The vid of the man making axe handle from a log reminded me of a carpentry crew I worked with when i first started my masonry business. they were about six Swedes who had. apparently, not been in this country for very long. They were very fast workers and somewhat rough around the edges at times. I remember I was doing a chimney. my scaffolding was 2x4 and 2x8 framing and 2x10 spruce planking. I was almost to the top of the 25 ft chimney i was building when all of a sudden my scaffold started shaking and vibrating. I looked down and a couple of the carpenters were tearing the bracing off of my lower scaffold so they could use the lumber on the garage they were building at far end of the house. With little old me, there was not much i was able to accomplish with my yelling and stomping. They were all about 6'+ a few inches tall and over 200#" per man. They just laughed at me. Being that i was all of 5-6 and 135 ringing wet, i decided to look at the humorous side and tore the rest of my scaffolding down, drove to my supplier and invested in steel staging frames and braces. The 2x?'s i used on other jobs for form work. that is just an idea of how rough those guys were.
Their lead trimmer did all of the doors on their houses and could do ten or a dozen in one day, from setting frames to fitting and hanging, including hand cutting in the hinges. In those days, the doors were solid wood, even closet doors, so he not only was fast, he had to be pretty solid construction himself. He had no help and used no jigs. I was amazed the first time i saw him fitting a door. For fitting and trimming, his only tool was his hatchet. He would handsaw the end grain parts, but for any running grain trimming and fitting, that hatchet was the tool. He could swipe down both door edges in about five minutes flat. when he was finished, one had to look very closely to determine it had not been done with a hand plane. Years later, i had occasion to do other work for eventual home owners. when i told them how their doors had been hung, they did not beleive me. Even after i showed them, they had to inspect, in some cases, with magnifying glass to see the chop marks. I think that man could have peeled a hair in half his; hatchet was so sharp. He would touch the edge up with a leather strop after every door.
