A maul as shown here was mostly used to drive wooden wedges or to adjust wooden pieces for assembly. It would have a short life if you drove a lot of metal tools with it. Mauls were sometimes large wooden headed hammers with a band of iron around the face of the hammer to prevent the wooden head from splintering. These were used with wedges to split fence rails or rough boards from logs. Some pioneers on the frontier had little else but a rifle, knife, an axe and a iron band to make a maul with. They built cabins with nothing else.
Nice video about makeing a maul with mostly using an axe. I've made a similar maul using only my small camping axe. That was for me a project making a wooden tool with only one metal tool I am carrying with me. The maul I made was from seasoned oak. The wood was very hard and dense, but the small axe has served me very well. The maul I made is now heavy in use in my workshop. Greetings from Germany Uwe
David ,, it is good to see folks trying to keep the old values and ways alive with the tools you have , you could build a house and people don't think about things like that to much any more , one more small item and you have a complete set and that is a spoon drill or auger for drilling poles and setting pins , thanks for keeping it going i am going to be either going back to work driving semi or moving to TN and Building an old style log cabin shop and get my knife work back up , many blessing and i hope folks pay attention to good folks like you , Blessings ,
Great vid thanks. Its good to rewatch your videos as a refresher before going on wilderness trips. I've met other people out on the trails who watch your videos too. I'm trying to bridge the gap between long distance hiking which needs to be as light as possible and bushcraft. There may be a niche there... Light multitools. I would love to see a wood carving multitool.
I had the opportunity to help restore some old log cabins in a heritage park, working with some great timber framers. Most of the work was with axes, and I noticed everyone swinging to make notches. I made one of these mallets with an axe and draw knife and started batoning my axe to make precise and clean notches. After a few hours my mallet disappeared and I found a couple of the timber framers had stolen it to use it as I was! I had to make another one..
Truly brilliant and inspiring! One craft links to another! would also love to learn more about pharmacological and edable uses of plants in future videos if possible. In Europe/Sweden/Germany we have a scientific speciality called phytotherapy or pharmacognosi dealing with usabillity of wild plants scientifically in relationship to active chemical substances and so on. Knowledge of your surroundings allways makes life easier! God bless you Dave for humbly sharing your knowledge and edifying us who are not that skilled in bushcraft!
Dave I would just like to say thanks for all of your videos I've been watching you for years and I'm always exited to learn. So educational,keep them coming Brother
Really appreciate you taking the time to cover a wide range of skill sets Dave. The basic application and straight talk encourages a lot of people to aspire to have a go, including myself.
Dave I have been using hand tools all my life. It has become so easy to just go to the big box store and buy what you want. I have been making my tools for a long time because it is the only way to get them the way I want them. Nice to see you teaching these techniques. All the machine tools will not help you if electricity quits flowing, plus it is fun doing it this way.
Great series Dave, learning a lot. wood craft is a skill I enjoy. really got into the blacksmithing also. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. keep up the awesome work.
I'm so pumped up about this video series. I'm a dry sponge, dip me in some knowledge Dave. I just hope you can touch on some things I've found hard to find info on. Such as the best way to dry your green wood working projects without cracking or checking. Either way I'm on board.
+Adam Slater Me too! I have made green hickory mauls and splitting wedges but would like to know more about how to accommodate the tendency of green wood to check and split. If it doesn't affect function I don't care, but I worry about it. Thanks for this great series Dave!
Hi Dave just a thought but one tool I would add to your kit that you can find very cheap is a farriers rasp. the rasp side for mass material removal and the fine for smoothing and fine working just a thought. I realy like that you are doing more woodworking I am a wood worker and amateur bowyer and respect wood and love it keep these videos coming brother
had a great time making this all I had was maple I don't believe that you covered on whether it was hard or soft wood but I do think it's hard thanks for the inspiration keep it coming cannot wait for the rest of the series
I jumped the gun a bit, saw the spoon you made in the other video and made one, got it right on the 2nd attempt when I used my hatchet to do 90% of the shaping. These videos you do are just awesome!
For things like this I tend to like my short heavy machete more. I find that I can strike the same area more consistently and with greater control than an axe. This is helpful for when I am trying to cut a slab off and am fighting the grain from running out of the side of the piece. It also makes a better shaving maker, and an ok improvised draw knife. In fact I could likely replace all the tools shown here for this project with the machete... No wonder they are so popular around the world. That said I do live my axes though!
