Axes!

Howdy all!

I'm getting ready for my summer camping season and just bought two new axes. Both are Gransfors Bruks axes and have ready good things about them.

Id love to make this into one of those post your picture threads so lets see those axes!

Also what do you guys use to sharpen your axes?

The knife store I frequent has a nice tomahawk selection, but I have no practical use for one. Even so, I was checking them out and want a Cold Steel one.

I read an article on axe sharpening, and the guy stated that even though you could get one razor sharp, to do so was pointless and you only need to use a file. This is my method for my sheers too.

A file works great. Try a compound bevel.

I have an Estwing, which has done a number on several trees and logs.

No idea how to sharpen one though.

Found it
http://artofmanliness.com/2011/08/11/how-to-sharpen-tools/

Me and my axe...oh wait...wrong axe!

do you have a single bit or double-bit axe? For a double bit I file a sharp but blunt edge on one face then file a sharp edge and smooth down the check on the other edge. Please note that you use one side for cutting wood and the other for close contacts with unforgiving objects. You should never take a grinder to an axe unless it has been hardern to the point that a file will not touch the edge. A good axe has a soft steel and is easily sharpend with a good bastard file.

Both axes I ordered are single bit.

I would enjoy a double bit axe but at the moment don't have a lot of space for one lol

What I would do is cleanup the cheeks on one that you only use for splitting kindeling and other firewood and it doesn't leave your sight while the other one gets a sharp blunt edge that will not hurt someone to bad if they lack the knowledge on what they have.

BingeAndPurge said:

The knife store I frequent has a nice tomahawk selection, but I have no practical use for one. Even so, I was checking them out and want a Cold Steel one.

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Oddly enough, I just had a Coldsteel tomahawk (rifleman's t/h, IIRC) arrive in the mail yesterday. It seems pretty cool. I was wanting something hatchet-like for camping (spltting smaller wood, kindling, nailing in tent/tarp spikes) with a bit of a retro feel.

It comes 'sharp-ish' ... so I'll need to give it a honing. I haven't used it or anything, but it's got a thumbs up from me so far.

I was in an antiue store on the weekend and found a cool hatchet. I have no idea how old the head is, but it is pretty obviously blacksmith forged, so... very old I think. The handle is probably not original, but still old. I gave it a light sand, then a bees wax finish. Just honed up the head and got it zombie ready.

SWMBO blames the fact that I saw The Revenant not long ago, and now think I am a frontiersman.

Nice.

Just noticed this thread. Not that many decades ago we cared more about the style of ax than manufacturer. On the farm our preferred ax was the club ax, since it could double to pound stakes fixing fence. We had a couple of old double-bit axes and was told one side was for cutting and the other for splitting. We never used either in the dirt. For that we used a "grubbing hoe," AKA mattock. We also had a hewing ax, with the curved handle. First scored the log horizontally with a club ax, then hewed with a hewing ax. We also favored the straight bottom handles, as in the days before epoxy to bond head to handle a straight bottom made it easier to tap a loose head tight for field expedient repairs.

Sharpening was often a down-time chore. We'd secure it in a vise and sharpen with a file. You can - and I did - cut myself sharpening axes, and got to where I'd wear canvas work gloves for protection. Sharpening makes a world of difference.

FWIW, my father was particular when choosing handles. He insisted on the grain running in the same plane as the head. He said this made it more resistant to breaking.

I used to heat my house almost exclusively with wood heat when I lived in Wisconsin, as such, I used to cut and split a few cords of wood a year.
I always used to use a bench grinder to sharpen my ax. You can use a file if you want but honestly, a grinding wheel is faster and a lot less work.

Legion said:

I was in an antiue store on the weekend and found a cool hatchet. I have no idea how old the head is, but it is pretty obviously blacksmith forged, so... very old I think. The handle is probably not original, but still old. I gave it a light sand, then a bees wax finish. Just honed up the head and got it zombie ready.

SWMBO blames the fact that I saw The Revenant not long ago, and now think I am a frontiersman.



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I would suggest using mineral oil to clean it up rather than sanding. You might find a stamp on the axe head. I use one that looks very similar.

Badgerstate36 said:

I always used to use a bench grinder to sharpen my ax. You can use a file if you want but honestly, a grinding wheel is faster and a lot less work.

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I was specifically forbidden to use a bench grinder on an ax. My father had the opinion that it was too easy to mess around and ruin the temper on the edge. We talked about rigging two old fashioned grindstones to a step pedals and water troughs, but never got around to it.

BTW, we did use bench grinders on lawn mower blades.

Badgerstate36 said:

I used to heat my house almost exclusively with wood heat when I lived in Wisconsin, as such, I used to cut and split a few cords of wood a year.
I always used to use a bench grinder to sharpen my ax. You can use a file if you want but honestly, a grinding wheel is faster and a lot less work.

Click to expand...

I use an axe a lot up here in the hills. Have a few...Husqvarna Hatchet (1.5 head)
Husqvarna Multi-Purpose Traditional Forestry Axe (1.9 lb. head), an Estwing Camp hatchet (anyone NOT own one of these?), Council Tool Boy's Axe (2.2 lb head) and Council Tool Dayton pattern Felling Axe (3.5 lb. head). I use a 10 inch bastard file to maintain them all. Occasionally I'll touch them up with one of those hockey puck shaped stones. Don't ever want to use a grinding wheel.
I agree with Dad.

I use a fine grinding wheel on a Dremmel to do the grunt work, then go to a 600 dmt diamond plate.

I just made a little sheath for my hatchet, so I can carry it fairly sharp without risk of injury or damage.

No, tell your wife that frontiersmen use something like this: