Passe Expertise: Stone Axe (celt)
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Infomation
Description
The manufacture of a stone ax including the handle from using only primitive tools and materials. It is a celt (pronounced "selt") a type of ax with a polished stone head wedged into a hole or mortise at the end of a wooden handle (not to be confused with a "Kelt" referring to a Celtic person). The head took about a week and a day to make as I chose to make it from a particularly large piece of basalt. The hammer stone used to shape the basalt was of quartz. This involved hammering, pecking, grinding and polishing the head into the final shape. The handle took a day and a morning to make. A chisel was made from stone and a mallet made from a log. These were used to cut the tree for the handle and shape it once down. Fire was used to harden the wood and also to help shape the mortise. The ax was then used to cut down a tree the day after the handle was a tree itself. It is a more efficient tool for felling trees than the hand ax I made and at the time of uploading this video has cut down 4 trees which I will use later. Because this stone axe is blunter than a steel one, the blade needs to hit the tree at angles greater than 45 degrees- otherwise the blade would glance off. So celts were used more like wedges than modern axes.
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Transcription
Making a stone axe from scratch Selecting a piece of basalt from the creek bed Breaking smaller pieces off the main stone A large piece flaked off Shaping the cutting edge using a pecking technique Wetting a grind stone and grinding the axe head into shape Finer grade of grind stone Grinding the very edge with a progressively finer grades of stone Charcoal is used last for final finish.
Making a stone chisel from mudstone Grinding chisel edge Cutting tree with mallet and chisel Carving mortise to haft stone head A hot coal is used to burn out the mortise, fire hardening it in the process (prevents splitting) Tapering the handle Fire hardening the handle to help it dry Scraping the mortise so the head fits well Fitting the head.
Notice the sides of the head do not touch the sides of the mortise (other wise it would split with use) A few cautious hits to wedge the head in The axe must hit at closer to 90 degrees than a modern steel axe as the blunter blade would otherwise glance off
Infomation
Author: Author Link: Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN-34JfUrHY Category: Channel Name: Primitive Technology Channel ID: 22 Tags: primitive,stone,axe,celt,stone ax,stone axe,primitive technology,stone tools,ground stone tool,hafting,hafted,stone age,primitive skills,pt,