Tassie pattern Axe work, Bucking, Campfire in the Aussie bush (Cordwood Challenge)

A quiet day in the bush, working on the 4th rick for the Axe Cordwood Challenge. Campfire and bucking up a dodgy Grey Gum at the loggers camp, using a few vintage Tassie pattern axes- the 4lb Hults Bruk Agdor, a new-to-me 4.5lb Walters Black Diamond, and an unbranded 4.5lber i call the Tassie Racer.
I let this vid run a little longer than usual to show the variation in the log. This thing had it all- straight grain green wood, knots, burls, dead wood, rot, charred wood, hard sap lines and hollows. Needing to vary chopping patterns kept it challenging and turned out to be a good test of grind and edge retention.
The old reliable HB did well, with no edge damage at all. This was the first time id used the Walters, it had the same 20 degree grind and in two notches ended up with noticeable edge wear that needed filing out.
Cheers for watching!

[@gumboot65]

So nice that you Dont have any music other than the sounds of nature , the fire crackling and the song of the Axe ! Lulled me right to sleep. Course , it was 11:30 pm.

[@kurts64]

That's bloody awesome mate!

[@peterfletcher8411]

Those chips are flying.... Another really enjoyable clip mate. Classic skills, classic setting....Love it.🙂👍💯 Ps....Thats some nice leatherwork there.

[@kurts64]

Gday Pete, thanks mate! How are you going with this rain at the moment?

[@peterfletcher8411]

@@kurts64 G'day Kurt...doing ok as far as flooding goes. Plenty not so lucky though. Sure is a wet spell though. Hope you and yours are high and dry. Been working on cleaning up a couple old axes. Cheers mate.

[@kurts64]

@@peterfletcher8411 all good here. Had a bit of water round my woodstack but she'll be right! Good thing about rain is the shed time- good luck with the axes!

[@waynejorgensen4433]

You brought back some good memories. I used to help the old man and his dad clear their block in qld back when I was a little tager. Must have been good for me as I’m 188cm and 110 kg now. We used to dread the old she oaks in the scrub. Blunted the axes. Dad and grandpa are both gone now but I still have their axes, a hytest and plumb respectively. Dad was a bit jealous of the plumb but I think the old bugger swinging it knew what he was doing….

[@kurts64]

That's great to hear mate, and cool you've still got the old tools. My two eldest kids got roped into clearing this logging camp of she-oaks, wattles and turpentine suckers in the weeks prior to this vid - didn't do em any harm at all, good for kids these days to do a bit of old fashioned hard work. Cheers for watching mate!👍🇦🇺🪓

[@waynejorgensen4433]

@@kurts64 totally agree. I certainly miss the simpler life. I can say one thing you are a fit bugger. W

[@macca12]

Its good to hear the sound of an axeman working in the aussie bush. Keep up the good work

[@kurts64]

Thanks mate! There's something about that echo through the gums that gets me too. Cheers👍👍

[@MatthewAmsbaugh]

Man, I’ve often rewatched your videos for tips. Your form is spot on. You make it look easy!

[@kurts64]

Haha cheers man, was just watching your birch handle jersey vid!

[@cosmicbilly]

Also awesome video! Glad to have you partaking in the challenge!! I have alittle over a cord right now. Felled about 8 smaller trees on my property and are about to cut down some big ones hopefully by next Tuesday! Maybe I'll finally get some video of me chopping!

[@kurts64]

Cheers Billy! Good job on reaching your cord, looking forward to some vids! Thanks mate👍

[@jamesoleary4742]

Was looking forward to your next video bud and you didn't disappoint. That stuff looks unreal hard but you made easy work of it 👌

[@kurts64]

Thanks a lot mate! Definitely a fun bit of timber. Still got the top half to go, hopefully it's a bit easier!

[@elemental4rce]

that's a lovely looking tassie!

[@kurts64]

Cheers Owen, Thanks for watching mate, looking forward to your next one! Hope ur all good up there

[@seff2318]

Brilliant video and write up 🤙

[@kurts64]

Cheers mate, thanks for checkin it out, and commenting!👍

[@jamesgroves5294]

Great video! I love the axe and bush crafting combination🙏🏿🇺🇸🪓

[@kurts64]

Cheers mate, best way to spend a day I reckon, wish we could all do it more often!

[@guyvanderveken5041]

Awesome content, cool axes, proper wood, just stumbled on to your vids, look forward to a lot more, great motivation Mate. Cheers

[@kurts64]

G'day mate, thanks for watching, and the kind words. Hope to get some more vids out soon, cheers!

