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Axe advice

DMc Outdoors

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Need to give my axe a sharpen and also notice there is a nick on the edge of the blade. Any advice on what to buy and how to go about it? It’s a good quality Grandsfors one so want to do it the right way
 
There have been a lot of issues with the hardening of the Gransfōrs bruk axes over the last few years. If it's a chip you'll be able to file it out, if it's the beginnings of a crack then you'll be wasting your time as it will only grow.
Start with cleaning it up with some wire wool and have a really close look to see what the cause of the problem is.
If I'm cleaning up an axe I will shape it with a second cut file followed by a smooth file before going onto carborundum stones to finish off. Never be tempted to use an angle grinder, there is a circle of hell reserved for those who use angle grinders on tempered blades.
Second part of the question, I buy and sell loads of axes but I only ever keep Elwell for myself.
Hultfōrs are much cheaper than Gransfōrs bruk and they haven't had all the hardening issues.
Each axe is individual, some are better ground than others, look at every one in the shop to choose the best of them.
 
Thank you very much for the advice, this axe was passed down to me and would say it is around 10 years old, it was almost brand new when I acquired it around 3 years ago and it’s still relatively sharp but just want to get rid of the chip, if it is a chip that is
 
I've used an axe in my work as a joiner for most of my life and still prefer an axe over a knife any day . Have to agree an angle grinder is not the tool to use to use. I have tried and while they can be used with some finesse i find the angles and finish all wrong. I did find one useful on a really badly blunted mattock but it still needed further work. Most of my work was site based so we rarely had access to bench grinders but for heavy reshaping or sharpening where a file would be time consuming we found that a belt sander is an excellent tool for that. Grinds quick enough but is slow enough to make it hard to overheat the tool. Just remember to remove the dust bag and make sure there's no sawdust in the machine , i've seen a guy set one on fire before now. If it's just to touch up the axe then a file or carbo stone is the right thing to use.
Both myself and other guys i've worked with have done the "getting the axe razor sharp" thing , sharp enough to take the hairs off our arms. It was more a just because we can type of thing as we generally felt that an axe needs to be sharp enough to cleanly cut wood not hairs and a razor edge is of course much easier to damage or blunt.
 
The oval shaped/ boat shaped stones are great for keeping the edge on them , as above, you really don’t need it scary sharp
 
So not too sharp as this could make the blade brittle. All I really want to be doing then is working the nick out with a file and not worrying too much about it? 👍🏻
 
So not too sharp as this could make the blade brittle. All I really want to be doing then is working the nick out with a file and not worrying too much about it? 👍🏻





Exactly buddy, the oval stones are cheap as chips, or if your a car boot’er like me..then head for the guy with the tools👍🏻
 
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