I bought myself some a couple of old axe heads online a while back. One is like your axe (the kent pattern I believe) but is smaller as in the blade length is only probably 2/3 of the size. The other axe is kind of a slight bearded axe of a similar era and has a wider blade. I bought them as a pair of axe heads and the kent pattern type one is ideal for woodworking with its narrow blade, which is why I wanted it. The other axe head will be great for general splitting logs sections and camping etc. Iv'e yet to put new handles on them but I have used the kent pattern one over the park with a makeshift redwood handle loosely fitted to strip bark off of sections of fallen oak branches. The kent pattern axe head is more valuable to me because of the flattish blade which makes it so good for woodworking.
Nice informative video for use beginners. Mallet vs baton, size and shape, general use vs purpose built, which to make for what purpose and/or what tool to use it on? Down and dirty temporary use for camp vs something for the shop. Green wood, dry wood, using what you can find, pros and cons. Thoughts for future bushcrafting/off grid/pioneer projects video(s) to you to consider. Case in point, I clean up a lot with firewood(ish) size maple and limbs that have been laying around, I need to make a baton or mallet. How best can I go about it and what can I expect as I'm doing it? Or I bought a Fro and I need a Frog. Or I'm camping and want to try making a spatula or spoon with my knife and/or axe.
The best maul I ever made was fashioned from the root ball of a Hickory sapling. All I had to do was dig it up, and remove the outer bark. Nothing wasted.
I made a maul similar to this today out of black locust , i didn't use a draw knife though . i just used a baton and my husqvarna hatchet. Took me a good hour or so to get it to the shape i wanted but it turned out flawless
Such an awesome and informative video Dave. I was curious to see how a carpenter's axe was used since I became interested in quality axes. Thanks again.
What I really love about this is the chain of events. You can make that maul, and some wooden Tools, and eventually you will use those wooden Tools to make a lathe, after which you can remake the Tools on that latcha or on a work bench or both and you will have more efficient and perrrrrty Tools with better precission!
Hey Dave or anybody out there that might have a reference to this. You mention that Blue Beech is one of the harder more dense woods out there, what would be some of the other woods that would be acceptable. Is there some reference that mentions the density or hardness of other woods yall have seen. Thanks in advance.
You mentioned spoke shaved. Where do you get them? I have looked all over the town I'm in and can't find any except where they teach woodworking. They're really proud of theirs! Lol. I can't afford that much. Don't want a piece of junk just because it's cheap, but something that is dependable even if I have to pay a little more. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for all your videos and teaching.
I know this is about learning how to use the hatchet but I think the draw knife would have been the tool for that job from start to finish. Watching these videos sure makes me miss Appalachia.
Absolutely! This type of woodworking is a matter of working coarse to fine. The axe is for rough shaping, draw knife for refining the shape, and if one was so inclined a spoke shave for finalizing the the finished shape. As for not having a shaving horse, there's many ways around that... clamps, vise, piece of rope tied to it, etc. I get the premise behind the video but using a axe for that much is just a lot of unnecessary work.
Hey Dave, I enjoyed the video,and it made me look through some of my tools to see if there was one I could use as sort of a jack of all trades master at none. What do you think of a larger kukri for green woodworking? I know it will not have near the heft as a felling axe, but I would still like your opinion.
great video as always Mr. Dave, question for you, if you sent back in time and had two tools to choose from to start with, and you had to not just survive but to thrive, which would you choose?
I get it Dave--do more with less. You are a master teacher, and thanks again for another great knowledge share. My basic toolkit keeps getting smaller and smaller, thanks to you!
I'm loving the series and so glad someone finally mentioned working with green wood. but the first thing I noticed was, did Rufus get a new friend at the start of the video
Cherish your dogs, Dave, I had to get rid of mine, a kid was messing with his food and he bit them, I take total responsibility as it was my dog, but man I miss that dog.
Dave or anyone else: I'm looking for a combination stone that's coarse enough to get nicks & dings out of a blade on one side & fine enough to put a shaving edge on the other. Any out there or do I just get two stones & glue them together? Would LOVE one with that butterfly knife handle like on the DMT stones. Is there a DIY way to put those on a stone?
