Origins of the Tomahawk Name. PDF.

https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/aa.1908.10.2.02a00090

Using The Axe By Keith H Burgess

17th century lathing hatchet.

Tomahawk or trade axe.

Louise Florida1

 

I have seen many explain how to hold and swing the axe but never have explained so precisely where to hit the wood for the best results. Your tutorial is greatly appreciated and the information used. Thank you!

How To Throw A Tomahawk. For Beginners. Part One.

A Quote From The Pote Journal and Experimental Archaeology.

Bushcraft forums abound with people making wooden spoons, but this craft has never interested me. Then whilst doing some research, I came across the following quote in "The Pote Journal":

“my master told me to

Try if I Could make me a Spoon, and Gave me a hatchet

and told me he would assist me in it for he Said there

was nothing more Necessary for me to be furnished

with in my march, his orders I quickly obeyed, and

finished my Spoon with So much Dixterity, yt my

master was Verey well pleased with me, and told

me he hoped I Should make as Good a heron, as

one John Honewell an English man that had Lived

with ym Near thirty years, and was maried amongst

them and had Severel Children, this Night they

placed me between two Indians, with a String Round

my middle, and Each End made fast to my Companions,”.

The Pote Journal 1745

I have made horn spoons, but never made a wooden spoon before, but thought this quote might be an interesting project. So I decided to make a wooden spoon using just a hatchet. Below is the result.

This is of course only my interpretation, I have no way of knowing what the Pote spoon looked like. The cup of the spoon was the hardest part to shape with just a hatchet, though I dare say that I could make a better job of it given time.

A Link To Another Woodsman's Perspective of Tomahawk Vs Hatchet.

Wood Trekker.

http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2011/03/best-chopping-tool-hatchet-vs-tomahawk.html

Tomahawks & Hatchets, which is best?

Tomahawks & Hatchets.



There have been some posts on the same theme as this one on a couple of other blogs, and I would just like to add some info to this discussion.


As to tomahawks being better than hatchets for carrying in the woods, I have to agree. If for no other reason than the fact that the tomahawk is lighter than a hatchet. However, the so called “trade axe” (the term “trade” in regard to the axe was not used in the 18th century as far as I know) is the same item as a tomahawk, and not all tomahawks had a round or oval eye.


It was mentioned that a tomahawk of the same weight as a hatchet would not perform as well as a hatchet. For a tomahawk head to be of the same weight as a hatchet head it would have to be larger, and then is more likely to fall into the “half-axe” category. Whether or not it would be as affective as the hatchet is more than likely going to depend on the use and the person using it.


In regards to the ease of making the helves, and the fixing of the head to the helve, then I personally still prefer the round or oval eye where the helve simply drops into the eye from the top and does not require a wedge.


I think the main consideration when trying to choose between a hatchet & a tomahawk/axe is the use to which it will be put. If you intend to be cutting a lot of wood and that is the only consideration, then the hatchet would be a good choice. The extra weight of the hatchet head will make it easier to cut wood. But if weight is a consideration then you should consider using the lighter tomahawk/axe.


Mostly what it comes down to is personal choice. I have been living in the woods for over 30 years, and the rest of the years I have been a frequent visitor to the forests. I started off using a hatchet and felling axe, but once I discovered the earlier pattern tomahawk/axe and began using it I soon realised its advantages for my kind of forest living skills. My tomahawks have a longer helve than the average hatchet. Even large hatchet heads use a short helve by tomahawk standards. The longer helve enables me to give more momentum to the tomahawk, and therefore it is able to match the cutting power of the hatchet but still weighs less.


As I said, it is simply a personal choice. Try them both out & choose the one that best suits your needs.

My round poll tomahawk or (trade) axe.

My square poll tomahawk or (trade) axe.

My half-axe which has a larger head and a longer helve.

My light felling axe.

A comparison of sizes L to R, tomahawk, half-axe & felling axe.

A modern hatchet.

Affordability. Equipment & Tools. The Tomahawk/Axe.

I think the cost of tools and equipment are a serious consideration for many people wanting to get into 18th century living history. If you have the money, it is no problem, there are traders that cater to the living historian. Even so many people regardless of wealth prefere to make as much as they can of their own gear and family gear. Having said that though, purchasing ready made knapsacks, haversacks, snapsacks, rucksacks and market wallets here in Australia is not going to be easy.
I emailed Graeme Forbes today to see if he can supply me with some prices on guns, meanwhile though I will cover what tools I can. Tomahawks I believe can be purchased from Green River Rifle Works in S.A., guns also, but last I looked they could not be contacted via the net.
For those of you who have to make your own, or use second hand goods, this is what I have done in the past.

Tomahawk/Belt Axe.
The images below are of an ordinary second hand hatchet head purchased at a second hand store for about $4.00, which I turned into a period axe.
1) I buried the blade of the axe in the ground and lit a fire on top of it. This heated the eye area but not the blade and edge. I got it red hot, then removed it with pliers and hammered it upside down over the spike of a pickaxe which I had also driven into the ground. Don't worry about the hammer damage, it gets cut off later. This process will give you an oval to round tapered eye in the head.
2) If you are going to use a hacksaw to shape the head, then you need to heat the whole of the head to cherry red and let it cool slowly. In which case just heat it in the fire when shaping the head and don't worry about burying the blade in the ground. I have done it both ways.
I used an angle grinder to cut out the shape. I placed the head on the ground and placed a metal bar through the eye so I could stand on the bar and hold the head in place. As I cut, I occasionally picked up the head with the bar and quenched it in water to stop the edge of the blade losing its hardness.
If you soften the head to use a hacksaw, you will have to heat the cutting edge to cherry red and quench in water to re-harden after shaping and filing.

