Modern axes are specialised by use, size and form. Most modern axes have steel heads and wooden handles, typically hickory in the US and ash in Europe and Asia, although plastic or fibreglass handles are also common. A tool of similar origin is the billhook. Less common today, they were once an integral part of a joiner and carpenter's tool kit, not just a tool for use in forestry. symmetrical about the axis of the blade), but some specialist broadaxes have a single bevel blade, and usually an offset handle that allows them to be used for finishing work without putting the user's knuckles at risk of injury. Generally, cutting axes have a shallow wedge angle, whereas splitting axes have a deeper angle. For fine chopping using a side axe this sometimes is a positive effect, but for felling with a double bitted axe it reduces efficiency. The handle of the axe also acts as a lever allowing the user to increase the force at the cutting edge-not using the full length of the handle is known as choking the axe. It splits the wood into two parts by the pressure concentration at the blade. This reduces the effort needed by the wood chopper. The axe is an example of a simple machine, as it is a type of wedge, or dual inclined plane. Axes made of copper, bronze, iron and steel appeared as these technologies developed. The earliest examples of handled axes have heads of stone with some form of wooden handle attached ( hafted) in a method to suit the available materials and use. Hafted axes (those with a handle) date only from 6000 BC. The axe has many forms and specialised uses but generally consists of an axe head with a handle, also called a haft or a helve.īefore the modern axe, the stone-age hand axe without a handle was used from 1.5 million years BP. This was the prime tool of the period, and also seems to have been used as a store of value.Īn axe ( / æ k s/ sometimes ax in American English see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. A collection of bronze socketed axe blades from the Bronze Age found in Germany.
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