HYTEST CRAFTSMAN 4 raw footage

[@JoeHazlet]

Very nice restoration on that axe. It rewarded you for the effort by working very nicely for you. Well done. Be blessed.

[@kurts64]

Gday mate, thanks alot! She's become a favourite for sure👍👍🪓

[@Joey-L]

Dang that's some nice chopping !! Always impressed with your accuracy. Love the green war paint left behind. That axe is a keeper.

[@kurts64]

Thanks mate, I'm love that worn-in old paint look, kinda wanna go spray everything now 🤣

[@MattKeevil]

"Been a while since I swung an axe" then proceeding to do a series of perfect hits... Impressive stuff and, once again, I love that axe. Getting shot out of a log with an axe has got to be about the most surprising thing that could happen to a grub.

[@kurts64]

Hahaha mate the way you worded that cracked me up! Poor little bugger hey, just chillin there doin his grub thing then BOOM 🪓💥 🐛 , launched!

[@KevinsDisobedience]

We all get the odd rug pulled out from under us sometimes; oftentimes, without our even realizing there was one under our feet. It’s those falls that hurt the most. On the grub, I tend to judge people based on their intuitive response to hurting or inconveniencing other animals, specifically insects-not naive but not sadistically either. I dislike some of them buggers as much as the next guy, and would rather be without most all of them if I’m honest, and I will kill just about anything given the right situation, but the how, when and why one does it I find telling. Kurt’s response to the first cosmonaut grub confirmed what I already knew to be the case. He’s a real woodsman, which by my lights means a good man.

[@kurts64]

@@KevinsDisobedience much appreciated mate 👍

[@peterfletcher8411]

Great workout with a nice lookin' axe. Nice refurb Kurt.🙂

[@kurts64]

Thanks a lot mate! 👍👍🪓

[@KevinsDisobedience]

I love your polished vids, but enjoy seeing you in your element like this maybe even more.

[@kurts64]

Thanks mate, I'm kind of liking these rougher ones too. They catch all the dumb stuff haha

[@KillingerUSA]

Axe is awesome! Good job chopping as always!

[@kurts64]

Thanks mate!👍👍🪓

[@simjai1000]

Beautiful axe

[@kurts64]

Cheers mate!👍👍🪓

[@Southernlandbushcraft]

Bloody rippa mate. Thanks for sharing. That axe and handle is pretty damn good. You can swing it. I've got some catching up on some vids of yours to.

[@kurts64]

All good mate, thanks for watching! Cheers 👍👍🪓

[@JKSawShop]

That is one fine tool.

[@kurts64]

Gday mate, cheers, thanks for checkin out the vid!👍👍🪓

[@jamesnelson1443]

What a beast!!!!

[@kurts64]

@@jamesnelson1443 cheers mate, it's become a favourite 🪓🪓👍

[@Hank_Scorpio__Globex_CEO]

That's an great axe Kurt...and your chopping is machine like. Awesome video👍

[@kurts64]

Gday Hank, thanks mate! Hope things are doin well!👍👍🪓

[@mattoster0994]

Hey mate awesome vid as usual looks like a great addition to the collection also looks like another great spot to have some fun on ya mate 🤙

[@kurts64]

Gday Matt, cheers! Hope your all good mate👍👍🪓

[@mattoster0994]

Yeah mate all good hope you an ya family are doin well Hows the husky A2400 chopping vid coming along?

[@kurts64]

@@mattoster0994 all good mate, the 2400 has become a real workhorse but haven't done much more chopping with it apart from occasional short stints at work, which I can't really film. Had it a bit over a year now, and it's held up to everything I've thrown at it!

[@mattoster0994]

That's awesome mate glad its holdding up mines still holding up quite well considering i mainly split with it maybe next time ya hve a swing at this log again bring it along be awesome to see how it compairs to some of you other axes 🤙

[@aussiehardwood6196]

Its amazing how them little soft grubs chew through that hard wood. Little buggers.

[@kurts64]

Yeah they're determined little buggers! I felt a bit sorry for that bloke 👍👍🪓

[@aussiehardwood6196]

Damn Kurt your now efficient with the ax. Great work

[@TheRuralProject]

Great vid as usual ( still watching it ) nice to see all the green, love this time of year.

[@kurts64]

Thanks a lot mate!👍👍🪓

[@polderfischer8565]

Swinging this axe with that frequency without heavy breathing: my hats off to you, sir! That wood seems to be much harder than our fir ;-)

[@kurts64]

Gday mate, cheers! I reckon knotty fir would be a good testing wood too 🇩🇪 👍👍🪓

[@polderfischer8565]

@@kurts64 Right, knotty fir could be an a...hole ;-)

[@KevinsDisobedience]

Gorgeous! Too bad you couldn’t get the free feed after the chop.

