Thread: Is this a Kelly axe

Well hung that man...

Worlds finest is a Kelly brand mark - there's quite a bit of history on the web about the company if you google. The Aussie arm was a license production deal using the branding - can't recall the rest of it at the mo.

But basically if it has worlds finest it's the same outfit that made the Kelly axes - even though some of their product used different branding with the world's finest mark they are still the same thing effectively.

So this is worth saving then ?

Hell yes

As said earlier the rust removing plastic stringy type wheel for angle grinder will bring that back to like new in no time.

again hell yes very hard to get a good axe now some of the old ones are the best

Yep, the chips on the edge look to be the worst of it. File flat with an engineers file, then reprofile the edge with the same tool and then sharpen. If you search for the us forestry manual or axe sharpening gauge you should find the profile that works best for a general purpose axe edge.

The purestas will be horrified by that, insisting on custom race banana grind #17 but the US forestry profile works best for general use.

much better than taking to it with an angle grinder and stuffing the tempering and yes one can cool in water but some dont know that

I never took a before photo because it looked like a very rusty cheap junk axe.

and now you have a treasure to pass on

Worlds Finest branding is just Kelly under a different name. Kelly wasn’t a well known brand down these way of the world so they were branded differently. The ridges inside the head are a bit of a pain in the arse but bloody axes aside from that. Watch out, axe collecting can become an addiction very fast!!

Was it acky acky timber that was suggested as ideal for handles??

Akeake is an expression made by Maori warriors when fighting or defending a position and means “Forever, forever”, and it is also the Maori name for the tree Dodonaea viscosa, the strong wood of which was used to make traditional weapons.

now whether that translates to axe handles dont know - but it was used for taiha ( long wooden fighting weapon ) my cousin was a champion axeman and he did tell me they used kanuka for racing axe handles - but quite a process - was kept in the dark ( suitable pieces ) for several years to dry and harden then carefully inspected for cracks before cuttiing carefully with the grain into a handle - I remember him saying one had to work with the cracks if that makes sense - they cracked from the inside in star pattern - but provided the piece was big enough one could cut around any crack - well have seen eastcoast kanuka over a foot thru so could be a go

You maybe familiar with kahura down the river??? Plenty of huge kanuka down there. Will look up that plant ta.

well kanuka what cracks best firewood out and the saw dust really good for smoking kahawai eels etc