The angled poll hang os to reduce the possibility of cross grain fracturing should the axe need to be levered out of the wood. There are many versions of this principle, just a couple of interesting examples might be the Billnas and Kellokoski axes of Finland. Often larger Russian axes have a similar poll shape to this Oberharz Axe.
I’ve been thinking about this from a different angle. I was thinking about added strength & security on impact. Since the bottom of the beard strikes first creating a leaver type force on the handle. However your reasoning also makes sense & would be a design benefit. I believe the extended eye collar/socket on Finnish axes were for 2 additional reasons. One being the handle material used & the other for added eye wall thickness (better suited for extra cold environments).
Achtung! Oberharz! I am jealous of your sander. This would have been a great opportunity for some Rammstein, just saying. Oh, had I waited to comment--and there it is!
I really enjoyed this video, thank you so much for sharing this with us! In my opinion it's one of the best videos about german axes and about axes in general and it will be toped by part two ; ) the music was very well chosen as well. The world needs more beautiful axes like them. I've restort a Harzer pattern axe recently, a 1200 g Dominicus &Co from Remscheid on a 24'' handle (the old handle was even shorter and I have a second one same size with original straight handle which is only 20''). It's a great campaxe. If you like to test another profile, I could send you two Berliner pattern axe hads in 1250g and 1600g. They are never used Ochsenkopf Gold from the 60' or 70' and I was lucky to find some of them ; ) Would be great to give something back for the great content you share wit us. All the best from the Rheinland, Maximilian.
@@BushcraftSisyphus They have been made to be used ; ) if you like you can write me an email (wunderlich_hoersch@web.de) with your postal address and I will send them to you.
die oberharzer axt is still around, and is manufactured in the former eastern germany, still using the same process in the same forge. to be found under "bison oberharzer axt". I use one myself for bushcraft. shop.bison-werkzeuge.de/collections/axt/products/bison-1879-oberharzer-axt-800-g
2:25 " back in the day ", being when the first Celts started to inhabit the region some 3000 odd years ago they came up with this unique pattern... to be continued P.S. The Basques and the Celts were /are 'brothers & sisters‘!
I don't know how I missed this vid when you posted - oh yeah, influenza and pneumonia - but what a thrill to get back at it in 2020. Impeccable. Tasteful. Glorious. I was holding out hope for a little Nina, and you didn't disappoint. I dig all three. Proper hafting really brings the swooping lines to the front (!). Those kooky fun loving Germans. OK, I'm off to part 2.
Hi Lane, a very funny and entertaining Video again ...and good TRIO Music, DaDaDa :-) and guess what: i happen to live nearby the Harz mountain Region.. only 30 miles to drive and i am on the "Brocken". That is the highest mountain in the Harz, well known from Goethe, who thought that witches Dance there. Somuch about german fairy tales ... Interesting pattern indeed !! Cheers, Erik
dann mögen Sie doch eine Kleinigkeit beitragen, und sich mit dem Herrn Wolf-Dieter Wittig, // Meister-Schmied in der Krellschen Schmiede, Wernigerode in Verbindung setzen. Er hat mir vor ein paar Jahre, eine kurz gefasste Schilderung gemailt wie die Harzer Axtform entstanden ist.... lieben Gruss aus dem sonnigen Basel, Schweiz 🇨🇭
4:22 "advantages angle"is not necessarily in the 'chop' but rather in the pull action -, back towards oneself, [like an old steam locomotive drive shaft], - slice movement.
Amazing work you've done with that TGL. With that patina and the way you profiled the blade and the edge it looks and performs just perfect. Not to mention the handle... BTW, doesn't the wire cup scratch the steel?
