https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/07/ukraine-toolmaker-kept-working

Don

-- 

"There are people you knew in high school who remain bosom buddies for 
life. Everyone you meet after that cannot be trusted." -Alex Kerr

\u201cTo argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, 
and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like 
administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist 
by scripture.\u201d \u2015 Thomas Paine, The American Crisis

Pretty interesting Don. They have a lot of interesting knives, chisels, gouges,
draw knives, axes, hammers, etc. etc. some tools you don’t see very often, like
a stock knife. Quality looks good and prices look fair. Well done website -

Fadir.tool ( https://fadirtools.com/ )
fadirtools.com ( https://fadirtools.com/ )
logopng.png ( https://fadirtools.com/ )

( https://fadirtools.com/ )

GG's

What is a "Yakut Chisel"?

https://fadirtools.com/products/set-of-five-big-chisels-with-beveled-edges-in-
the-leather-bag-yakut-style

Yakut:
a member of an indigenous people living in scattered settlements in northern
Siberia.
The chisel seems to have a hollow _front_.  Contrast that with the hollow back
of traditional Japanese chisels.

When the wear extends back to the hollow, what then?

I'm thinking that it's a tool steel edge forge-welded onto a soft(er) iron body;
when the laminated edge is gone, the tool is kaput.

John Ruth

> I'm thinking that it's a tool steel edge forge-welded onto a soft(er) iron
body; when the laminated edge is gone, the tool is kaput.

Well, yes,  But the same is true of my broad axes, all of my tapered
plane blades, and almost all of my mortise chisels.  The question is how
far back on the blade does the steel extend?  

Mike in Woodland

I have ordered tools from two differents tool maker in Ukraine but not this
particular one.  Have axes, chisels, and carving knives including the Yakut
style.  Have two more orders on the way via the international postal system.

I’m too busy today to go into detail, but will write more this weekend.  I found
these via Etsy.  If I can I will post photos.

—Scott


On Sep 7, 2023, at 2:10 PM, Don Schwartz via groups.io 
wrote:

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StagerS%40missouri.edu%7C3ea1b8e657a1419de6c308dbafd61086%7Ce3fefdbef7e9401ba51a
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Don

--

"There are people you knew in high school who remain bosom buddies for
life. Everyone you meet after that cannot be trusted." -Alex Kerr

“To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason,
and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like
administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist
by scripture.” ― Thomas Paine, The American Crisis








---------------------------------------------------
Scott Stager
Columbia MO
573-474-5955 home
573-424-4764 cell
stagers@m...

I think Fadir has an Etsy store as well.

On Fri, Sep 8, 2023 at 9:38 AM Stager, Scott P. 
wrote:

Ok, spent 2+ hours this afternoon figuring out how to post photos to our
Oldtools groups-io site so that I could show you some of the tools I purchaed
from Ukrainian manufacturers.

Had to:

1) re-learn how to creat an album on site
2) re-learn how to post photo to album
3) find out that my HEIC photos from my iPhone besides being huge and taking
forever to load are not readable on site
4) figure out how to delete photos already loaded
5) figure out how to convert the photos to Jpgs on Mac and try again - oh, and
they are still huge
5) figure out how to reduce size on Mac and try again
6) finally got reasonably sized photos on site
7) figure out how to edit and add reasonable comments.
8) figure out how to post link to album

Whew, just hope I can remember that all the next time.

So I think this will get you there:
https://groups.io/g/oldtools/album?id=289428

DIscussion

Both this vendor and another I ordered from (maybe more photos later) were eager
to please and were quick to repond to inquires.  Etsy makes it reasonable to
communicate with them.  The other vendor failed to provide a left handed verion
of a tool that he said he would do.  I corresponded and he immediately sent a
replacement and did not ask for a return of the first.

Shipment from Ukraine was slow of course.  Some of the tools were probably pre-
made, but maybe not all.  Took them up to 2 weeks to get shipment ready, and
then 10-14 days to get posted and out of Ukraine.  From there it went to USPS
international depot in NYC and then only a few days to get to me in Missouri.