AtkrduLooking for pocket, but one that would go in a shoulder bag could be okay. Ideally, it'd be pocket-sized & long-lasting (decent size & gritty material all the way through, instead of a coating).
old tools and the steel they were made from is better than todays tool steel . old tool steel was smelted down with coke and other raw materials , modern steel mostly is a amalgam of recycled cars and appliances melted down in large cookers and made into steel ingots .modern steel has lots of impurities , unlike old forge smelted steel made by old school alchemists .
Dave, one thing I have NEVER seen you do!!! Spit on your stones!!! Man I grew up spitting on my stone when not at home with a pan of water or oil? Makes a good slurry. Your view?
Alot of english speaking people who learn Swedish pronounces å like "oh", as in "Oh, sorry." So the kuksa in Swedish, kåsa, would be kohsa, which is pretty damn close to be honest. It's bloody hard to explain sounds with text. It's not a sound you come across in the english language, but Oh is close enough. :-)
Great series Dave, learning a lot. wood craft is a skill I enjoy. really got into the blacksmithing also. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. keep up the awesome work.
Great series Dave, learning a lot. wood craft is a skill that I enjoy. really got into the blacksmithing also. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. keep up the awesome work
By far the best survival show on TH-cam. May the blessings of the Lord be upon you all.
A maul as shown here was mostly used to drive wooden wedges or to adjust wooden pieces for assembly. It would have a short life if you drove a lot of metal tools with it. Mauls were sometimes large wooden headed hammers with a band of iron around the face of the hammer to prevent the wooden head from splintering. These were used with wedges to split fence rails or rough boards from logs. Some pioneers on the frontier had little else but a rifle, knife, an axe and a iron band to make a maul with. They built cabins with nothing else.
Nice video about makeing a maul with mostly using an axe. I've made a similar maul using only my small camping axe. That was for me a project making a wooden tool with only one metal tool I am carrying with me. The maul I made was from seasoned oak. The wood was very hard and dense, but the small axe has served me very well. The maul I made is now heavy in use in my workshop.
Greetings from Germany
Uwe
David ,, it is good to see folks trying to keep the old values and ways alive with the tools you have , you could build a house and people don't think about things like that to much any more , one more small item and you have a complete set and that is a spoon drill or auger for drilling poles and setting pins , thanks for keeping it going
i am going to be either going back to work driving semi or moving to TN and Building an old style log cabin shop and get my knife work back up , many blessing and i hope folks pay attention to good folks like you , Blessings ,
This guy is The Man.
Great vid thanks. Its good to rewatch your videos as a refresher before going on wilderness trips. I've met other people out on the trails who watch your videos too. I'm trying to bridge the gap between long distance hiking which needs to be as light as possible and bushcraft. There may be a niche there... Light multitools. I would love to see a wood carving multitool.
I had the opportunity to help restore some old log cabins in a heritage park, working with some great timber framers. Most of the work was with axes, and I noticed everyone swinging to make notches. I made one of these mallets with an axe and draw knife and started batoning my axe to make precise and clean notches. After a few hours my mallet disappeared and I found a couple of the timber framers had stolen it to use it as I was! I had to make another one..
How do you stop your maul from splitting while it dries out?
Truly brilliant and inspiring! One craft links to another! would
also love to learn more about pharmacological and edable uses of plants in future videos if possible. In Europe/Sweden/Germany we have a scientific speciality called phytotherapy or pharmacognosi dealing with usabillity of wild plants scientifically in relationship to active chemical substances and so on. Knowledge of your surroundings allways makes life easier! God bless you Dave for humbly sharing your knowledge and edifying us who are not that skilled in bushcraft!
Great. I appreciate your videos, Dave. Thanks so much.
Dave I would just like to say thanks for all of your videos I've been watching you for years and I'm always exited to learn. So educational,keep them coming Brother
Really appreciate you taking the time to cover a wide range of skill sets Dave. The basic application and straight talk encourages a lot of people to aspire to have a go, including myself.
Dave I have been using hand tools all my life. It has become so easy to just go to the big box store and buy what you want. I have been making my tools for a long time because it is the only way to get them the way I want them. Nice to see you teaching these techniques. All the machine tools will not help you if electricity quits flowing, plus it is fun doing it this way.
Loving this series. Great work Dave.
Great series Dave, learning a lot. wood craft is a skill I enjoy. really got into the blacksmithing also. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. keep up the awesome work.
I'm so pumped up about this video series. I'm a dry sponge, dip me in some knowledge Dave. I just hope you can touch on some things I've found hard to find info on. Such as the best way to dry your green wood working projects without cracking or checking. Either way I'm on board.
