Most bevel gauges on the market are poor for measuring edge angles. The typical fixed-angle type cannot give you a precise reading on an existing angle, and the apex apertures to protect the edge from damage can cause problems if your bevel width is more narrow than the aperture radius. Most adjustable angle finders have an overlapped hinge that means that at low angles your V notch disappears completely due to overlap of the rules, and therefore you need arms long enough to cause a V notch to occur at the relevant angles you’re measuring. While we still need to optimize the dimensions for the use case to improve readability once a scale is applied. This prototype was made using steel pallet banding and gunmetal-finished brass compression rivets like we use on our PetroCor sheaths. It weighs only 0.2 oz and is 4″ long.
A 1″ wide solid steel chisel made from a section of a 1/2″-thick 1080 steel snow plow blade. The blade was heat treated, but soft, so the blade and struck end were heated, quenched, and differentially tempered to give a 57 RC blade and 45 RC struck end, with the main length being roughly 35 RC.
This prototype universal-fit axe handle is made from split hickory, for perfect end-to-end grain, measuring 1-7/16″ x 3-5/8″ with an overall length of 34″ and the main length reduced to 1-5/8″ wide x 5/8″ thick, with the tongue and swell left at full stock dimension.
The intent is to leave material for the end user to fine-tune the handle to their particular head, while doing the bulk of the time-intensive thinning work for them. The main length is extra broad to permit the end user to make minor alignment adjustments in the handle orientation in addition to at the tongue, and the flat sides of the knob make laminating additional material easier, if desired. The swell is also left broad so that it may be finished to whatever shape the end user most prefers, and by not cutting a kerf it may be cut as the end user sees fit, or not at all (as is traditional for bush hooks.) The head may be positioned more forward or more rearward on the generous block of the tongue/neck to adjust the balance and orient the bit as desired.
Back in the 1960’s, researchers discovered that wood could be plasticized by use of treatment with ammonia gas in a pressure chamber. The ammonia would dissolve the hydrogen bonds between the lignin and the cellulose fibers, allowing the fibers to slip past one another, and enabling extreme bends to be made. When the ammonia evaporated out of the wood, fresh hydrogen bonds would form, setting the bend permanently in place as if the wood had grown that way. In the 1970’s through the present, some experiments have been done regarding the process, but it has yet to meet with any commercial application, mostly due to the difficulty of safely obtaining, storing, handling, and using deadly, corrosive anhydrous ammonia gas.
Meanwhile, woodworkers agree that kiln dried wood is difficult to bend, and that air-dried is the way to go if attempting to make steam-bent wood products. However, many parts of the world are unable to reasonably source air-dried stock and are forced to make do with kiln-dried. Many have discovered that adding a little household grade aqueous ammonia solution (1-3% concentration ammonium hydroxide) to their steam generator helps with bending kiln-dried wood. Ammonia fuming is a common woodworking technique to darken high-tannin woods like oak, and while stronger concentrations work faster, low concentrations have been found to still produce equal results if exposure time is lengthened. This, combined with stumbling across this 2015 study by an Iraqi university, combined to indicate to us that aqueous ammonia could be used as an effective wood plasticizer, significantly reducing the risks involved with working with the ammonia.
We have begun to experiment with treating wood with a 29% ammonium hydroxide solution, and the results are quite promising. Historically snath manufacture has been a costly process, with the steam bending resulting in a very high breakage rate. With good quality ash wood in scarcer supply than ever before thanks to the emerald ash borer, methods for reliably producing the complex bends of a scythe snath are the needed if a traditional or semi-traditional wooden American snath is to remain in production. Now that we’ve developed a soak tank and functioning method for producing a bend that forces compression, we will need to manufacture more clamps to produce the full 3D curvature needed for a finished snath and refine our drying methods to reduce checking due to the rapid evaporation rate of the ammonia.
A compact utility fixed blade made in the USA with 1095 high carbon steel at 58 RC. The oval handle nestles into the hollow of your palm, giving both excellent comfort and grip in a variety of different holds. An ambidextrous sheath made of high density polyethylene (HDPE) is included.
A forged rough mockup of our Traveler’s Celt wilderness tool design. Depending on how it’s rigged up, the tool may be used as an ulu knife, chisel, splitting wedge, bark spud, carving spade, axe, adze, and more. This piece does not represent the final intended form of the piece, but rather an initial testing sample prior to having finished pieces produced. The handle here is made from a black locust branch.
A beautiful ice blue scythe stone made for us in the USA to our specifications. 400 grit aluminum oxide with a medium-hard bond, this stone produces a finer edge than one might expect for its grit rating. Cuts fast, holds water well, resists glazing, is hard enough to bear down to realign rolled edges, and produces a very keen edge that easily dry shaves while retaining the “sticky” bite of a medium or coarse stone. Finer than any of our other scythe stones, yet no slower to hone with. We’re very impressed, and it’s exceeded our expectations for performance.
An initial proof of concept of the North Star snath. The snath is produced in two parts, and joined by an aluminum elbow. The halves in this case were both the same, but were technically both the upper half, as that was the component I received samples for. This resulted in too strong of a bend in the neck of the lower end, but the production version will have less severe of a curve.
The halves come overly long on purpose, allowing the user to trim them down to desired length. They can then be rotated in the aluminum coupling, allowing the snath to “shapeshift” to best adapt to the user’s preference before being drilled and bolted in its final position. This has the benefit of allowing for a truly one-size-fits-all scalable stemless snath, and allows the snath to pack down for transport or shipping. Note the strong lateral bend of the upper half. This both places the hand in a very ergonomic position, but the end can be used as a grip in its own right when lifting the lay of the blade while mowing, as circumstances sometimes dictate.
A professionally restored Seymour No.2 bush snath outfitted with a new old stock Swedish-made Banko bush blade. The Seymour No.2, now long discontinued, was similar to the still-produced No.1 grass snath but with a thicker end diameter and a four-hole heel plate rather than three. The holes are arranged in a “♦” shape rather than the “▼” arrangement on the No.1. Some older examples of this snath have capped nibs, with a three-pronged, domed, circular brad having been driven into the top of the nib to cover the recessed nut and projecting thread of the nib iron.
A traditional style of farm knife made from a broken American scythe blade, usually used for topping root crops.
The blade below crack was cut back to the spine, which was forged out into a tang. Normally this would have been simply wrapped with rags to form the grip (which is why they were called rag knives) but we used a reshaped billhook handle instead.
The tang is peened on the end and the grip tightly wedged from the top inside the ferrule for an extremely tight and secure fit.
A collection of writings on edged tools from the folks at Baryonyx Knife Co.