The Hewing Report: I brought along and used many a harzer pattern axes on my bergwaldprojekt.ch assignment, mostly on bigger fallen / felled spruce, where one can 'lean on' having the tree truck between onesself and the branch or bark [bark beetle prevention of:] that one intends to remove, one handed ( axe handles mostly in the 23 - 25 inch range ) I almost always gave the axe to someone on assignment, that I thought for myself would get the most use out of a unique axe as the harzer is in the appropriate setting. One person had commented, if I recall correctly [was it on SkillCults vlog?] that the harzer's resemblance o a broadaxe is ap-parent... ex-act-ly what the celts had in mind when they came up with this design... a multi-purpose tool
I kinda wonder how much of axe pattern development was very intentional (your Puget Sound example), and how much is a little more accidental. Ex: Some blacksmith in Germany decides to build an axe with that sloping top...because, he just feels like it. Sells it to a buddy. Buddy loves and brags on it. No patent laws means every blacksmith in town rips off the design. A new pattern is born. At any rate...I think this is one of your best videos ever. Both in terms of interesting content, and just the right amount of artistic/nerdy drop in stuff.
Yes somewhere in there pure marketing was always a possible motive in pattern development. This is especially true I think with American patterns in the 20th century.
Look at the Zapin from Tyrol or any Alpine Land in Austria really, or Pickaroon as you Guys call it. The vast Majority have a sloped House. The German Pattern has a "normal" House. Just search Müller Tiroler Sappl.
Hey lane I sent you a couple of emails I have gone response. the other thing is can you make a video? on how to keep the Polish on the edge I've been using my lamaca #56 a lot. but I want to keep that mirror shine.
The StuG III Assault axe in the middle of the 3, is exactly what I was always looking for but never come even close ot own one... All axes I buy, come with super fat edge gemetries and the steels is so hard, that without a grinder, I can't thin them down with files. I've literally gone through 2 Nicholson files and any sandpapers I had around and my axe still doesn't chop, neither splits. If anyone in Europe, knows who doesn't make bent handles and geometries that will never chop anything, any suggestions would be really appriciated.
@@1südtiroltechnik That's true!! Since then I got the Muller Biber Canada and I'm more than happy!! I still had to thin out the handle a lot, to bring it to proper standards, however the head and it's edge was literally perfect!!! The handle is straight and perfectly aligned with the edge of the axe, same goes for the wood grain!, which is perfectly parallel with the axehead! The Biber Canada 1000,is easily the best axe I ever had, Thanks for the response Luca, I appreciate it a lot! I'll probably get another one soon!!
An ironmonger is somebody who sells ironwares, much like a fishmonger sells fish. Did you mean to say ironwrightery? XD P.S. - Way to choose a song about Tyrol when reviewing an axe from the Harz region which, by the way, is not in the "Province of Saxony" - it is situated between the *federal states* of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.
Man! You are the best! Rewatching your masterpiece again and again - can't wait new videos from you
Holy freaking crap that Yoda scene was amazing 🤣🤣🤣
DUUUU...😂😂😂
Glad to see the knowledge train rumbling down the line again!!
Rumbling and rambling for sure.
@@BushcraftSisyphus lol
Yoda-Axeman. Great video! Can’t wait to see part2.
Love your work! Turned me into an axe freak!!
The angled poll hang os to reduce the possibility of cross grain fracturing should the axe need to be levered out of the wood. There are many versions of this principle, just a couple of interesting examples might be the Billnas and Kellokoski axes of Finland. Often larger Russian axes have a similar poll shape to this Oberharz Axe.
I’ve been thinking about this from a different angle. I was thinking about added strength & security on impact. Since the bottom of the beard strikes first creating a leaver type force on the handle. However your reasoning also makes sense & would be a design benefit. I believe the extended eye collar/socket on Finnish axes were for 2 additional reasons. One being the handle material used & the other for added eye wall thickness (better suited for extra cold environments).
Achtung! Oberharz! I am jealous of your sander.
This would have been a great opportunity for some Rammstein, just saying. Oh, had I waited to comment--and there it is!
They sneek in there at the end.
Uber interesting pattern i can't wait for the next video !
Great axes great video Lane🤩
I really enjoyed this video, thank you so much for sharing this with us! In my opinion it's one of the best videos about german axes and about axes in general and it will be toped by part two ; ) the music was very well chosen as well. The world needs more beautiful axes like them. I've restort a Harzer pattern axe recently, a 1200 g Dominicus &Co from Remscheid on a 24'' handle (the old handle was even shorter and I have a second one same size with original straight handle which is only 20''). It's a great campaxe. If you like to test another profile, I could send you two Berliner pattern axe hads in 1250g and 1600g. They are never used Ochsenkopf Gold from the 60' or 70' and I was lucky to find some of them ; ) Would be great to give something back for the great content you share wit us. All the best from the Rheinland, Maximilian.
