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Summer Beam Books
The Axe Wielder's Handbook by Michael Beaudry
The Axe Wielder's Handbook by Michael Beaudry
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The Axe Wielder's Handbook by Michael Beaudry
Publisher: Horizon Publishers & Distributors, Inc
Binding: Paperback
Pub Date: July, 2002
Physical Info: 5.75 x 0.5 x 8.5 inches (0.6 lbs) 144 pages
In this unique book, the author interweaves experience with history to present an effective and interesting treatment on the use of axes and related tools. He gives detailed instructions on how to fell trees, split wood, make fence rails, hew timbers, make shakes or shingles, and build log buildings and timber frames. Effective safety procedures are also covered, as well as good axe maintenance and handle-making. Along with true axemanship also comes a respect for the woods. Beaudry teaches stewardship: a way to protect this valuable resource while thinning and taking as much as Nature can comfortably offer.
He reports, "For a quarter of a century my woodlot has provided me with logs, beams, poles, shakes, fence posts, firewood, balsam-wreath brush, and maple syrup. I have not, however, depleted the supply of any of the above, and the straightest, tallest trees remain. If one walked my woodlot, he would be apt to say that I have but too little, not too much." Beaudry displays an endring philosophy in these words: "The woodlot, itself, becomes as much the finished product as the timber I am hewing or the firewood I am splitting." In The Axe Wielder's Handbook, numerous photos and precise drawings combine with the text to create any axe wielder's how-to book of techniques that are of great value to all who want to enjoy the axeman's art. The application of these skills helps any axe wielder's job become easier and enjoyable. It's a compelling presentation of an art that is both ancient and modern.
Mike Beaudry received his B.S. in Education from the University of Maine. With his wife, Claudette, and two children, Jesse and Emma, he has homesteaded, farmed and raised animals in Maine for 25 years. His articles have appeared in Countryside and Small Stock Journal and The Bangor Daily, and he has lectured at historical societies and museums. His hewn timbers have appeared in several structures, barns and houses in the area, and his hewing abilities have caught the attention of historical preservationists. He frequently does hewing and shake splitting demonstrations at museums, living history centers, and selected fairs. In addition, he teaches hand hewing at his Montville home. Mike is also a historian engaged in researching log construction in New England. He has traveled extensively in the Northeast, including the Canadian Maritimes and parts of Quebec, rsearching and photographing log structures. He has studied the 17th century "Logg" garrison houses of coastal Maine and New Hampshire, the Acadien and Quebecois piece sur piece log homes of Northern Maine and Vermont, the scribed fit hewn log homes of the 19th century Swedish immigrants, sporting and lumber camps, and the log forts and blockhouses of predominantly 18th century northern New England. His interest has led him to study not only the way the logs were joined but to study the axemanship involved in shaping the timbers. He believes the tool marks on old timbers can be read, telling us not only of the axeman's skill, but of his haste or patience, and about the axe used. Mike believes this is essential in doing restoration work. The craftsman must be able to recreate any hewn surface, whether rough or smooth, left by the original builder. He has conversed with preservationists, historians, log builders, timber framers, hewers, and shingle splitters, gleaning from each ideas that have helped refine his own techniques. Mike is currently undertaking the construction of a hewn double pen barn.