A standard shaped modern hatchet head.

Note the damage done with the hammer when driving the head down over the pick axe head spike. This though is on the part which gets removed.

Note the eye is tapered now and oval.

The finished product after making and fitting a new helve.

Video: Making A Tomahawk Helve.

The Use Of The Term Tomahawk-Bad Publicity!

Hunt for blood-soaked city tomahawk wielder.
 Megan Levy

December 29, 2010 - 9:23AM
.Heavily-protected police have entered an upmarket Melbourne hotel hunting a blood-soaked man who attacked a car with a tomahawk in inner Melbourne this morning.

What are the chances that this chap was actually using a tomahawk?! Very little chance I would think, yet the term is used to highten the drama. It is this sort of (probable) misinformation that led to the banning of tomahawks in Victoria some years ago, and I believe one had to apply for a permit to attend a Living History Rendezvous with a tomahawk for the purpose of competition tomahawk throwing.

A modern axe or hatchet. Far easier to obtain than a tomahawk.

A typical tomahawk or 18th century belt axe. Not available from hardware stores, and the most common tool used by 18th century Living Historians & Reenactors worldwide.

Blade Sharpening.

Each blade may have a different angle on its edge, the only way to get this angle right for each blade doing it 18th century style, is through observation and experimentation. I know right away as soon as I look at a blade at what angle to grind/sharpen it. After you have run the blade over the whet stone a few times, check the edge to make sure you have the same angle on both sides.

Making A Trade Axe Head.

Making a Tomahawk or Belt Axe Helve/Haft.

The Axe and the Tomahawk.

I have been recieving some education regarding axes and tomahawks, I went looking for it because I found myself becoming increasingly confused with various terms used in this century(21st). The article below is only a small sample of the information available at the link I shall provide, and I found it well worth reading.
This also explains the terms used when refering to the woodsman's tools being the gun, the knife and the axe. I have always thought of an axe being large, certainly not the size of a tomahawk, and I was wrong. Also I have always thought of the tomahawk using the particular helve or haft that does not require a wedge to secure the head, and the axe requiring a wedge, wrong again!
From what I have read so far, a tomahawk is a tool/weapon that has a specific type of poll, that with a spike or a pipe bowl. But it can also have a hammer poll. Anyway, read the following and see what you think. Personally I am still finding some grey areas! But I now know more than I did before reading this article.

..................................................................................................................................

Trade Rates in 1812 at Fort Astoria, Columbia River
One half-axe = four beaver
Hatchet = two beaver
Yard of cloth = four beaver
Yard of cotton = two beaver
Large knife = two beaver
Five leaves of well-twisted tobacco = one beaver
.........................................................................................................................................................
Trade axes of today were called 'Camp Axes' or 'Squaw Axes' or just plain 'Hatchets' in the records of the fur traders and in the words of Indians. We know they were distributed from at least 1570 to about late 19th C. although common axes of the period were traded to Indians before that. They came from Holland, France, England, Canada, Spanish colonies & America. They were used primarily as tools but also as weapons if the need arose (spike tomahawks also were used as tools at times although their main purpose was as a weapon). Trade axes have been greatly maligned by the collectors of the much more expensive pipe tomahawks who claim they were never used as weapons although in the same breath the lighter trade axe of 1lb or less is accepted as a weapon/tool by most. Is it the same as a tomahawk? That depends on your definition, but definitions have been changing through out the historical period and still are. Initially, during the earliest contact period, ANY hatchet or axe used by Native Americans was referred as a tomahawk.

The reality is they used what they had, what they could afford and what was available.

The above article and some of the images curtesy of:

http://furtradetomahawks.tripod.com/id11.html

Woodcraft.

Woodcraft it seems was the old term used, bushcraft is the new one. I have been trying to get a point across about flint & steel fire lighting on an English bushcraft site, but instead of people looking at it with an open mind, they simply take it as a threat and tenaciously defend their own modern methods of making fire. For some the arguement is that if an 18th century woodsman could have used a ferrocium rod to make fire he would have. Probably quite true, at least until the first time he dropped it and it broke! As a matter of fact wilderness dwellers in the 19th century did have the choice of using more modern fire lighting equipment and guns, but they prefered to keep to the flint and steel and flintlock guns because they were more dependable.

These days it is all about travelling light and items that are easy to use, no special skills involved. Where as I go for tried and tested gear that is dependable, even if it does require a little more skill to use and weighs a lot more. The tomahawk is rarely carried these days in preference to using a "bushcraft knife" that can be used for everything. In the 18th and even 19th centuries one had a right tool for each job. The tomahawk or hatchet was for shelter construction, making shelter and trap pegs, used for cutting through bone or joints when field dressing, and any other heavy work. Firewood did not require breaking with a tomahawk, there are other ways to prepare firewood.

The belt knife was/is a hunting knife, it is used to skin and butcher game, for protection, and for eating with. Often a second knife was carried, and sometimes a third, each had a specific use. A second back-up skinning knife might be carried in the top of the legging or under the waist belt or hanging round the neck. A third might be carried for camp chores in the form of a fixed blade or a clasp knife.  The problem with only carrying one knife these days is that if it is lost or damaged, you have nothing else. Nothing to cut with, and nothing to scrape your ferrocium rod with!

I am not sure how other people put their outdoors/camping/trekking/survival gear together, but I always ask myself, "what if".