I’m a bully, bearded, outdoorsy dude, and you can describe a lot of my friends in a similar way.
Once upon a time, one such friend had a few trees on his property that needed to come down (damaged by storms, emerald ash borer, etc,) so he made a decision to have a “lumberjack day”
The plan was simple, we’d all show up with axes and saws and other implements of destruction and cut down these trees and chop them up to manageable sizes.
We also all kind of had the same idea that we’d show up in flannel shirts and suspenders in hopes that our one friend (coincidentally my now-wife, though we had not yet even begun to think about dating) who was sort of our unofficial group photographer, would show up with our camera, and we could get some cool shots of us being rugged badasses and maybe a group picture.
Sadly, she had to work that day, so no pictures exist.
I decided for this occasion that I wanted a big ol’ double-bit felling axe. It just seemed appropriate.
Now I could have gotten one from a hardware store if I just wanted a prop, but I did want an actual usable axe. Most new axes you can easily get your hands on these days just aren’t that great unless you’re willing to shell out some decent money (they’re not outlandishly expensive, but certainly more than I could afford at the time as a 20-something pizza guy)
Which meant that I’d be looking for a used axe. This was something I’d already been keeping my eye out for at yard sales and flea markets and such but unfortunately I was coming up empty. So with Lumberjack Day fast-approaching, I turned to craigslist.
And sure enough, I found a guy selling axes. Quite a lot of axes in fact, I suspect this guy had been snatching them up from the same flea markets I’d been hunting at before I got a chance. He’d clean them up, hang a new handle if needed, and sell them. His sharpening skills left a bit to be desired, but I’m handy enough with a file and whetstone so that didn’t matter.
We exchanged some messages, he sent me some pics of what he had, and we arranged a time for me to swing over to his house to buy an axe from him.
So one Sunday morning I swerved over to his house, not thinking to tell anyone where I was going.
From the pictures he sent, I kind of thought he had these axes in a shed or garage.
Instead when I went there and knocked on his front door he invited me inside and told me the axes were in his basement.
I step inside his living room, and this man had no furniture.
We go down into the basement, and every wall and float surface is covered in axes (and some similar hand tools- hammers, hoes, picks, shovels, etc)
I think this may have been some kind of serial killer’s lair.
But, luckily, I did not get axe-murdered that day. Instead I checked out his wares, handed him $60, and walked out with a rather nice vaughan axe that was probably from around the '60s
Took it out to my car, sat there for a minute considering my life choices, and went on my merry way.
Then a week or two later I put that axe to good use at lumberjack day. It’s a good axe, I still have it and find some good excuses to use it from time-to-time.
So anyway, he may possibly be a serial killer, but I do recommend Craigslist Andrew if you ever need to buy a decent used axe at a fair price.
I’m a bully, bearded, outdoorsy dude, and you can describe a lot of my friends in a similar way.
Once upon a time, one such friend had a few trees on his property that needed to come down (damaged by storms, emerald ash borer, etc,) so he made a decision to have a “lumberjack day”
The plan was simple, we’d all show up with axes and saws and other implements of destruction and cut down these trees and chop them up to manageable sizes.
We also all kind of had the same idea that we’d show up in flannel shirts and suspenders in hopes that our one friend (coincidentally my now-wife, though we had not yet even begun to think about dating) who was sort of our unofficial group photographer, would show up with our camera, and we could get some cool shots of us being rugged badasses and maybe a group picture.
Sadly, she had to work that day, so no pictures exist.
I decided for this occasion that I wanted a big ol’ double-bit felling axe. It just seemed appropriate.
Now I could have gotten one from a hardware store if I just wanted a prop, but I did want an actual usable axe. Most new axes you can easily get your hands on these days just aren’t that great unless you’re willing to shell out some decent money (they’re not outlandishly expensive, but certainly more than I could afford at the time as a 20-something pizza guy)
Which meant that I’d be looking for a used axe. This was something I’d already been keeping my eye out for at yard sales and flea markets and such but unfortunately I was coming up empty. So with Lumberjack Day fast-approaching, I turned to craigslist.
And sure enough, I found a guy selling axes. Quite a lot of axes in fact, I suspect this guy had been snatching them up from the same flea markets I’d been hunting at before I got a chance. He’d clean them up, hang a new handle if needed, and sell them. His sharpening skills left a bit to be desired, but I’m handy enough with a file and whetstone so that didn’t matter.
We exchanged some messages, he sent me some pics of what he had, and we arranged a time for me to swing over to his house to buy an axe from him.
So one Sunday morning I swerved over to his house, not thinking to tell anyone where I was going.
From the pictures he sent, I kind of thought he had these axes in a shed or garage.
Instead when I went there and knocked on his front door he invited me inside and told me the axes were in his basement.
I step inside his living room, and this man had no furniture.
We go down into the basement, and every wall and float surface is covered in axes (and some similar hand tools- hammers, hoes, picks, shovels, etc)
I think this may have been some kind of serial killer’s lair.
But, luckily, I did not get axe-murdered that day. Instead I checked out his wares, handed him $60, and walked out with a rather nice vaughan axe that was probably from around the '60s
Took it out to my car, sat there for a minute considering my life choices, and went on my merry way.
Then a week or two later I put that axe to good use at lumberjack day. It’s a good axe, I still have it and find some good excuses to use it from time-to-time.
So anyway, he may possibly be a serial killer, but I do recommend Craigslist Andrew if you ever need to buy a decent used axe at a fair price.