Hanging video to come. Very exciting combination!
I was waiting for "just the haft" to hang this big, fat-cheeked 1940s era Vaughan head on. A custom-made New Zealand racing ax pattern by pro hafter Rod Cumberland (www.EastCoastLumberjack.com) matched it up nicely.
This is my first-ever ash handle -- the reason Mr. Cumberland sent it to this Minnesotan, to cure my hickory-dependency (actually sent me two, which I'll cover shortly in a handle review of various handles available on the market).
I've watched him make them again and again on YouTube. I can't tell you how cool it was to actually see one up close in real life, to get to work on it -- and then to get to swing it.
I learned so much about the difference in patterns between my elegantly long, thin "American felling ax" style hickories to this snappy little sportster. This this BEGS to be swung fast, whereas my long, thin hickory handles like a long, languid, sweep and release. Like working a bullwhip vs a taser. (Actually, I've never worked a taser. Just looking for an analogy).
I was immediately aware of how I swing them differently. I'm done loading up the 36" hickory wall before I'm halfway through the swing. I'm just aiming it from that point on, focused on the target, ensuring that it strikes it. The New Zealand? No need. The flat, wide-sided thing indexes smartly in your hand. Your brain automatically adjusts to that, works it like a _joystick_ --
(ROD! -- New marketing direction for your racing handles: Joy Sticks!)
This handle is just... well, look at it! You can't tell me _you_ wouldn't like to be swinging this thing! Snappy little booger. And then that Vaughan head -- absolutely wonderful. I knew it would be good, but this is... This top's my collection, performance-wise {in this wood, at least).This is probably the closest I'll come to actually working a race ax. So much fun, I kept going back out there, again and again, chopping and splitting.
Wood in this demo is silver maple. But there is red oak and green ash in the pile, as well.
OPEN LETTER OF GRATITUDE TO ECL
Dang! No need to take me to the river, but I'm a convert to ash! What a gorgeous looking wood. The character pops right away. No need to toast these. Works of art as is. And snappy little bugger, this 31" I hung and tested yesterday.
I will be doing a short video focused solely on subjective impressions that a handle makes, featuring the 31" New Zealand. I became extremely conscious right away, cogently aware, just how "languidly" I have been swinging a long, thin, hickory American felling-style handle compared to this New Zealand pattern. I had not noticed the "steps" I'm taking in my swings, when I've finished loading it and switch to guiding it to target.
The New Zealand BEGS to be swung faster. The flat, wide sides felt strange to me at first, but then, oh how quickly my brain-to-hand coordination adjusted for it. Aim and shoot. No need to be mid-stroke guiding it. Instead of a muleskinner working a bullwhip, with long, graceful sweeps and slow retrieves, work it more like a boxer throwing uppercuts and crosses. Don't ride this handle like a passenger. Drive it like your dad's still paying for insurance. :)
Rod... THANK YOU!
#axes, #vintageaxe, #racingaxe, #eastcoastlumberjack, #hafting, #choppingwood, #splittingwood, #axerestoration