+Adam Slater Me too! I have made green hickory mauls and splitting wedges but would like to know more about how to accommodate the tendency of green wood to check and split. If it doesn't affect function I don't care, but I worry about it.
Thanks for this great series Dave!
Hi Dave just a thought but one tool I would add to your kit that you can find very cheap is a farriers rasp. the rasp side for mass material removal and the fine for smoothing and fine working just a thought. I realy like that you are doing more woodworking I am a wood worker and amateur bowyer and respect wood and love it keep these videos coming brother
Sweet Dave. Hopefully I will be able to try this!!!! Thanks for sharing all that you do!!!!
Great video Dave!
had a great time making this all I had was maple I don't believe that you covered on whether it was hard or soft wood but I do think it's hard thanks for the inspiration keep it coming cannot wait for the rest of the series
Great series Dave. learning a lot.
I jumped the gun a bit, saw the spoon you made in the other video and made one, got it right on the 2nd attempt when I used my hatchet to do 90% of the shaping. These videos you do are just awesome!
I have 2 hatchets like that and I love them both. Not as good as you are with them, but learning.
For things like this I tend to like my short heavy machete more. I find that I can strike the same area more consistently and with greater control than an axe. This is helpful for when I am trying to cut a slab off and am fighting the grain from running out of the side of the piece. It also makes a better shaving maker, and an ok improvised draw knife. In fact I could likely replace all the tools shown here for this project with the machete... No wonder they are so popular around the world. That said I do live my axes though!
I bought myself some a couple of old axe heads online a while back. One is like your axe (the kent pattern I believe) but is smaller as in the blade length is only probably 2/3 of the size. The other axe is kind of a slight bearded axe of a similar era and has a wider blade. I bought them as a pair of axe heads and the kent pattern type one is ideal for woodworking with its narrow blade, which is why I wanted it. The other axe head will be great for general splitting logs sections and camping etc. Iv'e yet to put new handles on them but I have used the kent pattern one over the park with a makeshift redwood handle loosely fitted to strip bark off of sections of fallen oak branches.
The kent pattern axe head is more valuable to me because of the flattish blade which makes it so good for woodworking.
Nice informative video for use beginners.
Mallet vs baton, size and shape, general use vs purpose built, which to make for what purpose and/or what tool to use it on? Down and dirty temporary use for camp vs something for the shop.
Green wood, dry wood, using what you can find, pros and cons.
Thoughts for future bushcrafting/off grid/pioneer projects video(s) to you to consider.
Case in point, I clean up a lot with firewood(ish) size maple and limbs that have been laying around, I need to make a baton or mallet. How best can I go about it and what can I expect as I'm doing it? Or I bought a Fro and I need a Frog. Or I'm camping and want to try making a spatula or spoon with my knife and/or axe.
The best maul I ever made was fashioned from the root ball of a Hickory sapling. All I had to do was dig it up, and remove the outer bark. Nothing wasted.
I made a maul similar to this today out of black locust , i didn't use a draw knife though . i just used a baton and my husqvarna hatchet. Took me a good hour or so to get it to the shape i wanted but it turned out flawless
Love this series. Made one the other day and it cracked almost in half over the next day or two.
Just loved this! I's my next project!
Great tip on throwing the axe. Dave just saved my skinny arms.
Such an awesome and informative video Dave. I was curious to see how a carpenter's axe was used since I became interested in quality axes. Thanks again.
Great advice on getting the most out of a single tool. Be creative with limited resources.
What I really love about this is the chain of events. You can make that maul, and some wooden Tools, and eventually you will use those wooden Tools to make a lathe, after which you can remake the Tools on that latcha or on a work bench or both and you will have more efficient and perrrrrty Tools with better precission!
Is there a school like yours on the west coast? Great videos.
Hey Dave or anybody out there that might have a reference to this. You mention that Blue Beech is one of the harder more dense woods out there, what would be some of the other woods that would be acceptable. Is there some reference that mentions the density or hardness of other woods yall have seen. Thanks in advance.
You mentioned spoke shaved. Where do you get them? I have looked all over the town I'm in and can't find any except where they teach woodworking. They're really proud of theirs! Lol. I can't afford that much. Don't want a piece of junk just because it's cheap, but something that is dependable even if I have to pay a little more. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks for all your videos and teaching.
I know this is about learning how to use the hatchet but I think the draw knife would have been the tool for that job from start to finish. Watching these videos sure makes me miss Appalachia.
