Making an Aputu

[KuKulzA28]

that's a good point Vandoo, didn't even think of that, hehehe

Speaking of making... Remember, the Guiana and Amazonian tribes/towns had very limited lithic tech... they have primitive stone axes that seem to be far inferior to the fine axes of the Incas, Mayans, and celt axes of the North American Eastern woodlands... better for mashing the wood rather than chopping out chunks like the beautiful celts of the aforementioned cultures. Sure, they had palmwood machetes and saws, but these were only good for lighter vegetation and softwoods... for carving they used a peccary/javelina or agouti tooth style of chisel/knife tool (which is still used by many interior tribesmen)... I don't think they had files, though they had graters made of wooden board embedded with teeth so the idea of a rasp wasn't non-existent... just hard to make with the technology and materials at hand.

Today I tried using a grooved ax. The grooved axe can be expediently re-handled and is secure enough while it lasts. This is probably why it was used in the American west by the natives who did not have regular access to forests (and thus make the stronger celt style axes). I'm not sure if the Caribs used celts or grooved axes... but it's what I have. While it works... and it can chop softer wood with ease, and harder wood with some patience... it's inferior to steel in performance. And I am not even going to bother using an agouti tooth to plane the faces of the club.

...let's just say I'll be sticking with steel.

But for what it's worth, here's a grooved axe I assembled.

Filing down the front/back faces of the club now. Time consuming, and trying not to accidentally inhale wood-dust... cocobolo especially is known to give lethal lung infections.