The Ax Book

I've used an ax a lot since I was a kid (trust me, that's a long time) but The Ax Book has given me ideas I never would have thought of. This is the perfect book for the novice or the experienced woodsman. If an ax can do it, or shouldn't do it, I think it must be covered here - types, selection, safety, sharpening, felling, bucking, splitting, making and hafting a new handle, and if you have a woodlot how to get the most out of it and keep it productive. Cook even explains how to stack and store your firewood. There are several excellent chapters on felling and bucking with bucksaw and crosscut saws and sharpening, too, for those of you who want to forgo the ear splitting, whirling chainsaw. For those who use one, that wild beast is covered here, too. Clearly written everyday prose is supported by scads of detailed Eric Sloane-type drawings which alone make this book worth owning.