More Sokyra hatchets from the Ukranian Hutsul region

http://guculiya.com.ua/en/hutsul-axes/211--.html

 Those are some fine examples of Hutsul hatchets I found on the web. I am really, really fond of the craftsmanship and the beautiful lines of these tools in general.




I have linked the photos to the original sites. The proprietors of the publishing rights can contact me if there are any problems.

Most interesting is the picture above of Hutsul gentlemen singing Chrismas carols with their axes raised. The hatchet seems to be of a huge cultural significance in this culture. Here is a link about some aspects of their culture.

It is a highland Carpathian ethnia, and I find their attire reminds one a bit of some Saami attires... have to do some research on that. In any case, there seems to be a living axe cult in Ukrania, and I suppose the roots of it might go back to the bronze age. I will do some research on that, promise;-)

As one example might serve this Aunjetitzer hatchet:

http://www.museum-digital.de/san/singleimage.php?imagenr=19204&inwi=1&w=1680&h=880

Or this one found in Poland:
 
http://www.museum-digital.de/nat/index.php?sv=Prestige&done=yes&ftext=1&style=grid

Another one from Brachwitz, Poland:

http://www.museum-digital.de/nat/singleimage.php?imagenr=30120&inwi=1&w=1680&h=880

Those are several examples for beautiful axeheads from the copper- and bronze age. The morphology of these axes bear a striking resemblance to some modern examples. I will keep you informed on my progress on the research!

In the smithy: More info on the Ciupaga-and my first own damascus since 10 years!

 On Saturday I rode to Witten to meet with Volker and to do some forging. Volker wasn´t too well, having problems with his hip bones and the rigors of blacksmithing for a long time. But he kept going nonetheless. I wish him all the best and hope he´ll be well.
We had a coffee, and I took a stroll around the museum to give you some input on the Ciupaga / Fokos / Sokyra / Bartka / Steigerstock / Fahrstock. Here is a pic of some miner in traditional representation attire and an unusual example of a Fahrstock, in that it has a hammer´s head!

 A pick was also in use, as shown in this painting.

 Here it is a hammer´s head again. This is an attire in use in the Witten / Bochum region.

 Then I lit up forge and made myself "Her Grace Sokyra". C 60, forged from an old hammerhead, tempered selectively to a springy temper.

 After that, I brought out the Borax, some mild steel and 1.2842 and simply got on with making damascus. I was focused hard, so nop pics of the process, but I´ve got an advice: If you want to get started with making damascus, try out this combination of steels, it welds great. Farther down you´ll read another little rant you all love on fancy steels and steel sorcery;-).

 The billet with the tip already forged. I forged 27 layers, then turned it on the other side to achieve a "Masame" pattern, and welded another layer of 1.2842 into the middle. With so few layers, you get little carbon diffusion, so you might end up having a layer with too little carbon content to achieve a decent temper, so you´d better do a San Mai construction. I forged it into a straight back utility blade. I love the Roselli knives, but hate the short tang;-), so I forged a longer one to be peened over. The  hindmost half of the tang is made from the billet handle, and it´s mild steel.

 The blade.

 Every time I realized my concentration was fading, I had a break. I took a drink of water, had a coffee with Volker (Thanks to the guy for providing a steady flow of Java;-)), and all went well.

 Then there was a torch hike scheduled and I did a damascus demo for the people, and even got some applause!

 The fruits of my labour;-).

 At home I fitted a stag antler handle with brass mountings to it, and I tested it. Hard.

 And it does what my spring steel knives do, with a lateral flexibility of some 20 degrees (fixed it in a vice and bent it), springy. I slammed it edge first on the tempered axle of my vice by accident. There was a dent, but a flexible one, that could be removed with some strokes of the strop. You can´t ask for more from a knife! In fact, it´s already more than most people would ever ask from a knife...

So, here´s the promised rant: Mild steel and 1.2842 certainly are no wonder steels. Few if any damascus smiths bother to use those qualities, and I admit I was sceptical at first when I learnt from Jens Nettlich that he uses them. But it´s a bit like using spring steel. Many steel wizerds sneer at this common man´s steel, but what counts to me is that it works, and works well. The combination is a cinch to weld, even with dirty coke and a less-than-optimal forge, it was so easy I could not believe it! The knife keeps a good edge, is flexible to boot, and takes a hardness (at the edge) of 60 HRC with a very conservative heat treating. It also sharpens well and the edge is flexible to be stropped to new from a severe beating. 

 I made the spine some 3.8 mm thick.

 This is a detail in riverso...

...and on the quart side.

I hope that I can practice these skills some more, to be able to process iron ore one day. Of course, I will also try to weld some more problematic steels, but as a user, this combination is hard to beat. I really, really love this knife, having used it some on bacon and wood;-) and iron nails and rawhide. It will become my personal EDC.

I want a Ciupaga! - Interesting Information on a traditional Eastern European tool

Willi ([edit]: Willy, Willi was his father*ggg*) has one. He made it himself, and it serves him well as a support.

But only but recently I came across some info on it, and BOY, is it interesting! I am speaking of the Polish, Ukranian, Carpathian Ciupaga, Fokos or "Her Grace Sokyra", the walking axe. I came across this blog:
with a load of interesting input.



For instance, "The skillful Woodsman manual", a treasury of woodcraft tradition in Carpathian culture. Not so technically, but rather culturally interesting.

And, a really great picture of the "Sokyra" or "Her grace Sokyra", which also played a central role in traditional "axe" dance.:


Visit the blog, it´s well worth it!

Coming to think about it, I still have a piece of metal for an axe head...;-)

Most interesting, however, is that in traditional German  miner´s attire there is a so-called "Fahrstock" or "Steigerstock" (miner´s stick) with a stylized or even functional axehead as a handle, of about the same size as the Ciupaga / Sokyra / Fokos and with quite a similar function. The axeheads are even now seldom available in good quality and mostly made from brass or bronze. At this site I found this carving of a "Bergmann" in the attire of the Erzgebirge region:
 
 The site is www.erzgebirgsschnitzer.de.

Well worth a visit in itself, but off topic for now. The so-called "Westfälischer Häckel" (Westfalian hatchet, after the region I come from) is another version even closer to the Sokyra. In the Ruhr region, there was a massive immigration of Polish people working in the mines and connected industries, and their culture had a very thorough impression on the culture. So I guess the Ciupaga in this manner found a place in the mining culture of this country.

The same might hold true for the regions "Erzgebirge" and the "Mansfeld" region.

Also, in Bavaria, Austria, Switzerland and Northern Italy, there is a morphological variant, the "Sapie" or "Griesbeil", a woodfloating or -catching hook, sometimes with a hammer. From what I heard, it was often also mounted to a walking stick, and has a close connection to the Kuk ice-axe from WWI which was in use also in early European alpinism. This tool had a pick and shovel blade and a spike to aid in climbing. Rural versions often had a hatchet and pick blade to go with the spike.

All in all, this is a fascinating topic and you have certainly not seen the last of it!;-)