[@benscottwoodchopper]

Fantastic video mate, really enjoyed. That wood looks interesting to chop, very crisp

[@kurts64]

Cheers mate, thanks for checking out the vid. Felt like it took forever to get through that log

[@brettbrown9814]

Awesome video Kurt! Very enjoyable. Great to see a variety of axes at work on one tough old log.

[@kurts64]

Gday Brett, cheers! I ran a couple of other axes I didn't show in the vid, they pretty much all needed a file afterward except the HB. Thanks for watching, how's your winter treating you over there?

[@brettbrown9814]

@@kurts64 Winter has not been to cold so far with lows around freezing at night in our area. Lots of rain and some flooding near rivers in parts of the country. Really hard on the farmers. Take care.

[@aussieaxedude154]

Sweet video dude them Tassie patterns throw mad chips. That log looked tough!!! cool axe line up

[@kurts64]

Thanks for checkin out the vid mate, was a good day out bush. Cheers!

[@samulikilpinen1233]

Man, you're a machine with those big axes. That wood looks beautiful but hard as hell. How did I miss these latest videos... anyway, I probably said this before but that place of yours looks so comfy. Recipe for a happy life I guess.

[@kurts64]

G'day mate, that log was a bugger. It came through the bushfires but was half burnt, knotty, crispy, burly stuff!

[@GeoterricsOutdoorsAustralia]

Great film-making Kurt - saw your link on Alex Does - great channel. Hope to see more content soon.

[@kurts64]

Thanks mate, for the comment and the sub. Working on a new vid, hopefully out soon! Cheers!

[@KillingerUSA]

Awesome video! That wood looks tough!

[@kurts64]

Cheers! Yeah grey gum is a pretty hard timber, add in a few knots and some fire-hardening makes it even better 🥵

[@chimmy4244]

Glad to see you back at it and working some beautiful axes! Wish I could do the same but the mosquitoes are taking over right now in the states. Look forward to the next one!

[@kurts64]

Cheers mate, sorry to hear bout the mozzies. It's winter here so the snakes and bugs have calmed down a bit, still a few ticks about though. Thanks for tuning in!

[@Joey-L]

Great video Kurt. Glad to see you back at it. Four ricks is impressive, but I get the feeling you aren't done yet ! That wood really looked tough and you can definitely see the variations. I really like bringing different axes and testing them out against each other in different woods, so it was nice to see you doing the same. Keep at it brother.

[@kurts64]

Thanks Joey, nah mate not done yet! Had some rib/shoulder issues for a bit, trying to get back at it. Ive had this log chew up a few edges now, and I've still got the top half to go. Hoping to test out a new axe or two on it soon. Cheers mate!

[@mrpanda39]

You can just feel how hard that wood is. Gotta love Aussie wood aye haha

[@kurts64]

Haha, yeah wears you out a bit. The old timers were hard bastards, for sure. Cheers for watching, are you in Aus?

[@mrpanda39]

@@kurts64 Yeah mate based in Tassie

[@skinnybearthedogs2654]

Thanks for the video Kurt, it really was a small windows into the bush and it felt good. I love the editing pace.

[@kurts64]

Hey man, good to hear from you, thanks for the feedback! How's your woodstack coming along, looking forward to your next vid

[@skinnybearthedogs2654]

@@kurts64 I have around 7 cube meters done so far, but I haven't really been in the woods for a little while because of a big commission work I need to do and which takes all my time :/, and when I did it was off camera because I'm lazy to set the camera and do the edits. Also the climate here has been nuts this year, either it was raining hard, either it was 40°C+... I even had to start a fire during August lol, this is madness. So all this combined together I didn't produced a lot. I need 10-12 cube meters of wood every winter/year so I'll go back at it anytime soon. I'll do some video if i'm not too lazy about it :).

[@kurts64]

@@skinnybearthedogs2654 that's a massive effort with an axe mate. I haven't been out as much as I'd like lately either, work stuff too. Good luck with the big commission, hopefully you can find some bush time!

[@douglas9607]

That poor dog looks exhausted. Good chopping. Greetings from lowlands of Maryland.

[@kurts64]

haha yeah he had a hard day😆...thanks mate. G'day from northern NSW, hope your doin well over there!

[@bundufundi]

Hey mate great video, filming and editing was excellent! Man, you make chopping that rock hard log look easy! Did you do all the leatherwork on the axe masks, they look good?