The workmanship is first class, and the items from StrongWay tools came with
excellent leather sheaths - I was impressed.

The little axe is a smaller version of larger ones I have both from Grandfors
Bruks and a local young up and coming smith in Missouri.  It is less than half
the weight of those.  I’m getting older and my arm gives out quicker so the
smaller size works very well.  Swings great, great balance, and enough heft to
get what I want done done.

And they are wicked sharp and surface polished to almost a miror finish.  I am
ticlked to death with them.

YAKUT KNIVES:

As I understand it they are a traditional style from far north Siberia.  Flat
side with “hollow” Means that sharpening only requires honing on a flat stone
with mnimal effort.  Convex side is not touched in other than original
production.  Quick and easy, no bevels to maintain, just flat against a stone or
probably flat rock back in the days.  They are not laminated as some have
wondered.

But, I have not decided which is left handed and which is righrt handed.  Comes
down to which side one puts agains the material being carved.  I suspect that
for tradtional hunting, skinning and survival the convex side goes agains the
animal carcase with the flat side away.  But I’m thinking that for carving of
green wood like spoons etc, I will find it much more effective to work with the
flat side against the item from which material is being removed.  So I ordered
the set of two - experiments will ensue.  I’ll try to post any expeimenal
observations.

CONCLUSION:

With the conflict in Ukraine I was of course worried about getting the product
but decided to try to support them in their efforts.  The variety of tools
available was impressive, and the photos were drool worthy.  One caveat is with
the language difference there is the potential for confusion whether the listing
was for a single item or a set.  They tend to use the word set for items where a
selection of a single size is required.  Just read carefully and if the price
seems too good, it is probably a single item price.  Prices are amazingly low in
my opion, perhaps due to ongoing conflict.

I do have two more orders on the way, one from Strongway tools including an even
smaller axe.  I will post additional photos when they arrive.

For the record the two vendors are:

Strongway Tools
ForgedSteelTools (from whom I orderedd a spoon/bowl carving set with gouges and
hook knives)

Questions are welcome

—Scott
(The one in central Missouri)

---------------------------------------------------
Scott Stager
Columbia MO
573-474-5955 home
573-424-4764 cell
stagers@m...

On Etsy they go by “KharkivForge”

I had been watching them and just figured out that they are indeed the Fadir
Tools featured in the Guardian news feed.

On Sep 8, 2023, at 12:53 PM, Phil Schempf  wrote:

I think Fadir has an Etsy store as well.


---------------------------------------------------
Scott Stager
Columbia MO
573-474-5955 home
573-424-4764 cell
stagers@m...

Esther,

I have been using TruOil for decades on firearms and tool handles. It is a very
forgiving product.

My regular process is to apply three coats of TruOil and then sand back to the
surface of the wood. This fills the pores and smooths the surface for the finish
coats. Usually three to four thin coats are applied until the surface is smooth
and glossy. Sometimes, I will leave it like that. Other times, I'll cut back the
gloss with 0000 steel wool and apply a paste wax for a satin finish.

I've never had an issue with layer adhesion of any kind. I once had trouble with
the finish on a plane handle that blushed due to moisture trapped in the film,
but that was back when I used to use chemical strippers for removing old finish.
I now use a card scraper.

Advise your friend to thoroughly clean the gunstock to remove wax and oil before
sanding or applying more finish. Naphtha does a fine job without affecting the
finish itself.

Bob Page
In da U.P. of Michigan






On Friday, September 15, 2023 at 03:26:23 PM EDT, Esther  wrote: 





Gentle galoots,

I have a finish question from a friend of my sister who is a gun 
repairer/dealer.  He has a gun that was wrapped in bubble wrap for a 
number of years and it has left marks in the transparent finish that 
mirror the bubbles, like it melted slightly and resolidified.  He thinks 
the finish is "true oil" and was wondering if there is some way of 
reamalginating it the way you can repait shellac which will bond with a 
new layer?

I have a pic I can send, haven't sorted out how to post to the online 
list spot.

Any suggestions welcomed and appreciated.

Thank you!

Esther