del

[George Tsoukalas]

Badger, just to clarify...I use a hatchet. Not an axe. My hatchet is a cheap camp one I bought in the 70's to use when camping. It has a metal handle...it is one piece. I keep a stone handy for frequent touch ups on the sharpening. When I get tired  rest. I usually just use it for roughing out and then go quickly to the drawknife. It makes quick work of the roughing out process. If  I get tired I rest. No hurry. When I'm done with it, it gets sharpened, oiled and cased to protect the edge. Ready for the next time. It has served me well for many bows. Jawge

[Buckeye Guy]

I thought I was the only one getting old!
Why dont ya just come to my house cause I can't run a draw knife anymore but I can chop All the other junk out of the way just fine?!!
Maybe between the two of us we can getter done !!!
I supose its in the way we learned!