Axe

Lakeside

Over the years my Poppa has gifted my younger brother and I a whole mess of tools.

Most of them from his Uncle or Grandpa (I believe.)

When I cleaned out one of my toolboxes last year I found an old Lakeside.

Took a lot of elbow grease and patience, but I got the thing de-rusted and cleaned.

Hung it on a hickory handle from the local hardware store.

Used a four-in-hand and a big glass of ice water.

Then I adapted a pigskin sheathe from an old saw-cover,

which I also got from my Poppa, years ago.

That took quite a bit of work, the leather is very tough and I don't have a punch.

Pliers and thick needles did the trick. 

On the Evergreen Beach

On The Beach...

Took a walk to the beach with friends.

Ate cold pizza and artichoke pasta salad from a local shop...the gulls were jealous. 

First whole day of sun, without work, since summer.

Felt good to lay in the sun on my wool blanket,

and spend time working on my bowdrill set.

 

The set is Western Red Cedar on itself, 

with a pine socket I found on the beach 

and whittled into shape.

I tried many different techniques on this outing.

Side notch, different depth, angle and position of the socket.

Took a few attempts before I got close to a coal...

 The camera died before we got a coal, this was the last attempt.  

So close!  The angle was all wrong, and the spindle flew right out.

Making Fire

...WITH A BOW DRILL SET

We took a walk on a trail we love.

Things were damp, but not too rainy to sit on the ground.

Took a few tries without the bow before my arms got too tired.

Bow made things much easier.

Happy flames...