[@kurts64]

Thanks a lot mate, cheers for watching! I don't mind a bit of leatherwork, been doing it a fair few years now. Had a few shockers along the way though, and like you said in your sheath kit vid, takes a while to accumulate the gear, but worth doing. Bloody frustrating at times though!

[@silverback4434]

Your dog are cute

[@kurts64]

Haha cheers mate, he's alright when he's not attacking the creek👍

[@AlexDoes]

Hey Kurt, I really enjoyed watching all of this video. Time I start thinking about an axe upgrade perhaps. And what sort of knife is that you have?

[@kurts64]

Gday Alex, thanks for the comment and checkin out the vids! If your after something slightly larger than your Granfors, but still want to stay with a mid size, try a Hultafors/Hults Bruk Montreal 2.5. HuntGatherGrow should have some in stock.The fit and finish is not as high as the GB, but it's a good weight and size. Ive just built one up, should have a vid up soon.The knife is one of my own customs, made from 80crv2 with ironbark scales. Cheers mate!👍

[@KevinsDisobedience]

Where’d you get that copper cup? Nice bit of kit.

[@kurts64]

Gday mate, it's a GSI aluminium I picked up from somewhere. Perfect size though, goes everywhere

[@skaagkaal2613]

Great axe! Was that one of the vintage arvika five stars you mentioned in kevin's video about his own? Girls throws those chips like an ex throwing all your stuff out.

[@kurts64]

🤣🤣Thanks mate! I didn't realise that, but yeah this is one of the 4lbers, pretty much my grab-and-go axe. It might actually be an interesting test to tune up a 4.5 the same grind as Kevin's and see if there's any performance difference between vintage and new. Different wood, but still...

[@lifebehindtheaxe3835]

That thing eats knots for breakfast

[@kurts64]

Lol cheers mate, looking forward to your next one, hope ur all good👍

[@lifebehindtheaxe3835]

@@kurts64 never been busier. I've been filming, just no time for editing unfortunately. Should change soon

[@kurts64]

@@lifebehindtheaxe3835 good stuff, glad to hear!

[@brettbrown9814]

Have you had any experience with Hytest axes? I picked up a 3 1/2 lb. Hytest Challenger head the other day.

[@kurts64]

MAAATE! A 3.5 Hytest is pretty much my dream axe! Congrats, that's an awesome find, pretty rare nowadays. 4 and 4.5 are much more common, I've only ever seen the one 3.5.A mates got one and simply won't part with it. Treat that thing well and it should last you forever. I'd probably try to get a chisel edge of about 20-22° on it, and a handle 28- 30 inch. Keep me updated on that one mate!

[@brettbrown9814]

Thanks for the quick reply Kurt. I thought it looked pretty special. Needs a bit of love and a handle. I think a 28" would be a good fit for me. Take care mate.

[@kurts64]

@@brettbrown9814 No worries! I'd love to see some pics if that's ok, if you've got FB you could put it on the cordwood challenge page. Cheers and good luck with it!

[@lukasking2573]

What wood is that? What is your bevel angel? 20 degree? Great video

[@kurts64]

G'day mate, the timber is a crusty Grey Gum that I took down after the 2020 fires came through here. It survived, but the base got burned out and would have probably toppled over the boundary fence if I'd left it. Fire-hardened timber! Yep 20° flattish chisel is what I put on most axes, versatile and holds up fairly well. Cheers for watching!

[@lukasking2573]

@@kurts64 thank you

[@pm270100]

where is this at pls

[@kurts64]

NSW mid-north coast, cheers for watching👍

[@shaveclassy9986]

Do you use that grey gum for building?

[@cosmicbilly]

Wood so hard it looks like your chopping ice lol What kind of wood is that?

[@kurts64]

😆haha, this is grey gum, eucalyptus punctata. They're classed as a medium sized gum, but I've seen em up to about 1 metre diameter. One of my favourites for both axe work and firewood. The bark changes colour throughout the year, orange, grey, white, green, beautiful tree👍

[@shaveclassy9986]

Stringy bark will light your fire

[@kurts64]

Yeah stringy works well. This was turpentine bark, a bit flakier than stringybark, bit damp from rain. Took forever!

[@bladesandbows1521]

Isn’t shopping deadwood just the best? Blah🤮

[@kurts64]

Hahaha your not wrong! Cheers mate, thanks for checkin out the vids!