Oak & Stone
BEEN THINKIN’ ABOUT… OAK & STONE. High on the mountain ridge, last light of the evening sun shines through the red sumac leaves beneath the cedar and oak. Another long day, another hot summer, another farmers market coming to quiet close. Beyond, the sound of traffic, of slamming car door, of quiet chatter from the…



![“This axe is a failed project. It wouldn’t have failed if I hadn’t hardened the edge so hard. I was doing a Norse style technique for making the axe head. This is a lawnmower blade that I wrapped around. This is a file that I inserted into it. I couldn’t get a good forge weld so I tried doing what I lot of them did where you actually drilled through it and sink pins [into it]. But I ruined a drill bit or two trying to drill through the file. So I eventually just took my drifting tool and punched holes through it when it was hot and stuck nails through and then I welded it. And this last time I hardened it I immediately went to go test it and realized it was too hard when I chopped into a log or two and the edge chipped off.”](https://stateoftheozarks.net/showcase/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/IMG_8865-625x417.jpg)