[@kurts64]

Yeah they're not too bad those native grapes, be out soon I think

[@urbanlumberjack]

Can’t wait to watch this! Looking forward to this afternoon. Wow that axe is a beauty

[@kurts64]

Cheers mate, that was quick!👍👍🪓

[@skaagkaal2613]

Makes me wish i could get a hold of your local timber to screw around with for axe handles.

[@kurts64]

Gday mate, yeah I'm keen to salvage a bit out of this one too👍👍🪓

[@940joey2]

Awesome video Kurt !!! Man you’re an animal, swinging around a 4lb axe like I swing a boys axe !! Man I hear that, I haven’t swung an axe in at least 5 month. Dang you weren’t kidding those limbs were some hard stuff, but the close up of the one piece looks like it’s beautiful wood !! I love the way the axe came out and the handle looks sweet too !! Man you’re inching to get down in that gulley !! Buckin wants the gullet and Kurt wants the gulley !! Great job man makes me want to get out and swing a bigger axe 💪

[@kurts64]

Cheers Joey, 5 months man u gotta get out there! You got enough axes in that Creepy Basement you got no excuses🤣 Yeah I was happy it held up to those limbs and cut clean. Definitely gotta get into that gully next time! 👍👍🪓

[@Brian2bears]

Very nice Mr. Kurt...coming out of a jacket to swing...sounds like fun. Beauty of an axe that one is...do I hear a hint of desire to chop a meter thick log? I thought that was what I heard...great content here sir....

[@kurts64]

Haha just a little hint..I'll go check it out soon😁 thanks mate 👍 👍🪓

[@waynejorgensen4433]

Made me want drag dads old hytest out of its Vaseline cocoon. It doesn’t have any designation and is more than 50yold. Nice axe to use though and the old man could certainly swing it.

[@kurts64]

That's awesome mate, grab er out and give her a run! Can't beat old Hytests!👍👍🪓

[@Kiltedwoodsmith]

Im about to buy my First Tassie

[@kurts64]

@@Kiltedwoodsmith Nice, mate! What are you gunna get?

[@Kiltedwoodsmith]

@@kurts64 Cyclone

[@waynejorgensen4433]

Cooool!

[@taztaz6539]

The axe looks beautiful, chops sweetly even if it does have imperfections and that timber sounds more like concrete - top marks I get to go the "gym" again with my Prandi next month cos we got some trees that need to come down

[@kurts64]

Thanks mate, yeah the steel on this one was pretty hard and I was getting a bit impatient taking the burr off. By that second notch it must have all knocked off. That's the best kind of gym mate, out in the field gettin some work done, awesome!👍👍🪓

[@aussieaxedude154]

Sick video as always man the edge geometry on the Hytest looked minty🤙🤙🤙. Black butt and stringy bark have a very similar appearance in my opinion, cut up a big tree for fire wood a few weeks ago thinking it was stringy bark but was a lot heavier ,still burnt awesome but I can never tell the difference any pointers on identification? sweet accuracy as well big shooter👌👌👌.

[@kurts64]

Gday mate, good to hear from ya! In my experience the timbers are pretty similar and could pretty much be used interchangeably. It might depend on where about you are though, your up over the range yeah? The main stringy I have here on the coast is Messmate, which has a bit rougher, more fiborous bark that goes up the whole tree including the small branches. Blackbutt bark usually stops at the first fork and is smooth white above, which sheds in flakes. Once they're seasoned and the bark drops off though it's pretty hard to tell em apart from just the wood colour. Both burn hot though! 🔥

[@bundufundi]

That looked like pretty hard wood but you made short work of it as usual mate. Lovely looking axe.

[@kurts64]

Thanks mate! It was chipping nice but yeah drier than I'd usually hope for. Looking forward to getting some billets out of it though👍👍🪓

[@shaveclassy9986]

Bushie has there been a fire through there? Great video mate I think I have Blackbutt out where I chop

[@kurts64]

Thanks mate, there was a few years ago but it avoided the more recent 2020 ones luckily. This forest is fairly isolated and some of the easier sections are managed with control burns, so no big ones go through👍👍🪓

[@ethicalaxe]

That 5 inch limb was ridiculous. My experience with bigger stuff drying out is similar. The outside is harder than usual and the inside is always hard as shit. Didn't get a break with the sapwood. This axe would kill in red oak I bet.

[@kurts64]

Yeah this stuff was pretty stiff. Those limbs and prob the big log at the end would be fine to burn I reckon. I'll take a meter when I go back, could be interesting. It would be good to give red oak a go

[@ethicalaxe]

@kurts64 when I check the inside it hasn't once been 20%. But I'm sure in the right conditions a piece of timber off the ground could be dry. Not sure how thick it would be. We have a lot of fungus here. Big logs usually rot before the inside is dry enough for legit firewood but you can still get away with high 20% as firewood, just not ideal. High 20s is the best case scenario I've found. There's a timber frame video on yourube where the guy who teaches at his own class says a thick piece that was used when relatively green can be wet inside for decades. A heard a wagon maker say the wheel hub takes 6-12 years to dry and thst has a big hole in it. Although lumber moisture content is different than firewood most of the time.

