78 



TOOLS FOR FELLING AND CONVERSION. 



respect to penetrative power, in our Indian axes, as otherwise, the 

 eye being circular, the blade would taper down too abruptly. 



The eye may he either circular or oval (the narrower extremity 

 being directed towards the edge). The opening of the eye is not 

 the same throughout, but is widest at the further end in order to 

 prevent the head from slipping off the handle. An oval eye [Fig. '- 



Fig. 21. 



Felling axe with oval eye and curved handle dth original size). 



21) secures greater rigidity for the handle, distributes the weight 

 properly by enabling an even taper to be maintained, and, as shown 

 in the next paragraph, also enables the axe-man to deliver a steadier 

 stroke. Per contra, it has two disadvantages as compared with a 

 circular eye : the handle requires some skill to prepare, and as it 

 must be put into the eye by the lower extremity, it can he fixed 

 tight only by means of a wedge driven into a slit, which is obviously 

 a source of weakness, and from which the wedge has a constant 

 tendency to slip out. In India the eye is always circular. 



The handle. — According as the eye is circular or oval, the 

 whole of the handle is round or the lower quarter or fifth of it is 

 flat. In the latter case the woodman, having flat surfaces to feel 

 with his right hand (with which he directs the blow and which he 

 slides down to near his left hand as the axe descends) can aim a 

 much steadier blow than when a completely cylindrical object, the 

 feel of which is the same whatever its position is, slips through 

 his hand. An oval section near the axe-head also gives the handle 

 greater dimension parallel to the blade just where greatest trans- 

 verse strength is required. Lastly, and this is a matter of prime 

 importance, a round handle is liable to work round in the eye and 

 thus destroy the entire effect of a stroke, besides possibly causing 

 the edge to be turned or broken. On the other hand, a round 

 handle is easily obtained, being merely a straight branch or stem 

 or solid culm, the lower end of which is just too thick to pass 

 through the eye (if it is a hard knot, so much the better), and 

 on this account requires no wedging at all to keep it in place. 



