ASME B107.55-2002 pdf free download.AXES: SAFETY REQUREMENTS.
1.5 Equivalent
The word equivalent in this Standard shall be interpreted to mean alternative designs or features that will provide an equal decgree of safety.
2 NORMATIVE REFERENCES
The following documents form a part of this Standard to the extent specified herein. At the time of publication, the editions indicated were valid. All standards are subject to revision, and parties to agreements based on this American National Standard are encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the most recent editions of the standards indicated below.
ANSI Z87.1-1989, Practice for Occupational and Educational Eye and Face Protection; Supplement ANSI Z87.1a- 1991
The face may be a flat or slightly convex surfacc for use in driving wooden or plastic stakcs. Chamfering of the face is acceptabic but not required.
A nail slot in chc bit s acccptablc but flO( required. If provided, it shall be suitable for pulling unhardened nails.
4.1.3 A fire ax shall have a bit on one end of the head with a cutting edge running parallel to the handle length and a pick on the oppositc end. Thc bit shall have a tapcr from the eye section terminating in a cutting edge sharpened and ready for use in cutting wood or similar materials.
4.4.2 Hardness Determination Test. Hardness detcrmi nation with respect to faces, eye sections. bits. picks, and digging blades shall be rnadc on a tixtured ax or suitable mounted or unmounted specimen that has bccn Cut from thc tool using the wet abrasive or other equivalent method. Any hardncss lest that uses equipmcnt and methods equivalent to Rockwell hardness determinations, as specified in ASTM E 18, will be acceptable.
4.4.3 StrikIng and Tensile Force Test. Prior to tensile forcc testing, sample axes shall be subjected to thc following striking test:
Thc sampic ax shall rcccivc twenty swinging, continUous hard striking blows by a pcrson of average build, to 180 lb (73 to 82 kg), or the mechanical equivalent, commensurate with thc cnd usc and wcight of the ax, against hard wood material that is rigidly.