Edged tools are a must when heading bush, but which one is best for you? Dick Eussen provides some handy advice
While chainsaws have replaced the traditional axe as the favoured tool for gathering wood, many prefer an axe due to its portability. Chainsaws and spare fuel require room and space to carry, while their fuel and oil smell is a problem in station wagons.
Australian trees are renowned for dropping branches and the bush is littered with dead trees that make for excellent firewood. In most cases, branches and small logs can be tossed onto a fire without the need to be cut up. Dead timber stuffs up sharp blades and only the back of the axe should be used (like a sledgehammer) to break branches into handy lengths, but watch out a piece does not hit you in the noggin’. It is not something a novice axe person should attempt. The best way of doing it is to drop a hessian bag or similar over the end of the timber to stop it from becoming airborne.
An axe can be dangerous to the uninitiated and must be treated with care. The best axe for general camp use is the three-quarter size. It is lightweight and fully capable of doing all camp chores or butchering large animals. A full-size axe is heavy and unwieldy if you are not used to one. When buying an axe select one with a handle that has no flaws and straight grain – or one with a fibreglass handle. Chemical glues that bond the axe head to the handle last better than wedges as it does not shrink, because when it does the head will fly off the handle. If a wooden handle is loose after lengthy storage, soak it in water for a couple of days. The wood will expand and tighten about the head gap.
Check the cutting edge of the axe before using it. A blunt edge is dangerous and will slip, or bounce, instead of biting into the wood when it makes contact. Before using an axe in a restricted area make sure it does not contact overhanging branches or similar obstacles. Clear brush or limbs away first before getting serious with the tool. Ensure that no one is standing about you for at least 10m as sticks can fly off with speed for a remarkable distance when struck with force. Drop that hessian bag on the upside end to stop it becoming airborne when you are using the blunt head of the axe to break up dead timber into useful lengths. That applies to the edged end also. Most of all, keep bystanders, especially children, away.
Hatchets
Small tomahawk-style hatchets are generally the tools of the novice and loved by children who often pick them up and hurt themselves and others with one. I still bear a scar in my right foot after I chopped a tomahawk blade into it when I was eight years old. Hatchets are handy for general camp use ‑ like the unsafe practice of hammering in tent pegs. Use a proper hammer, or you may end up with the blade in your forehead ‑ or lose an eye. In the Australian bush, with its dominant stands of hardwood, the hatchet is hardly worth having for campfire use, a task that is best done with an axe.
However, hatchets are extremely useful for butchering large animals, especially buffaloes, to break heavy bones such as legs and rib cages. A small, sharp hatchet is ideal for chopping out trophy horns and boar tusks. It can be easily pouch-carried on a belt or in a pack.
I used to carry a three-quarter-size Estwing axe on my belt when I hunted buffaloes in the Top End during the late 1970s and 80s. In most areas it was impossible to move a vehicle close to a kill where horns and meat had to be carried out, some through waist-deep swamps where crocodiles lived. The Estwing made life easier.
Camp saws
Small camp bow saws designed to cut softwoods are making an impact into the camping market. I’s hard to say why, as our hardwoods are difficult to cut with small saws and the hard work is best done faster with a good axe or a full-size bow saw. However, I carry both a folding saw and a hatchet on my Can-Am 650 quad while hunting or fishing. Saws are handy for clearing a path through thick scrub, especially when green, whippy branches block the way.
Machetes and cane knives
A machete or a cane knife is useful for clearing scrub about camp, or a path though green undergrowth and will do most jobs that a hatchet does. Old-style machetes and cane knives have a slim, thin profile and have light flexible blades that are designed to be sharpened with a medium file. Most camping and military surplus stores stock them, though cane knives designed for sugar cane cutting are only found in the east coast region’s hardware stores, where cane fields abound.
Modern machetes are much more durable than traditional types as they have strong, heavy blades with some built to Rockwell hardness standards. They are heavy and can be used with body force to chop most things a hatchet does. They are useful survival tools, and some bushwalkers carry one. They are sharpened the same way as a knife blade, though it can be done with an axe sharpening stone.
You need to be aware when using modern machetes and small hatches, even axes, that when you hit dead timber, bone or a hard object with it, the edge may be damaged and show unsightly gaps. The only way to remove them is with a file, but there will be a slight depression in the blade edge. To totally remove a large gap would mean filing too much ‘beef’ off the blade. Best to put up with the depression.
Safety and sharpening
Keep axes, machetes and saws away from children. When not in use, sheath the instrument to protect the blade. Sharpening a blunt axe is a two-stage job. You need a good metal file and a round carborundum axe whetstone. New axes are painted to prevent rust. Remove it with sandpaper where it contacts the rim of the edge, otherwise sharpening tools will clog up with paint.
Anchor the axe securely ‑ a bench vice is ideal when at home. In the field brace it against a rock or stump or hold it in position between your feet. For extra safety, wear a fish filleting or chain-mesh butcher’s glove. Start with the file first, pushing it from toe to heel (top to bottom) of the blade and hone away the shoulder at a consistent angle of 25 to 30-degrees to about 25mm from the edge. Most new axes have too much meat on the shoulder. Taper it back with a file to the correct thickness and do both sides.
Once the correct taper is achieved with a file, finish the edge with the round whetstone by honing it in a circular motion until the desired sharpness has been achieved on one side. Turn the axe over and do the other side and always push the stone against the edge, not down it.
The whetstone is held in the palm of the hand and it’s not the safest way of sharpening an instrument, but there is no other method, so great care and attention is needed when honing. Apply too much pressure and even a small slip can result in deep cuts on the fingers or palm, the reason that wearing a suitable glove makes a lot of sense. Practice makes for safety, so do the job first with a file and then hone the edge with a stone in a gentle circular motion.
The job can be done with a flat carborundum stone, but it takes longer. The round axe stone is designed to be carried in your pocket, as was done by old-time axemen and timber cutters. When the blade blunted, they would just sit down and begin sharpening. I spent a couple of seasons in my youthful years ring barking timber and cutting fence posts and the stone was always in my back pocket. When the blade needed attention, I would sit down and use spit to sharpen it.
Round stones have a fine and coarse side. Use the coarse side first and finish the edge to razor sharpness with the fine side. When done you should be able to shave the hair off your forearm – if not, start again. Whetstones are called that for a reason ‑ use liquid, water, spit or proper honing oil to float the metal filings away or the stone pores will clog up. Lansky makes a great sharpening tool for machetes and hatchets. It also does a fair job on a three-quarter axe.
Safety tips at a glance:
- Wear a fish filleting or chain-mesh glove when honing an axe.
- Don’t carry an axe across the shoulder. Hold it close near the head, blade pointed down and at your side. If do you do trip, hold it away or toss it to one side.
- When not in use, bury the blade in a log, or sheath, or pack it away.
- Use a chopping block when cutting firewood. Never cut wood on rocks or a hard surface as the blade will be damaged.
- Never use the back of the axe to drive in tent pegs, or as a hammer.
- If the handle splits, remove it by cutting it off near the base and force the remains out with a cold chisel and hammer. Never toss an axe head in a fire to burn the handle out, as it will destroy the temper of the metal.
- When cutting dead wood, place it on another piece and use the back of the axe instead of the blade to cut it to size. Toss a hessian bag or similar over the loose ends to prevent it flying up and hitting you in the head.
- Never use an electric power grinder to sharpen knives or axes as it may destroy the temper.