Soaring Tomahawk

[Mike Brubacher]

Well Mark R. I told you that I was going to take a few of your throwing tomahawks to Kansas for a good workout.  I presented two of them to my nephews here,  Josh and Jake,  with tomahawks and they went right to work. These are really nice creations Mark and extremely well made! They got the Tomahawks and I kept the ax. Here's a picture of both styles for the member's edification:


                   


Apparently they lack only one feature Mark - altitude control. I received this picture from Josh with the message "OOPs" along with it:

                                                 

When I was a kid Mark, I flung every hatchet I could find at every tree on the place and spent hours and hours doing it. These axes and tomahawks are four or five leagues above those old projectiles. I understand that there is now a resurgence of tomahawk and ax throwing going on and it's easy to see why. It's just a ton of cheap fun!

[Jan]

Really nice tools, Mark and Mike.
For Mark’s inspiration I am attaching a photo of my ancient pick head fire axe.

Jan
   

[grepper]

Ouch!  Please hug your trees instead of using them for injurious target practice.  Instead do this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L5QC9ZJkM8

[Jan]

Really memorable episode, Mr. Grepper! I do not fully understand the meaning of the last sentence.
Jan

[Mike Brubacher]

Interesting picture Jan. I wonder why the spade portion of the pick is turned vertical rather than horizontal like the one's commonly seen here in the USA? Could be just a matter of choice or then there could be some purpose behind it.

Sadly, Grepper, I'm old enough to remember that episode of Johnny Carson.

[Jan]

Mike, you are correct! I also thing that the fire axe design involves more things than we can imagine at the beginning. The sweeping angle of the pick complements the arc of our swing. The pick design should optimize the penetration while eliminating handle kick. Important is also that the pick can be released easily when wanted.

Jan

[grepper]

I too saw that Johnny Carson episode Mr. Mike when it aired way back in the month of April, nineteen hundred sixty five. While I was but a wee lad at the time, it apparently made an impression. Upon seeing your tomahawk post, that memory bubbled to the surface from the depths of incredibly useful information stored in the cauldron of my mind.

[Mike Brubacher]

I'm going to have to slow down Jan. I saw your description of the picture as "pick" and then failed to read the last two words "fire ax". Now the veil has been lifted and I thank you for that. This implement was designed for opening doors and exposing the interior of walls - not digging trenches in the dirt.

Here's something old you may find interesting because it is, in my opinion, a mechanical engineering marvel. The hay hook's function was obvious enough but the hay trolley it hangs from was not. When I found the trolley  in my  brother's junk pile,  I brought it home and after cleaning it up, studied it for two hours and couldn't figure out how it worked. It's made to move loose hay from outside the barn into the hayloft and then, vice-versa. Help stopped by in the form of several farm neighbors later and even with the help of several cans of "thinking juice", still could figure out how it worked. We knew what it was supposed to do but couldn't figure out how it accomplished all it's tasks. I noticed a patent number on it that dated to the late 1800's and believe it or not, found the patent application on-line. With that description - all was made apparent. The trolley runs on a rail that extends the length of the barn. In use, it would have a multitude of smaller control ropes that hang down to the hayloft floor. It can be pulled along this rail to the desired location and the control ropes open the claw, close the claw, and raise, open or drop the claw. When the claw was dropped onto a stack of hay at ground level outside the barn, a team of horses or mules raised the hay to hayloft level and the open claw closed automatically when raised. Then a catch on the trolley was set remotely (via control rope) to keep the claw from lowering and it was pulled into the hayloft by a crew of men. Pull it to where you want it, dump it, and go get another load. It hangs from the end of my living quarters on the farm and is strictly for ornamental purposes today.

Somebody had their thinking cap on when they designed all of these functions into a single mechanical device.

                                                       

[Mark Reich]

Sorry I haven't been on the computer much lately. It's time to be in the woods if I can, and in the shop when I can't.

Great to hear you've gotten to test those tomahawks out, Mike, and very happy you see the difference in something "made to throw".

I think that type of fire pick is too dangerous for regular citizens, Mr. Jan, and they only sell them to firemen. I believe they are really expensive too. That's one of the perks of being on the Aladdin Wyoming Volunteer Fire Fighting Association, or whatever they call it. You can get the good stuff.

Pretty sure we have an intact hay trolly in one of the old barns, Mike. I got to play with a couple when I was a kid, so I can tell you for sure there is much fun to be had in the hay loft.

[Jan]

Mr. Mike, confusion explained.    Simple but ingenious rural device! Appreciated!

Mr. Mark you are correct, the pick head fire axe is a very dangerous tool. I like the current US style of fire axes, where the axe-head is wide and has axe-lips which allow steady fitting of the handle in the axe-head. The head of my fire axe is quite narrow.

Jan