Ax Sharpening
- Thread starter johninct
- Start date
Renegade1LI
Well-known member
If you have a stationary belt sander you can get a really nice edge, i cleaned up the face on the disc and ground a nice edge using the belt. About 25 deg to the plain of the axe.
Evilunclegrimace
Well-known member
Make sure that you do not over heat the edge while sharping the axe. I use a file to sharpen all of my chopping tools and then use a stone to keep them in top shape. There is less chance of taking the temper out of the edge that way
Pontiac787
Well-known member
Agreed on the file. Unless you’re very careful don’t resort to power. Search “An axe to grind” on YouTube. It has all the info you need.
RTM
Well-known member
Here is a page from a 1937 Dunham, Carrigan and Hayden catalog. Angles are important in their world.
I'm not a sharpening expert by any means (at all), but what I've gathered from YouTube led me to use a file to get the overall profile, and some time with a Lansky sharpening puck to get things pretty sharp.
I'd abused the **** out of my ax - I bought it at Sears in the late '90's and had used it to break up stuff in my yard when I was installing beds. The "stuff" turned out to be concrete slag from when they poured the driveway. I was pissed enough to take more swings before I finally thought better of it and went looking for something more effective and less demonstrating my stupidity.
The ax sat in my garage shaming me for years until I decided to make it right again, hence all the YouTube research. I popped it in my vise, spent a lot of time with a file working out the damage I did to the edge and eventually got a decent profile/edge to finish with the Lansky. I hope the time it took me means I got a nice piece of steel in the ax rather than owning a crappy file.
It's a big one - 32"+, so not to long ago I got a camp-sized Husqvarna and a matching hatchet. I need to re-handle the old one, which has resulted in more research but no action yet.
I'd abused the **** out of my ax - I bought it at Sears in the late '90's and had used it to break up stuff in my yard when I was installing beds. The "stuff" turned out to be concrete slag from when they poured the driveway. I was pissed enough to take more swings before I finally thought better of it and went looking for something more effective and less demonstrating my stupidity.
The ax sat in my garage shaming me for years until I decided to make it right again, hence all the YouTube research. I popped it in my vise, spent a lot of time with a file working out the damage I did to the edge and eventually got a decent profile/edge to finish with the Lansky. I hope the time it took me means I got a nice piece of steel in the ax rather than owning a crappy file.
It's a big one - 32"+, so not to long ago I got a camp-sized Husqvarna and a matching hatchet. I need to re-handle the old one, which has resulted in more research but no action yet.
Last edited:
Pontiac787
Well-known member
M635 - check out House Handle out of MO for your axe handle. Nice handles in tons of configurations and you can pick the grade and whether it has finished applied. The handles I have gotten from them have been better quality than the high priced versions talked about on other forums.
seber
Well-known member
I keep three axes not counting the cruiser. One double bit for hardwood, one double bit for softwood and a single bit for roots and general ****. For that one the haft is wrapped with wire for protection. The double bits are sharpened with a round silicon carbide puck. The garbage head goes to the disc sander or belt sander to restore the shape, then to the puck. Sanders are pretty forgiving about heat, but care must still be taken.
Badgerstate
Well-known member
I use an angle grinder just to take any chips out of the edge but am sure not go gentle on the blade as to not put too much heat into it. I will maybe grind on it for a second or 2 lightly and then stop and let it cool for a few seconds.
I then will take a file to it to clean up the wire and get the edge sharp. For me, it works well.
Another thing to remember is that you dont want the edge to be razor sharp because it will dull quickly. Just like with lawn mower blades, I like mine to be, "butter knife" sharp.
I then will take a file to it to clean up the wire and get the edge sharp. For me, it works well.
Another thing to remember is that you dont want the edge to be razor sharp because it will dull quickly. Just like with lawn mower blades, I like mine to be, "butter knife" sharp.
I dunno - for me the answer is somewhere in between "butter" and "shaving" for an axe. I want enough meat in the profile to reinforce a sharp edge, but not razor sharp. I tend to keep my hatchet sharper than my axes. The mower is a similar thing for me - not butter-knife but not a threat.
Thank you! Will definitely check it out!
Renegade1LI
Well-known member
Agree, the sander takes a little finesse, but having variable speed helps keep things under control.
webscrounger
Well-known member
Take a look at page 27- https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d//pubs/pdfpubs/pdf99232823/pdf99232823Pdpi300.pdf
Badgerstate
Well-known member
Hey, whatever works. I used to go for all my tools being razor sharp but the edge tends to not last as long that way because theres simply no meat to support the edge from rolling and chipping/denting.
Am ax/hatchet is really more of a bashing tool than it is a slicing tool anyways.
Like I said, I don't go for razor - hell, I don't have time for razor, but definitely more than butter.