The Ax Book: The Lore and Science of the Woodcutter

by Dudley Cook

Overview

The ax is an indispensable tool for every woodsman. The Ax Book is a thorough guide to cutting wood with hand tools. Even those who use chainsaws and other power equipment need to be familiar with the hand tools of their craft. An ideal resource for anyone who wants to fell trees and take lumber or firewood from the wood lot or forest.

The author explains how to use various types of axes, hatchets, mauls, saws, and wedges, and their use and care to take down trees, section and split and prepare firewood. In addition he shows every aspect of dealing with wood from the forest right to the hearth or stove.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780811739054
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/01/2020
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	264
Sales rank:	978,704
Product dimensions:	6.97(w) x 8.69(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Dudley Cook bought his first ax at age 14 from a Sears Roebuck catalog. He was educated at Boston University School of Business. During World War II he joined the Marine Corps and fought with distinction in the Pacific Theater on both Guam and Okinawa. He lived in Waterboro, Maine.

Table of Contents

1999 Foreword Castle Freeman vii

2019 Foreword Charles Fergus ix

Introduction xi

1 The Tool of Necessity 1

2 Ax or Chain Saw? 7

3 First Blood 12

4 The Hurricane of '38 16

5 The "Right" Ax 22

6 The Efficient Ax 27

7 The Double-Bitted Ax 35

3 Swinging an Ax 40

9 Felling Trees-Preliminaries 48

10 Felling-Hinge and Kickback Stop 52

11 Felling-Other Means of Control 60

12 Felling Hazards 69

13 Tree Felling in the Marines 76

14 Limbing and Bucking 79

15 Splitting 87

16 The Right Wood 100

17 Effects of Temperature and Weather 106

18 Handling Your Wood 111

19 Big Ones into Little Ones 121

20 Storing Your Wood 130

21 Burning Your Wood 138

22 Sharpening Axes 146

23 Handles 155

24 Hanging an Ax 168

25 Other Woods Tools 174

26 Saws 181

27 Sharpening Saws 187

28 Operating with a Saw 204

29 The Exercise Element 211

30 Your Woodlot 215

31 The Future 226

Glossary 232

Bibliography 245

Index 246

What People are Saying About This

Castle Freeman

The Ax Book tells you how to use an ax safely and efficiently for every task it can perform, especially in connection with cutting firewood: felling trees, trimming them, sectioning them, splitting them. The author isn't afraid to compare the ax with the chainsaw in this work, and he explains the use of the latter tool as well. What is possible to learn about using an ax from a book, his book will teach.
—From the Foreword by Castle Freeman

Back Home

Author Dudley Cook, who, from what it says on the indicia page, was born in 1921, has clearly had a rich experience growing up in rural Maine. He weaves a lot of history-personal and otherwise-into his descriptions and explanations of the various tools he discusses within the pages. But The Ax Book is not just about what we thought was a familiar tool. It is a guide to axmanship, tree-felling, splitting, and storing wood. It covers species, heating value, and handling what you've harvested. And there are intricate chapters on sharpening, hanging (fitting handles), and on handles themselves. Beyond that, Cook goes into saws and their care, gets into woodlot management, and discusses the benefits of using an ax over a chain saw. The book includes a series of fine pen-and-ink illustrations and a working index, and offers a glossary that in itself is a good read. Though spring may not be the best time to harvest your wood; it's a good time to be preparing for it, and if anything, The Ax Book will help you do that.

Editorial Reviews

A remarkable piece of work…the illustrations are similar to Eric Sloane’s, and like Sloane’s they present pictures in clearest detail to back up the author’s story.

Dirk van Loon

Cook takes the reader over every step in the wood-harvesting process—tree felling, limbing, bucking, wood handling, splitting, cutting to size, storing, and burning. Cook packs his book with vivid, entertaining anecdotes from a lifetime of experience.

Bud Leavitt

Praise of Cook’s treatment of saws cannot be complete without mention of the superb line drawings of S. Lawrence Whipple. The illustrations are large, clear, and with enough graphic perspective to enable the reader to appreciate what is involved when he drops off the saw ‘to be sharpened.’ Altogether, there are more than fifty of these beautifully drawn, incisive visual aids.

Roy C. Gunter Jr.

Every page of this book is endowed with the confident, unfakable authority of real experience.

Castle Freeman

Praise of Cook's treatment of saws cannot be complete without mention of the superb line drawings of S. Lawrence Whipple. The illustrations are large, clear, and with enough graphic perspective to enable the reader to appreciate what is involved when he drops off the saw 'to be sharpened.' Altogether, there are more than fifty of these beautifully drawn, incisive visual aids.
— Southbridge (Mass.) News

Roy C. Gunter, Jr