I don't have any Berliner patterns! But unused makes them precious! Too precious for even for science I would think 🔬😜
@@BushcraftSisyphus They have been made to be used ; ) if you like you can write me an email (wunderlich_hoersch@web.de) with your postal address and I will send them to you.
die oberharzer axt is still around, and is manufactured in the former eastern germany, still using the same process in the same forge. to be found under "bison oberharzer axt". I use one myself for bushcraft. shop.bison-werkzeuge.de/collections/axt/products/bison-1879-oberharzer-axt-800-g
Man your German is good mate :D I live near the Harz
I Always learn something lane from your vids! History, axes, tools of the trade, etc. love it all. Thx for lesson! Axe on! #lamaca2020
1:00 „ oh - bear - hearts "
2:25 " back in the day ", being when the first Celts started to inhabit the region some 3000 odd years ago they came up with this unique pattern... to be continued P.S. The Basques and the Celts were /are 'brothers & sisters‘!
Harz = hart / hard, 'Bergwald‘ - Mountain-woods / forest.
I don't know how I missed this vid when you posted - oh yeah, influenza and pneumonia - but what a thrill to get back at it in 2020. Impeccable. Tasteful. Glorious. I was holding out hope for a little Nina, and you didn't disappoint.
I dig all three. Proper hafting really brings the swooping lines to the front (!). Those kooky fun loving Germans.
OK, I'm off to part 2.
Get well, Pin. Get well brotha.
Looking back on things…maybe you were patient zero 😅 j/k
@@BombproofCraftsman ha… nope, haven’t had Covid yet. I did have RSV last year after Fred Flintstone sneezed on me flying into LA. That was awesome.
Those axes abide Dude!
Hi Lane, a very funny and entertaining Video again ...and good TRIO Music, DaDaDa :-) and guess what: i happen to live nearby the Harz mountain Region.. only 30 miles to drive and i am on the "Brocken". That is the highest mountain in the Harz, well known from Goethe, who thought that witches Dance there. Somuch about german fairy tales ... Interesting pattern indeed !! Cheers, Erik
Witches!!! That makes it even better.
dann mögen Sie doch eine Kleinigkeit beitragen, und sich mit dem Herrn Wolf-Dieter Wittig, // Meister-Schmied in der Krellschen Schmiede, Wernigerode in Verbindung setzen. Er hat mir vor ein paar Jahre, eine kurz gefasste Schilderung gemailt wie die Harzer Axtform entstanden ist.... lieben Gruss aus dem sonnigen Basel, Schweiz 🇨🇭
Now you just added another head style to my watch list......not a bad thing!
W stands for water quench instead of oil or air quench steels. W1 is the best of the 3.
You are the man
This is the way.
Nice hoodie bro.
Age Of Winters. 🤘
4:22 "advantages angle"is not necessarily in the 'chop' but rather in the pull action -, back towards oneself, [like an old steam locomotive drive shaft], - slice movement.
Now that's interesting.
You are an ax lover. 👏
Very nice... Du Haust!
The similarities between these and the Cedar Pattern are hard to overlook.
Truly!
it weighs 2.8 lbs, that one gets a nickname.
Amazing work you've done with that TGL. With that patina and the way you profiled the blade and the edge it looks and performs just perfect. Not to mention the handle... BTW, doesn't the wire cup scratch the steel?
its not a TGL. TGL was the east german industrial norm like DIN is the west german norm. its more or less like ANSI norm
Reminds me of the cedar pattern we used to have here.
Yes very similar!
The Hewing Report:
I brought along and used many a harzer pattern axes on my bergwaldprojekt.ch assignment, mostly on bigger fallen / felled spruce, where one can 'lean on' having the tree truck between onesself and the branch or bark
[bark beetle prevention of:] that one intends to remove, one handed ( axe handles mostly in the 23 - 25 inch range )
I almost always gave the axe to someone on assignment, that I thought for myself would get the most use out of a unique axe as the harzer is in the appropriate setting.
