The Restoration of Coolemine Homestead

KB1971 said :

You know one of the things I noticed was the axe handiwork. I seem to have to work really hard on an axe to get it to do what I want. What this movie has got me thinking about was if I had ever used a good axe or not.

The two guys were shapening their axes at the start, to the point where they were razor sharp. I cant say I have used an axe like that.

When the younger guy was using either of his axes, he made it look easy. Now he doesnt look the fittest of blokes but he makes it look easy. In the close up shots, the axe is just slicing through the timber (harwood mind you) like a knife through butter so to speak.

I would like to learn a bit of this craft.

Partly the tree looked very green, and the axe was probably made of real metal not the cheap stuff.

That squaring up the tree was super accurate though the tree just seemed to fall apart in the right way

You know one of the things I noticed was the axe handiwork. I seem to have to work really hard on an axe to get it to do what I want. What this movie has got me thinking about was if I had ever used a good axe or not.

The two guys were shapening their axes at the start, to the point where they were razor sharp. I cant say I have used an axe like that.

When the younger guy was using either of his axes, he made it look easy. Now he doesnt look the fittest of blokes but he makes it look easy. In the close up shots, the axe is just slicing through the timber (harwood mind you) like a knife through butter so to speak.

I would like to learn a bit of this craft.

I spent a night at Blue Waterholes with some mates on a blokes weekend last year. Fantastic place.

Wow, what an amazing piece of history captured on film. I was quite surprised to see that that clip was made in the mid-80s, as initially I thought it was probably from the late-60s-early-70s.

Those guys have some wonderful skills and the way they are able to cut the posts and slabs so straight and true with their hand tools is a tribute to them. And the fact that they even cut the tree down by hand is pretty remarkable too.

Sure puts the ‘skills’ of some so-called current qualified builders to shame….

Thanks heaps for going to the trouble of posting this here, it’s unlikely many of us would have seen it otherwise. I’d forgotten I’d been there!

Back in the days where a trade meant you had quite a lot of skill at something. Now you only get that if its a hobby!

I used to ride horses and camp around this area with some genuine oldies (cattlemen) who lived and worked at Coolemine before it became national park. That guy (Bill Boyd?) really can wield that axe! A genuine skill. Brought back some good memories :o)

A beautiful part of the world. I’ll have to drag the family out there to have another look and visit Blue Waterholes at the same time. Thanks for posting.

It was wasn’t it? I would love to see more if they have it.

I knew that there would be a few people here that would appreciate it

Unexpectedly awesome, thanks! Brought back memories of DofE hikes up in that area.