Figure b is another version of cheap butcher knife, a common trade item.

Figure c represents a scalping knife blade.

Figure d is drawing of a British-made trade blade.

Figure a is an example of a tool made expressly for skinning.

Figure b appears to have been fashioned from the blade of a circular saw.

Figure c represents the roughly shaped, dull-edged, iron fleshing tool in common use among the trappers and traders of the far west.

A TRAPPER’S AXE

If any class of people need perfect tools, it is the class who must depend on them for their existence. The woodsman should have a perfect gun, perfect traps, perfect camp equipment, the best food he can buy, but above all he must possess a perfect axe.

It should be of the finest material and of the best temper, tough but not hard. When put to a great strain, steel will do one of two things: it will bend or it will break. If the axe-head is of good quality, with the proper proportion of carbon, it will stand an unusually severe test before it will do either. But when it does give, it should bend rather than break.

If the axe is tempered a little too hard, the edge will break when cutting into hard knots or frozen wood, and once the edge becomes dulled it is difficult to sharpen, for the trapper has no grindstone and must depend on file and whetstone to keep his cutting tools in condition. A hard axe cannot be filed.

The best axe heads are made of wrought iron, with welded steel bits. This gives maximum strength. The butt of the axe might also be of steel—and for the trapper—a claw for drawing trap staples. If the eye of the axe is not tempered, the entire head may be made of steel and will be almost, if not fully as strong.

The axe handle should be of sound, strong, straight-grained, springy wood; a broken axe handle can be as disastrous as a broken blade. The best wood for axe handles is good, second-growth hickory, but young white oak, the sapwood, is almost as good. Hard maple is also used extensively for axe handles, but it does not compare with hickory.

A proper trapper’s axe should weigh only about two pounds—handle not included in the weight. This is heavy enough for practical purposes, while light to carry on the trail.

However, to make a light axe effective, it must have a long handle. The axe-handle should be from thirty to thirty-four inches overall. With this tool you will be surprised to see what heavy work can be done.

One way to get a handle of the proper length is to remove the handle from a large axe and work it over into the proper shape and thickness.

Did you ever wonder why an axe handle is curved in an S shape?

The S shape of an axe-handle is made to fit the user’s hands without strain on the arms or wrists. The curved shape permits a more solid hold when striking a blow than can be managed with a straight handle. The handle should be quite thick and “hand-fitting” near the end where it is grasped by the left hand (or right, according to whether the user is right or left handed), but the other part should be shaped so the hand can slide easily back and forth while chopping.

All this contributes to an efficient tool of light weight and of maximum chopping power; one that will sink easily into the tree, will burst the chip well, and will not bind in the wood.

THIS WOODMAN’S PERFECT AX.

How to Fell a Tree with an Axe

There’s considerable danger in the careless use of an axe.

In the woods it will really pay to be sure that there is not even the smallest twig in the way before you make a stroke with an axe. Trim all brush away from around a tree before you commence to cut it and follow the same precautions when you cut it into lengths or when lopping off the branches.

When cutting the fallen tree into lengths, the common and most convenient way is to stand on the log and chop it halfway through, between the feet, then turn it and cut the other side in the same way. Use double precaution when doing this. The smallest branch or sprout can turn the axe toward the foot of the chopper.

When chopping it down, the tree can nearly always be thrown in either of three ways—the way the tree inclines or to either side—but never in the opposite direction from its inclination.

Besides the inclination of the tree, the influence of the wind and the weight of the branches must also be considered. A good axe-man can throw the tree to any spot designated within the falling zone almost every time.

The wind is a great factor and must be considered, especially when it is strong or when the tree appears to stand perfectly straight. A tree on a slope that appears to be perpendicular will, in nearly every case, fall downhill if left free to fall, providing there is no contrary wind. If the tree really stands perfectly upright and there is no wind, it will usually fall toward the side that has the most branches—to the side having the greatest weight, if allowance be made for both wind and gravity. If he can estimate accurately the power of each of these forces, he can drop his tree exactly where he wants.

CUTTING THE FIRST NOTCH.

It’s really very simple. In cutting a tree a first notch is cut on the side toward which the tree is to fall. Remember that this notch should be cut all the way into the center of the tree and, when finished, should be exactly at a right angle to the line on which the tree is to fall. A second notch is then cut on the opposite side, just a little higher on the tree, and when this notch is cut in almost to the center the tree will fall.

If the tree is notched to fall the way it inclines and there is nothing to prevent it going that way, the second notch should be cut exactly parallel to the first.

If the tree leans a little to one side—if there are more branches on that side or if the wind blows in that direction, the second cut should not be parallel with the first, but should be farther from it on the side from which the wind comes, so that there will be more wood to break on that side.

In no case should the notches entirely meet on the other side, because if they do—should the tree be cut entirely on one side—it will settle farther over to that side. Just how near you dare cut it off on the one side and how much you must hold on the opposite side can be learned only from experience.

There are other things that influence the throw. For instance, if there is nothing to interfere, the tree in falling will draw slightly toward the high side of the notch first cut. Also if the notch is not perfectly cut—if it is more acute on one side than on the other—as the tree falls, the top and bottom of the notch will meet on one side before they do on the other, and this is certain to swing the tree slightly toward the wide or obtuse side of the notch.

A heavy weight of branches, too, on one side may cause the tree to roll slightly in falling.

For safety, it is always best to get back some distance from the tree when it starts to fall, because if it falls over a rock, a log, or a little rise in the ground, the butt of the tree will kick and may take your head off.

If there are other trees in the way, look out for falling branches.

TOMAHAWKS AND HATCHETS

The following are examples of various types and styles of hatchets and tomahawks familiar to the trappers and traders of the beaver country.