One person had commented, if I recall correctly [was it on SkillCults vlog?] that the harzer's resemblance o a broadaxe is ap-parent... ex-act-ly what the celts had in mind when they came up with this design... a multi-purpose tool
We need more information about this Celtic-Harzer Axis!
Speaking of "eye wood" I just popped a pupil
the mirror finish looks beautiful how long does it take and what grit sandpaper do you use really sexy looking finish
The larger axe is only ground to 800 grit but polished really well. "Mirror Finish" is always a little relative.
@@BushcraftSisyphus thank you it looks beautiful
I kinda wonder how much of axe pattern development was very intentional (your Puget Sound example), and how much is a little more accidental.
Ex: Some blacksmith in Germany decides to build an axe with that sloping top...because, he just feels like it. Sells it to a buddy. Buddy loves and brags on it. No patent laws means every blacksmith in town rips off the design. A new pattern is born.
At any rate...I think this is one of your best videos ever. Both in terms of interesting content, and just the right amount of artistic/nerdy drop in stuff.
Yes somewhere in there pure marketing was always a possible motive in pattern development. This is especially true I think with American patterns in the 20th century.
Look at the Zapin from Tyrol or any Alpine Land in Austria really, or Pickaroon as you Guys call it. The vast Majority have a sloped House.
The German Pattern has a "normal" House.
Just search Müller Tiroler Sappl.
Hey lane I sent you a couple of emails I have gone response. the other thing is can you make a video? on how to keep the Polish on the edge I've been using my lamaca #56 a lot. but I want to keep that mirror shine.
just release the next pattern already. and put me down for number 4.
I wonder if there's a Bensonhurst pattern...
Ahaha I got so caught off guard by Da Da Da... I also pissed my wife off because I love singing that song and she hates it so thanks 😂😇
Hahahahaha yes this is a problem
The StuG III Assault axe in the middle of the 3, is exactly what I was always looking for but never come even close ot own one... All axes I buy, come with super fat edge gemetries and the steels is so hard, that without a grinder, I can't thin them down with files. I've literally gone through 2 Nicholson files and any sandpapers I had around and my axe still doesn't chop, neither splits. If anyone in Europe, knows who doesn't make bent handles and geometries that will never chop anything, any suggestions would be really appriciated.
Leonard Müller from Austria. They have the most Patterns available today of all the still active Manufacturers.
@@1südtiroltechnik That's true!! Since then I got the Muller Biber Canada and I'm more than happy!! I still had to thin out the handle a lot, to bring it to proper standards, however the head and it's edge was literally perfect!!! The handle is straight and perfectly aligned with the edge of the axe, same goes for the wood grain!, which is perfectly parallel with the axehead! The Biber Canada 1000,is easily the best axe I ever had, Thanks for the response Luca, I appreciate it a lot! I'll probably get another one soon!!
Would you challenge "ironmongery" in scrabble?
I certainly would not!
oo-ba-haa-ts will get you pretty close to the pronunciation
For....sharp...dressed...men.
Hersteller ist Bison. TGL ist eine Produktionsnorm aus der ehemaligen DDR. Dieses Unternehmen gibt es immernoch.💪😎
Die machten damals schon Äxte mit viel zu dicken Blättern und heute genau das gleiche...
An ironmonger is somebody who sells ironwares, much like a fishmonger sells fish. Did you mean to say ironwrightery? XD
P.S. - Way to choose a song about Tyrol when reviewing an axe from the Harz region which, by the way, is not in the "Province of Saxony" - it is situated between the *federal states* of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.
I stand corrected, sir 🎩👌🍻
@@BushcraftSisyphus It takes a man of strong moral fibre to admit to his mistakes, sir.
Che musica del cazzo .. il lavoro invece e fatto bene complimenti .
Bella
The nonsense music at the beginning has nothing to do with Germany and especially nothing with the Harz region 🤮😆
Americans are amazingly ignorant!