The carpenter's axe is more finishing tool than chopping tool, forged with a thinner blade and longer bevel so the craftsman wielding it can pare shavings from the face of the workpiece or chop the waste from open mortises. For vertical cuts across the grain, you'll probably prefer a mallet and chisel or a crosscut saw. If the grain is straight and clear, this axe does clean work when chopping out waste wood. The hardened poll of the axe is ground flat for hammering but works better for tapping framing joints together than for driving nails.

For controlled work up close, when roughing out a billet of wood for a new handle or a small squared post, the axe was designed to allow a grip almost above the center of the cutting edge. Holding the axe just below the head lets you pare fine shavings instead of swinging and chopping. Keeping the edge of the axe straight when sharpening preserves the tool's ability to create flat surfaces. You'll need good whetstones to maintain the narrow bevel and keep the cutting edge in working shape.

This hand-forged axe from Gransfors Bruks Axe Forge of Sweden lacks paint or unnecessary polishing but shows the marks of hand craftsmanship without any need to cover up flaws. You'll find the initials of a Gransfors Bruks smith set in the axe head. Through the company website, you'll even be able to match the mark to the man who made the axe.

For a hand-forged axe designed to meet the needs of the hunter and outdoorsman, see the Gransfors Bruks Outdoor Axe.

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Estwing Knives Carpenters Hatchet For Cutting Soft Wood 11 1 2 Axe New E31H US $41.56   Auction Ends: 16d 20h 5m

Fiskars 121440 X10 Carpenters Axe US $92.11   Auction Ends: 18d 3h 37m

The Fein MultiMaster drives an assortment of useful blades with a high-speed oscillation that cuts, sands, rasps, and scrapes efficiently. This machine doesn't just do impossible cuts like trimming door frames flush with the floor while still in place -- with a different blade or just a different technique, the MultiMaster cuts mortises and crosscuts you'd otherwise need a circular saw, table saw, dado blade, or mallet and chisel for. Not only that, it does the job neatly and accurately so you don't skimp on quality. The usual restrictions apply, and you can't expect zero blade deflection in knotty pine, but the quirks are the ordinary problems you'd expect in any woodworking system. With the tri-corner sanding head and pre-cut sanding pads, you'll be able to access even tricky corners and grooves, the places you'd otherwise have to finish by hand.

Other blades convert the Fein 250Q MultiMaster for removing grout, chiseling old adhesive layers, and cutting carpet and composite flooring. The carbide blade even cuts some types of concrete. If you work on pipe or restore autos, the MultiMaster cuts tubing, fiberglass, carbon fiber, and up to 20 gauge sheet metal. Attachments switch out quickly with simple tools that come with the Fein MultiMaster Detail Sander Kit. Combine the MultiMaster with a Shop-Vac, and you'll be able to do all this in nearly dust-free conditions.

For another type of innovative reciprocating tool, see the Arbortech Power Chisel.

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Fein MultiMaster FMM 250Q Cut Out Tool with Case US $169.99   1 Bid Auction Ends: 22m

Fein MultiMaster FMM 250Q Sanding Scraping Cutting Tool US $129.00   1 Bid Auction Ends: 1d 4h 54m

The Arbortech Power Chisel operates at 12,000 strokes per minute, using 700 Watts of power. Shock-absorbing engineering protects hands from vibration damage. You'll be able to use the Power Chisel in nearly any application where a normal paring chisel would be essential, without the fatigue and with less effort. Only a medium pressure is required to push the chisel through the work.

The Power Chisel works either with the flat of the blade against the work for accurate paring cuts such as in open mortises, or with the chisel bevel on the work piece for better freehand control on convex or flat surfaces. Levering with the blade or forcing the blade steeply into the work might damage the tool. Sharpen the cutting edge regularly to prevent burning the edge and tearing the work piece with dull blades. To use this tool correctly, you'll need many of the same techniques as with hand tools, including the same old sharpening system -- a good carver's slip and whetstone. Unless you can swing a mallet 12,000 times a minute, you can't keep up with this machine by using traditional tools. Moderate pressure removes stock quickly, and light pressure shaves surfaces with fine control.

For fast stock removal from concave surfaces, use the Arbortech Carving Kit, an attachment which converts an angle grinder into an accurate tool for controlled hollowing of even highly figured woods.

