Thread: Axes!

Originally Posted by MickR

I believe it soaks into the haft of the axe in the form of honest sweat and hard work pixel . I have a small tomahawk or three, but no real full sized axes. I love the double headed woodsman's axe, but haven't seen any in this country. I would own one of them if I could. I also have a chainsaw and have done a lot of work with them in my days of volunteer rescue and emergency services, but axes are safer even if they are slower.


Mick

I heated my last house for 23 years with wood,5 cords/yr,all split by hand with mauls and wedges,I know what sweat is.

I will follow up with a working review of the Gransfors Bruk Small Forest Axe but can give a first impression. When comparing it to the Wetterlings, there is just a bit more "fit and finish" to the GB axe. Hammermarks are less prominent & it flows just a bit smoother, but it still has the handmade feel about it. Hoping to be able to finish up on the yard tomorrow and put it through some paces, but until then...here's some pics:

Hey Scott , are you going to be doing any cutting soon?

I might add that the book/pamplet that comes along with the GB axe is a good short read.

As you can see, I have started polishing the Wetterlings axe, will take a few hours to get it where I want it...but I enjoy honing & polishing with stones

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Hey Scott , are you going to be doing any cutting soon?

I plan on putting the GB (the smaller of the two) to work tomorrow as long as this cold/flu doesn't set me back. Most of the big stuff is cut up into sizes that I can handle, so the small axe is just right for stuff that is about as big as your arm or smaller. We will see as I am curious myself to a comparison of the cutting action of the two.

I have a few Carborundum # 107 round hones, I think they will be much better than the Lansky's, but thinking & knowing are two different animals. (BTW I also have 2 Lansky pucks) If you PM me your address, I would send one of the 107's for you to use & evaluate against the Lansky; the 107's are dual grit, true carborundum, over 60 years old & as good condition wise as the day they were made. Would you test it, if I send it??

This is one similar to the one I will send:

Originally Posted by Leatherstockiings

I have a Gransfors puck on the way, but won't be allowed to open it until the 25th.
FWIW, the book Northern Bushcraft by Mors Kochanski has some really good info on axe use and sharpening.

THIS IS A VERY NICE BOOK! Some good info there on axes and a LOT of other good info for outdoors-men. Thanks for the recommendation!

I agree the book is really useful. I find myself picking it up to read every now and then.

Sharpening an axe with Lansky puck and Gransfors Bruks Ceramic puck.

My right arm is about to fall off after honing my axe and doing some blacksmithing today. I gave the Wetterlings axe a good once over with the pucks today & it's ready for service again. After viewing a few Gransfors Bruks videos, reading a bit, and my background in polishing swords, honing razors...I felt that I was ready to help the axe & not hurt it.

I gave both stones, which are both double sided, a few swirls around the area needing some grinding and polishing to get a feel for them both. By my observation, the Lansky (both sides) was more coarse than the GB & actually they work well as a sharpening "system". I started out with the Lansky coarse side and saw quickly that I would have to have some water or something like a light oil (wd 40 comes to mind) to keep the stone from clogging. I used a steady drip from the sink as it stayed around freezing all day outside today and is till quite windy as I write this. After I smoothed out the rough spots from the forging process like I originally wanted with the coarse side, I flipped the stone and continued my circles working to remove the previous scratch marks from the coarser Lansky side. Once I was happy with removing the rough scratch marks I went to the GB puck. The rough side just fell in line on a "progression". I had never even gotten closer than 1/8" to the edge with the Lansky as I didn't want any rough scores in the cutting edge. The GB stone is physically a smaller stone in diameter & the coarse side is finer than the fine side on the Lansky. I worked the coarse GB puck over both sides of the axe and actually touched the edge a bit, removing all the previous scratch marks from the previous stone...then it was time for the fine side of the GB puck. This is where the GB puck shined, literally. It polished quite well and I'm sure I could have pushed the edge right to shaving no problem with the fine puck...but I had one other stone in mind. I had received a Hindostan stone from a gentleman here on SRP and I use it on pocket knives quite regularly & boy did it do a nice job on the axe. Everything just felt right, so I stopped & dried the axe, oiled it, and put it away.

Is the Lansky puck worth it? Yes, as it's cheap ($10 shipped) and does what it is supposed to do...but in my opinion it is more for repairs and "grinding" your axe.

Is the GB puck worth it? I gave $45 shipped for my puck, was the best deal I could find at that time. It's compact and would work great for traveling light in the woods, backpacking/hiking, or hunting. Will I use it a lot around the house? I doubt it.

I regret selling my Norton set of stones, the 220/1K stone would in my opinion be perfect for honing a quality axe like this. I will work a bit with some other stones I have around & see if I like honing an axe with 3x8 stones. Doesn't really matter as I am enjoying this journey & hope some day to make a few axes.

My final word on honing an axe is to watch that edge! I have cut myself rather severly before sharpening an axe with just files, so honing an axe IMO is even easier to get a finger.

Here is the best video that I have seen for axe honing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKJhhz-643k