Nice axes are nice. We all know that pull when coming across a truly beautiful axe and feeling our hands, unwittingly, reaching for our Venmo accounts. James Coverdale's work is exactly that: I almost immediately abandoned my "no new axes" rule to get one of his big axes because, and I'll put this as plainly as I can: it made me feel like the world was alright.
I sat down with James after Cwenhild joined my war band of axes (doing the interview beforehand felt weird), here's what we talked about during our Tiny Axemaker Interview (not that James is tiny. The interview was. Just to be clear).
Is this your first Choptober?
Not only is it my first Choptober, but it's my first time in the country.
No kiddin'?
I've never done anything outside of Europe, really, and I thought what better place to do it than Choptober.
How difficult is it for you to import all of these axes, and package them, and how do you ship them?
It's surprisingly easy - I was shocked to be honest, I thought I'd have a lot of problems.
I just wrapped them all in bubble wrap, taped two together at a time, and packed out my suitcase with towels, tee shirts.
As far as customs goes, I just printed out the confirmation for this event, and to be on the safe side a screenshot of my Axescores. After that, nothing! As long as everything is secured it's quite easy.
How long have you been making axes?
I've been dabbling in it for about a year and a half, two years? But I've really found my feet in the last 9 months. I honed my skill and found my style, as it were.
There are elements of it that are similar to other designs - the lamination, for example. But there are other elements that I can truly say I haven't seen before today. This braiding of wood you have near the handles is absolutely unique, and even the shape - while not unique perhaps, seems to be specialized.
Is that style something you came to because people were asking for it, or because it's what you would like to throw?
I still haven't found my working combo, no, so it's not me. It's largely dull (my style) compared to what people request the most. When I started doing commissions, people wanted a more squared off design so things wouldn't twist in their hands. It's largely what I do.
You kinda mentioned it just now, but are you noticing trends in the UK towards people throwing more designs like this, or something else?
I don't suppose there really is a trend, really. I think people like different things, variations, but there is a kind of safety ground I follow that doesn't vary too much.
I'm kinda losing my mind about the woven-style handle. What inspired you to do that? No trade secrets if there are any, of course, but I'm super curious.
I'd love to tell you about the origin of it, but I have no idea. It was probably something I saw online once, but who knows.
As far as how it's done, it's all lamination done off the axe, and then applied once it's complete. It's fiddly, because you have to get it lined up on both sides, or it looks horrific.
Where do you get your supplies?
In the UK it's not tremendously hard to get woods. I have a supplier an hour away. Otherwise, good ol' Ebay. There are so many people there who have crazy exotic woods to get.
Do you see yourself doing this in five years? Any goals to achieve during that time?
I don't see why not, yeah.
There's no such thing as perfection, but we can all chase it. My work is much better than it was. Onwards and upwards is what we say in the UK. I'm still quite new to all of this, not many people outside of the UK know who I am, so with a little bit more exposure, I'm hoping to get to a point where I'm doing all this on a larger scale.
Speaking of: can people outside of the UK get your axes?
Shipping an axe to the US is not tricky at all - about sixty dollars for shipping - you can find my stuff online and I'm happy to work with anyone.
Anybody you wanna shout out?
My dad - I know that's a typical Hollywood acceptance speech kind of thing, but without him I wouldn't be doing anything like this. He's the reason I know a lot of what I do. When I was two years old, I didn't have an action figure, I had a drill, and hammers, and nails. We were practically minded.
He didn't teach me how to make an axe, but all the foundational stuff came from him.
Outside of him, Mr. Carl Howe, owner of Valhalla North and a good friend of mine - he's here today. He was the one who suggested I do this.
And my mother as well. She's no longer with us, unfortunately, but she's why I'm as artistically minded as I am. That's where the perfect combo comes from. I come up with these designs and combos from what I get through her.
And everyone here, I guess. This is all incredible and I love it.
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