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Until now the only carving options other than hand tools were chainsaws and grinding machines, and even though it's amazing to see an artist work with either one, neither were engineered for the work of shaping wood freehand. The Arbortech Carving Kit uses either a steel or tungsten carbide cutting wheel to cut -- not abrade -- concave surfaces. Chip limiters built into the blades control the depth of cut and reduce the risk of kickback. The safety shield of the attachment allows a clear view of the work piece while protecting the operator from thrown chips. High speed means fast and efficient work, and the smaller cutting wheel diameter assures safe control. Use the Arbortech Carver to cut trenches, trim ends, and plane surfaces. A sharp carver blade even works smoothly in highly figured woods like burls. Maybe you have an odd burl or two laying around the shop but don't have the year it would take to shape it with ordinary tools -- find a way to hold it down securely and try out the Arbortech. You'll save many hours of labor and find new creative possibilities.

The Arbortech Mini Grinder Carving Kit fits Hitachi G12SA, Makita 9524NB, 9521NB, 9520NB, 9523NB and Ryobi SG100, Makita 9504B and 9526PB angle grinders. See the Arbortech Power Chisel for the perfect companion tool to the Arbortech Carver.

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The rounded wooden handles offer plenty of grip for better control of the Arno's hot-forged, six-inch high carbon steel blade. Tangs and handles increase the overall length of the tool to 13 inches -- small for a drawknife but a size that handles easily. Longer drawknives could be used for debarking logs and other rough work on large diameter stock, but this size makes better sense for carvers and cabinetmakers who work on a smaller scale.

Offset tangs put the handles slightly below the flat face of the knife and help prevent the blade from digging in too deeply when used in that position. Working with the flat against the workpiece produces long straight cuts and takes off a lot of wood quickly. Working with bevel down results in a shorter chipping stroke.

Drawknives can be very handy tools in the workshop but require special jigs or clamps to hold the work securely. The two-handed power behind them can pull the workpiece out of an ordinary vise -- craftsmen who decide to use the traditional drawknife vise or shaving horse will probably have to build one themselves.

The Flexcut Curved Drawknife offers a different approach with a more flexible blade designed for light cutting.

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Arno Bernard Custom Gecko Knife Hunting Knife Handmade G 10 handles AB071 US $93.95   Auction Ends: 26d 23h 55m

1508 1 Arno Bernard custom knife US $121.98   16 Bids Auction Ends: 1d 19h 14m

Made from high carbon steel, not stainless steel, the ten-inch blade of this large drawknife is about 1-1/2 inches wide and thick enough to resist flexing as you work. The two rat-tail tangs are deeply set in the molded plastic handles and should be secured nearly permanently. Although molded plastic is inexpensive and durable, it's rough on the hands. Here, the shape of the traditional handles has been copied well, but the feel just isn't the same.

The drawknife is a tool from the cooper's trade, although wheelwrights, farmers, and woodsmen all used this handy blade -- in combination with a foot-powered vise called a shaving horse. It's possible to debark small logs with this knife if the diameter gives room for your hands to clear the wood and there's a secure way to hold the log down. Safety is always an issue because the cutting edge pulls towards the user and the workpiece tends to slip along with it. Getting cut is unlikely, but bruises and scrapes are common.

Most workshops and woodlots today don't include the shaving horse and drawknife as standard equipment. If you care to make the horse, you'll discover the true worth of the drawknife whenever you need to replace an axe handle or trim a sledge hammer handle to fit the eye of the tool. In skilled hands, the drawknife is fast and accurate, and sometimes nothing else will do the job as well.

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Vintage Draw Knife by Lakeside 1940s US $20.50   8 Bids Auction Ends: 1h 18m

Vintage True Value 8 Straight Draw Knife Woodworking Tool US $23.01   7 Bids Auction Ends: 3h 7m

This nine-inch drawknife is handy for debarking small logs, but with the shorter blade comes less hand clearance and more skin left on the work. For smaller applications such as shaving down a tool handle, a shorter cutting edge can be easier to handle than a timber-sized drawknife. The knife works well either with bevel up or bevel down, but the two positions have very different cutting actions. Bevel up, the knife cuts deeply and shears a straight layer of wood or bark if you have steady hands. Bevel down, the drawknife can make shorter chipping cuts, levering out of the cut on the bevel's back edge.

The wood handles are permanently fixed to the steel tangs and if not abused should last for the lifetime of the knife. A drawknife's thick blade holds up to heavy work, but may be very difficult for beginners to maintain. If you're lucky, you may get a knife with a perfectly ground edge, but often considerable work is needed to put a drawknife into razor-sharp condition.

This old tool requires special skills, a good sharpening system, and a reliable hold-down device such as the shaving horse if you intend to get much work from it. Drawknives such as the Two Cherries model are mainstay tools of the nearly extinct cooper's trade -- you'll probably need to build accessory devices yourself, since many are no longer in production.

For a lighter style of drawknife with less cutting edge to control and maintain, see the Woodcarving Drawknife by Flexcut.

