Making a Kalahari Bushmen's Axe / Adze Combo Tool

Описание: Making a Kalahari San Bushmen Axe / Adze with Dug North of the History Channel show ALONE, Season 12

Prior to being dropped in the South African desert for season 12 of Alone on HISTORY, I did what research I could on the San people (aka Bushmen) who have occupied the southern end of Africa for 100,000 years or more. If anyone knows how to survive in the region, it would be them.

Within living memory, the San were semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers, moving seasonally to make the best use of water, animals, and edible plants. Sadly, they have been largely dispossessed of their traditional territory, so living in "The Old Way" is no longer possible.

In this video I recreated their combined axe/adze tool based on a series of photographs from a friend who spent time among them.

This ingenious tool converts from a small axe to an adze. Whatsomore, the blade can be used apart from the handle to serve as a knife, chisel, wedge, or scraper.

Unlike western axes that have a hole in the head for the wood handle, many African axes have a hole in the wood into which the metal axe is inserted. Like many places in Africa, I used a bit of car leaf spring which only requires minor forging.

00:00 - 00:35 - Find the steel and sketching the axe head
00:36 - 01:05 - Cutting the spring steel
01:06 - 02:07 - Forging the axe head
02:08 - 03:38 - Shaping the wood handle
03:39 - 03:49 - Drilling the wood handle
04:00 - 04:42 - Burning in the axe head
04:43 - 05:13 - Hardening the cutting edge
05:14 - 05:54 - Sharpening the axe
05:55 - 06:33 - Oiling the wood handle
06:34 - 08:38 - Testing the axe and adze

Shout out to my friend, Phillip Liebel of Primitive Wilderness Survival, who created his own video about the Kalahari Bushmen's Axe some time ago:
   • Kalahari bushmen axe  

Phillip also offers a version for sale called the PWS Bushman Axe on his website:
https://www.primitivewildernesssurviv...

#ALONE #AloneAfrica