Cold Steel Trail Boss Axe...

[Missourian]

1055 steel and an American hickory handle.

I found it on Amazon on a limited time deal today for $23 with free prime delivery.

Cold Steel All-Purpose Axe with Hickory Handle, Great for Camping, Survival, Outdoors, Wood Cutting and Splitting Amazon product

I saw this Wranglerstar video a couple of years ago...but by that time this axe was $40.



What do y'all think? Worth $25 tax and all delivered? Can't buy a Collins Boys Axe for that locally anymore.

 

[Missourian]

 

[1srelluc]

It looks like it will serve.

I found both a Finnish Fiskars hatchet and axe at a yard sale 20+ years ago and never looked back.

I get that traditional wood hafted axe lovers don't like the Fiskers products and that they are a acquired taste but they work and they work well.

I wanted to get me a Fisker's X27 splitting axe to go with them but dad's old Norlund splitting axe does the job (he re-hafted it in fiberglass) so I never bothered with it.

I also have a Norlund Hudson Bay type camp axe that served me well when we used to trap. It belonged to my granddad and I have already restored it for my grandson.

Like this one:

 

[White 6]

1055 steel and an American hickory handle.

I found it on Amazon on a limited time deal today for $23 with free prime delivery.

Cold Steel All-Purpose Axe with Hickory Handle, Great for Camping, Survival, Outdoors, Wood Cutting and Splitting Amazon product

I saw this Wranglerstar video a couple of years ago...but by that time this axe was $40.



What do y'all think? Worth $25 tax and all delivered? Can't buy a Collins Boys Axe for that locally anymore.

Man! That guy is passionate about his axe.

 

[1srelluc]

Man! That guy is passionate about his axe.

LOL....You have no idea....There are guys that haunt the local flea markets that "specialize" in nothing but axes/ axe heads to restore/sell, some of the vintage ones (like Norlund) brig real good money these days.

I must admit there is a lot of satisfaction in getting a old head up to snuff, re-hafting it, and bringing it back to life.

My first experiment using Electrolysis was on a late 1800s Council Tool brush axe head.

 

[Likkmee]

I have fiskars and Costa Rican forged double bits with Corteza handles(tabebuia--like ipe/impetiginosa but harder)

 

[fncceo]

 

[Missourian]

It looks like it will serve.

I found both a Finnish Fiskars hatchet and axe at a yard sale 20+ years ago and never looked back.

I get that traditional wood hafted axe lovers don't like the Fiskers products and that they are a acquired taste but they work and they work well.

I wanted to get me a Fisker's X27 splitting axe to go with them but dad's old Norlund splitting axe does the job (he re-hafted it in fiberglass) so I never bothered with it.

I also have a Norlund Hudson Bay type camp axe that served me well when we used to trap. It belonged to my granddad and I have already restored it for my grandson.

Like this one:

Sweet.

I have an X15...but it doesn't get a lot of use. Those plastic cheeks just don't instill end-user trust to me, especially in splitting, which is what I use an axe for predominantly.

That Norlund is very nice.

 

[Missourian]

Man! That guy is passionate about his axe.

Wait until you see the one about his pants...



1.7 million views.

 

[Missourian]

I have fiskars and Costa Rican forged double bits with Corteza handles(tabebuia--like ipe/impetiginosa but harder)

Very nice.

 

[Missourian]

View attachment 598294

I thought you'd be taller.

 

[1srelluc]

Sweet.

I have an X15...but it doesn't get a lot of use. Those plastic cheeks just don't instill end-user trust to me, especially in splitting, which is what I use an axe for predominantly.

That Norlund is very nice.

LOL....I thought the same thing at first but I've beat the shit out of both the ones I own without a minute's trouble, especially the hatchet.

I split a lot of wood at hunt camp with the X15-sized axe (or whatever the originals were called, mine just have Fiskars-Finland on them) over the years and would just leave it stuck in the splitting block from Oct. to Jan. for others at camp to use. None the worse for wear and everyone who used it was impressed.

My Norlund splitting axe never leaves my place.

 

[White 6]

Wait until you see the one about his pants...



1.7 million views.

I might take advice on an axe, but will keep my blue jeans, here in the south.

 

[fncceo]

I thought you'd be taller.

Misspent youth.

 

[Ringel05]

View attachment 598199

View attachment 598198

Yup, looks like an axe to me...........

 

[White 6]

Yup, looks like an axe to me...........

Can't put anything over on a pirate like you.

 

[Missourian]

Yup, looks like an axe to me...........

 

[Missourian]

Axe arrived today...and my first reaction was this thing is going back.

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.
.

.
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...until I used it.

First...this is a Boys Axe. It is actually about an inch shorter than my Collins Boys Axe.



Comparison. Estwing hatchet, Trail Boss, Collins Boys Axe, Full sized felling axe of unknown manufacturer.

Second, the handle is shit and it's going to break sooner rather than later.

Hope you can see that. If not... it's a knot...below the head roughly three inches.

Thirdly, it is very light...usually not a good thing unless you are hiking with it. More mass equals less work... ordinarily. The Trail Boss and the Estwing hatchet weigh about the same. The Collins is appreciably heavier.

Lastly, the profile of the axe head is prominently concave... like a straight razor, not slightly convex like the Collins.



The thing sings though wood like butter. It put the Collins to shame both splitting and chopping. Sure...the Collins ain't nothin' special...but I paid about the same for it seven years ago...twenty bucks plus tax.

I can certainly see why Wranglerstar liked it so much. I put very little swing behind it...it did 90% of the work.

I'm going to grab some poster board, trace out this handle and make a new straight grained handle split out of that black walnut log in the picture* and hang it in the shed for when this one breaks...and I'm still going to be happy with it if it continues to cut like it did today.

 

[Missourian]

*maybe... didn't get a very good split on it.

 

[Missourian]

Oops... Hidden defect.
No matter...it can be a hand tool handle.



Thinner. Coping saw to cut the fawn leg. Never done one...need the practice.




Had a hammer handle to pattern off of.