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Vintage Draw Knife by Lakeside 1940s US $20.50   8 Bids Auction Ends: 1h 18m

Vintage True Value 8 Straight Draw Knife Woodworking Tool US $23.01   7 Bids Auction Ends: 3h 7m

Crown Hand Tools, Ltd., of Sheffield, England, makes this knife -- it's a simple and extremely useful woodworker's knife that is still a favorite among craftsmen who set their standards high. If the mark of a carpenter's pencil is close enough for you, you'll have no need of this tool. If you're the sort who likes to split that pencil line in half with the saw, this knife will open the door to much tighter standards.

Although it's a simple tool -- a full tang bar of steel with a straight edge ground at about 45 degrees -- there's nothing carelessly made about this rosewood-handled marking knife. The blade is a single beveled edge with a very fine point. Keep that point sharp and you can run the flat of the blade along a try square and mark a line perfectly straight and so thin you can only see the shadow in the cut if the light's just right. A hundredth of a inch is pretty coarse compared to it.

With a heavier hand, you can cut a guiding line deep enough to start a wood chisel with perfect accuracy. If you use Japanese tenon saws, this sharply cut starting line guides one row of the saw's teeth so there's no skipping and marring of the wood on the "keeping" side. Anyone who works with inlays will use this knife to cleanly cut the veneer, fitting the pieces in place with no visible gaps.

If you haven't used one before, just try it out. Suddenly your work gets a lot better.

If you're interested in a modernized traditional hand tool that pairs up very well with the marking knife, see the Dovetail Saw from Shark.

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WWII Camillus Mark 2 Knife US $75.00   Auction Ends: 1h 33m

GARRETT WADE Ebony Handled Marking Knife US $39.00   Auction Ends: 3h 11m

Created by Japanese engineers familiar with the traditional waterstone sharpening system preferred by that country's craftsmen, the Makita 9820-2 brings those same concepts to a much more precise machine. At the heart of the 24-pound bench-top grinder is a typical and replaceable aluminum oxide grinding wheel only 7-7/8 inches in diameter. Similar types of grinding wheels fit standard American bench grinders. The Makita works with the side of the wheel instead of the rim. That provides a wide surface which cuts with a flat grind instead of a hollow and produces a stronger blade edge.

A water tank on top of the grinder supplies a steady adjustable stream of coolant while the machine does its work. The water prevents cutting edges from overheating and constantly flushes the stone surface clear of debris. Turning at 560 rpm, the Makita Horizontal Wheel Wet Blade Sharpener can restore the edge of a planer blade 15-3/4 inches long. Working on planer blades requires a special attachment for planers only; another attachment will be needed for the same precision reworking of knives and scissors.

The Makita's powerful 1.1-amp motor keeps the action smooth and steady even on the longer blades. Blade angles can be set for either the Asian or European standard, but adjustment isn't quick. All adjustments are screw-driven, not pre-set, and controls on the guides interact. If you have the patience for perfect work, you'll love the Makita Horizontal Sharpener.

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Oregon Power Sharp Chain Sharpener 14 for Makita Includes Bar and Chain US $79.95   Auction Ends: 26d 13h 9m

Makita Blade Sharpener 9820 2 NEW US $366.98   Auction Ends: 2d 12h 39m

Although 5 inches of blade seems small compared to older designs roughly twice that size, the actual amount of edge that's used in a cut isn't usually more than half an inch. Cutting too deep and using too much edge simply buries the blade in the wood. For shaping tool handles (or wheel spokes), a sliding cut shears the work cleanly and puts the entire blade to good use..

The flexibility of the Flexcut drawknife allows shaping of shallow hollows like chair seats as well as outside curves (as in chair legs). Flexcut recommends it for roughing out duck decoys as well. The turned wooden handles press-fitted onto rat-tail tangs are reinforced with metal ferrules and should hold up well, but may feel awkward if you have larger than average hands.

Think before you decide to base your workshop on the drawknife, because it's a useful but very specialized tool. This isn't a freehand tool and does require a solid holding system. Clamping the workpiece in a vise can be awkward and unreliable -- heavy draw cuts could pull the stock loose, creating plenty of opportunity for painful injury from both blade and workpiece. The most reliable clamping system -- the shaving horse -- isn't manufactured today except by a few renegade craftsmen. You'll likely need to build your own. The shaving horse uses foot pressure from a seated position to clamp long pieces of wood in place for shaving down and quick shifting. This traditional tool works very well, but get ready for blisters in unusual places.

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Carriage Makers Curved Drawknife 10369 US $37.35   Auction Ends: 26d 3h 38m

Antique EASYCUT or Easy Cut DRAWKNIFE Curved Blade Made in USA Nice US $39.00   Auction Ends: 7d 3h 32m