Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

AXEMAiNSHIP 189I have seen such handles full four feet long, to beused chiefly in logging-up big trees. Two feet eightinches is long enough for ordinary chopping. Tosmooth any article made of wood, when youhave no sandpaper, use loose sand in a piece of leatheror buckskin.Split the eye end of the helve before driving itin. Make the wedge thin, and of even taper.Leave a little of it protruding, at first, for greenwood soon will shrink and you must tighten it up.How To Chop.—To be expert with the axe, onemust have been trained to it from boyhood. Anovice, however, can learn to do much better thanbungle if he observes a few simple directions, watchesa good chopper, and uses his wits in trying to "catchon."Practice until you can hit the same spot repeatedly.Precision, rhythmical strokes, good judgment asto where a cut will do the most good ; these are themain points to strive after.Beginners Invariably over-exert themselves Inchopping, and are soon blown. An accurate strokecounts for much more than a heavy but blunderingone. A good chopper lands one blow exactly ontop of the other with the precision and regularityof a machine ; he chops slowly but rhythmically, andputs little more effort into striking than he does intolifting his axe for the blow. Trying to sink theaxe deeply at every stroke is about the hardest workthat a man can do, and it spoils accuracy.Try your axe first on saplings up to six inches indiameter. A little one Is downed with two strokes.Bend It over so Its fiber is strained on one side, hitIt a clip w4th the axe In one hand, then similarlyon the other side. A larger one Is notched on eachside, like a tree (see below) but does not need tonave the large notch blocked out.When cutting saplings that are to be dragged tocamp, throw them with tops In the opposite directionfrom camp, so they can easily be dragged out by thebutts; otherwise you will have to slew them aroundso the branches will not catch in everything.