[@kurts64]

@@ethicalaxe yeah gums can take decades as well. I just checked some stuff I split today, about 12inch thick, hollow, grey on the outside, spiders/ants/centipedes living in it, been down probably 20 years and it's still between 13 and 17%. I'm hoping if I get some of the main trunk of the tester tree for billets they'd be no more than 20% but I won't be suprised if it's double that. It's prob been down for about a year only

[@Master...deBater]

Wow Kurt that axe is a real beauty!!! I bought a 4.5# from AUS almost a decade ago before axe prices went CRAZY! Cost me $70 shipped to my door here in the states. Still has about 90% of the og green paint, factory bevel, and Spotted Gum handle...basically NOS! How can you tell the year of mnf? Mine has the exact same shape and topline as yours...looks identical I have noticed differences in profile shape throughout the years. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If it'd help I can E-mail some pics. Thanks.

[@kurts64]

Gday mate, sounds like you scored a good one! Prices have definitely gone nuts. I saw a Craftsman head on Aus ebay a while back asking for $350. Crazy. Theres definitely a lot of variation in hytest heads. To pick the age, some models had a date stamp on the underside of the axe between the eye and bit. This one has HAT 67 (Hytest Axe & Tool). If it doesnt have a date stamp, the poll, top line, bit flare, cheeks and stamp all varied a bit over the years but can give an idea. Earliest models are round poll Hytest Forged (about 1950) then square poll Hytest Forged with a fairly flat top. They remained square poll through the remains of production of stamped Challenger/Craftsman/Forester (about 57 - mid 70s, 80 maybe). After that time the profile became a fairly flat cheeked wedge with a paper label as far as I can work out. I'll show one of these flat cheek models in the next vid. Cheers mate👍👍🪓 If you have FB I'm on there as Bushie Kurt, you could also look at the group Worlds Greatest Tasmanian Patterns, heaps of good info

[@waynejorgensen4433]

The professional timber cutters I knew always had a stone in their back pocket to redress the blade when cutting she oaks or other crap timber. God they could work though.

[@kurts64]

Gday mate, yeah that's good practice. I use one of those little rectangular Norton pocket stones about the size of a cigarette lighter, but recently started trying a little diamond stone I've modified, it works pretty well I'll show it in the next vid. They were certainly bloody tough back in the day, sheoak can be a mongrel wood👍👍🪓

[@waynejorgensen4433]

MONEY used a round carbarundum stone that probably was good for scythes.

[@williefick]

Well done mate. Nice axe. Plenty of good timber in that log. Where about in Australia are you? I got now 12 Tassies that came from all over Aus.

[@kurts64]

Cheers mate. U building up a fair collection now! Have you found an overall favourite? I'm from NSW North Coast. 👍👍🪓

[@williefick]

Ok, that explain all the trees. Not as dry as North, South, and West Australia. I have discovered that it all depend on the wood you chop and also if its dry or wet. The stringier the wood the bigger, heavier, fat cheeks axes does better. Then I go for my two Hytest Forged, Forester, Trojan or Tuatahi. As you know the Tuatahi Camp axe on a long handle can handle also ugly wood despite its low weight. So, 1meter tree? 😀 Its on my list also.

[@tristanburns82]

Is it a firewood collection permit that you got?

[@kurts64]

Gday mate, yep allows a couple tonne harvested over a 3 month period. Easy enough to renew and good value for for both what you can do and for legal reasons. 👍👍🪓

[@tristanburns82]

@@kurts64 cheers.Nice job with craftsman

[@KevinsDisobedience]

#kangeroo shit That’s something you don’t hear in America lol

[@kurts64]

Hahaha 🦘🦘

[@mrpoopypants9586]

Beaut spot Kurt. Just a great job on that axe, too. Looking forward the next few. Would love to hear more about what work you're doing out there, how you organise yourself, permit system etc. Found your sharpening video really useful, too. Put it to work on a few old axes with my son. Keep 'em coming mate. Cheers PP

[@kurts64]

Gday mate, thanks a lot! I did shoot a vid after the last camping trip sort of a walk-n-talk about forestry, tree ID etc but it had some issues uploading I'll have to try to sort out. Glad your enjoying em mate that means a lot. 👍👍🪓

[@MidCoastAdventures]

Said it before, and I'll say it again - skills Kurt 😎👍🪓🪓

[@kurts64]

Gday mate, cheers! 👍👍🪓🏍