Shane K If one had a Shave horse 90% for sure
I was thinking you could shape it while it was on the tree after you cut it down, then cut to length. Can't wait for your new show!
Absolutely! This type of woodworking is a matter of working coarse to fine. The axe is for rough shaping, draw knife for refining the shape, and if one was so inclined a spoke shave for finalizing the the finished shape.
As for not having a shaving horse, there's many ways around that... clamps, vise, piece of rope tied to it, etc.
I get the premise behind the video but using a axe for that much is just a lot of unnecessary work.
Hey Dave. can you do a video on how to make slat lumber from a log that you could down with the tools you have.
Good info! Enjoyable 👍
(Is that and old 49 Ford 8N tractor I see behind ya?) Thanks 😁✝️🇱🇷
I have a chunk of maple on the porch that I may designate for something like this.
Hey Dave, I enjoyed the video,and it made me look through some of my tools to see if there was one I could use as sort of a jack of all trades master at none. What do you think of a larger kukri for green woodworking? I know it will not have near the heft as a felling axe, but I would still like your opinion.
This is just the kind of video I've been wanting to see.
great video as always Mr. Dave, question for you, if you sent back in time and had two tools to choose from to start with, and you had to not just survive but to thrive, which would you choose?
challenge accepted.... although I don't have a crafting hatchet at the moment, so I'm gonna have to get by with one of my smaller axes. for now...
I get it Dave--do more with less. You are a master teacher, and thanks again for another great knowledge share. My basic toolkit keeps getting smaller and smaller, thanks to you!
I'm loving the series and so glad someone finally mentioned working with green wood. but the first thing I noticed was, did Rufus get a new friend at the start of the video
Cherish your dogs, Dave, I had to get rid of mine, a kid was messing with his food and he bit them, I take total responsibility as it was my dog, but man I miss that dog.
what are you going to do to keep your new maul from splitting when it dries now that you have done all that work to make it?
EastTN Woodturner Motor Oil
+wildernessoutfitters Can you explain a little how and why you use the motor oil?
+AlanMcMichael It's plentiful, cheap and seals the wood. Are there better oils to use? Yes
so why use the top part of the piece of wood as head?
the Head*
Dave or anyone else: I'm looking for a combination stone that's coarse enough to get nicks & dings out of a blade on one side & fine enough to put a shaving edge on the other. Any out there or do I just get two stones & glue them together? Would LOVE one with that butterfly knife handle like on the DMT stones. Is there a DIY way to put those on a stone?
AtkrduLooking for pocket, but one that would go in a shoulder bag could be okay. Ideally, it'd be pocket-sized & long-lasting (decent size & gritty material all the way through, instead of a coating).
Is that a "normal" axe or a side axe?, it looks normal
Outstanding
old tools and the steel they were made from is better than todays tool steel . old tool steel was smelted down with coke and other raw materials , modern steel mostly is a amalgam of recycled cars and appliances melted down in large cookers and made into steel ingots .modern steel has lots of impurities , unlike old forge smelted steel made by old school alchemists .
Dave, one thing I have NEVER seen you do!!! Spit on your stones!!! Man I grew up spitting on my stone when not at home with a pan of water or oil? Makes a good slurry. Your view?
Where is Rufous?!
You can sharpen a 90% angle as long as you perfectly meet both sides with 30,000 grit lol it is possible
good video
Alot of english speaking people who learn Swedish pronounces å like "oh", as in "Oh, sorry."
So the kuksa in Swedish, kåsa, would be kohsa, which is pretty damn close to be honest.
It's bloody hard to explain sounds with text. It's not a sound you come across in the english language, but Oh is close enough. :-)
Im going to the flee market tommorrow if it dosent rain. Il try to get myself an axe head like this
Dreoilín O'Coigligh I just went and i didnt find anything. I wanted a little hatchet like in the video. I already have one but the head is smaller.
I just use my Viking camp axe to carve wood :)
that is pretty nifty
dear friend david you are makinf filming mistakes try to shoot things closer.thanksssss
Great tools, dude.
To the sissy boys. Throw away your lithium toys and get yourself some real tools.
Great series Dave, learning a lot. wood craft is a skill I enjoy. really got into the blacksmithing also. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. keep up the awesome work.
Great series Dave, learning a lot. wood craft is a skill that I enjoy. really got into the blacksmithing also. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. keep up the awesome work