Cliff Stamp
BANNED
- Joined
- Oct 5, 1998
- Messages
- 17,562
This is a 5-Star Arvika single bit felling axe from Hults Bruks, with a bit geometry for Australian hardwoods, which means quite basically that it is very obtuse, with a lot of sweep to the convex edge bevel. In addition the edge has a secondary bevel on top of this for even more strength. It notes that it should be sharpened before use, though is still sharper than most hardware store axes.
Fit and finish :
The handle has decent grain and is without and knots or other large problems, but does come coated, which is irregular, and you would want to remove for comfort and security. I do like the painted butt though, just because it makes it easy to spot and since I commonly have multiple axes, blades and saws with me, it is nice when they stand out strongly and I don't end up leaving them behind. As noted in the above, the edge while robust, is decently formed. However the head is skewed to the left, and the head/handle alignment is off. Considering that Jim picked this one out, this doesn't say a lot for the current state of pruduction. The Gransfors axes usually have straight heads, but even they have problems with head/handle alignment.
NIB performance :
This is not really NIB as I had to do some light sanding on the handle to remove the knobs in the finish, as they were fairly abrasive however the edge was unchanged in profile, just sharpened to a shaving polish. You can chop with it, can just meaning able, you can chop with a shovel if you want. Anyway, the penetration on Pine is very low, in fact it could not match the performance of the Gransfors Bruks Forest axe, so the full size felling axe from Gransfors would have obviously been out of its league, which isn't surprising as they are made for different woods. This was just out bucking some wood in my backyard, to get the feel for it. Of course with the thicker bit profile you are also hit with a double whammy because in addition to the lower penetration you are forced to chop at more acute angles as otherwise the axe will glance, thus you can't open very large cuts and are thus forged to either multiple notch, or keep widening.
Slight modification :
I had intended to do a series of comparisons against the GB Forest axe as I slimmed down the geometry of the Hults, but forgot about this, mainly because the performance of the Hults was too low and I was too impatient and wanted to get out the performance that I knew was there. Anyway, the first thing I did was take off the secondary bevel, this just took a few minutes with a bastard file and then some waterstones and stropping to restore the edge. I then spent an afternoon in the woods with the Hults and the Forest axe, both sharpened to a hair shaving polish. The Hults was way behind in terms of raw penetration, and still had to work at lower angles. I was using full swings from the hips with the Hults and just swinging from the shoulder with the Forest axe, which is lighter and has a shorter handle, showing of course the huge difference geometry makes. The Hults does not bind at all, which makes for a more fluid pace, but the lack of penetration swamps this factor out completely.
Heavy modification :
I wore out a coarse sanding drum on the Dremel removing metal from the edge grind on the Hults which is about 3/4 of an inch wide, then the primary multiple hollow grind takes over. I then used a bastard file to even up the edge, as the Dremel had left some hollows, and then sharpened with some waterstones (1000 and 4000) and finished with CrO on leather. Now the Hults could stay with the Forest axe on the softer woods, and since it didn't bind at all, and would readily knock the chips out, it was easily the preferred axe. In addition, I could work closer to the ground with less strain as I wasn't bending over nearly as much. I quite literally bashed through some of the heavier knots with no edge damage to the Hults, which isn't surprising as the very edge still sweeps out to more than 40 degrees included and isn't going to be effected by the harder of the woods we have around here like Oak, and even the knottier Black Spruce.
Further modification :
I basically repeated the above grinding again, and the entire edge bevel was starting to look very flat. The lowest it can go is about 15 degrees per side, unless I want to work on the primary grind, which won't be any time soon considering the metal which would need to come off. The bevel now only sweeps down too quickly in the last 75 thousands or so, of course as with any edge reshaping, the more shoulder you remove, the more metal you need to remove to drop it down the same distance again, so even though I did the same amount of grinding this time as I did previous, it only resulted in a slight refinement to the first session. Basically now even large Pine trees of say 10-11 inches (a two hit span) are very easily felled, under a minute on a clean run with no knots. The axe is still not binding, and readily breaks the chips clear of the wood. However the very edge is still too thick for the woods we have here, the harder woods like Black spruce are still a problem, as the penetration is still too low on them. However, the Hults now easily outperforms the Forest axe, but I would assume still could not stand against the GB felling axe. Anyway who has used the two I would appreciate a rough estimate of the relative felling ability.
So right now the Hults is seeing a lot of use on felling trees of above four inches. On the smaller woods I use a pruning saw as they are not stiff enough for the axe and too much impact energy is lost in moving the tree. As the bit gets slimmed down more and more, the axe will become able to work on smaller trees. On the four inches ones I use the saw for the undercut and then just give it a couple of hits to clear the notch. On the smaller trees I just saw them all the way down. The axe is a bit too big to use for limbing as it is fairly heavy and has a high rate of fatigue when using one handed, and of course is a bit overkill. I don't use axes for limbing in general as that is one of the things I like to do with the larger brush blades I have. I intend to bring the edge grind on the Hults basically quite close to flat with just a little sweep in the last 25 or so thousands to about 17-18 degrees per side. This is still a little heavy for felling on clear wood, but I want the axe to be able to take some of the harder knots, otherwise I would leave it down to ~15 which is about the limit I can go without working on the primary grind.
As for the metal, it can be filed, but not easily, so the hardness is up there, similar to the GB I would assume. It can also take a fine polish, it won't shave as well as the GB or do light cutting with the same ability, but that is just because the bit geometry is so much thicker. It will easily last multiple sessions of felling, but I sharpen it after every one just because I keep lowering the profile. I did find that my precision and accuracy went up with the Hults over the Forest axe, mainly because I was slowing down, but also because I wasn't as bent over, and was swinging from a more stable base. Hopefully I can get some time on a friends grinder this week and produce the optimal edge profile, I'll then post up some shots of the modification and some numbers on how it compares to the Bruks Forest axe in terms of raw penetration as well as time and fatigue issues.
I have not taken any shots yet, and if you want to see what this axe looks like Jimbo has some shots on the following web page :
http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/fire.html
-Cliff
Fit and finish :
The handle has decent grain and is without and knots or other large problems, but does come coated, which is irregular, and you would want to remove for comfort and security. I do like the painted butt though, just because it makes it easy to spot and since I commonly have multiple axes, blades and saws with me, it is nice when they stand out strongly and I don't end up leaving them behind. As noted in the above, the edge while robust, is decently formed. However the head is skewed to the left, and the head/handle alignment is off. Considering that Jim picked this one out, this doesn't say a lot for the current state of pruduction. The Gransfors axes usually have straight heads, but even they have problems with head/handle alignment.
NIB performance :
This is not really NIB as I had to do some light sanding on the handle to remove the knobs in the finish, as they were fairly abrasive however the edge was unchanged in profile, just sharpened to a shaving polish. You can chop with it, can just meaning able, you can chop with a shovel if you want. Anyway, the penetration on Pine is very low, in fact it could not match the performance of the Gransfors Bruks Forest axe, so the full size felling axe from Gransfors would have obviously been out of its league, which isn't surprising as they are made for different woods. This was just out bucking some wood in my backyard, to get the feel for it. Of course with the thicker bit profile you are also hit with a double whammy because in addition to the lower penetration you are forced to chop at more acute angles as otherwise the axe will glance, thus you can't open very large cuts and are thus forged to either multiple notch, or keep widening.
Slight modification :
I had intended to do a series of comparisons against the GB Forest axe as I slimmed down the geometry of the Hults, but forgot about this, mainly because the performance of the Hults was too low and I was too impatient and wanted to get out the performance that I knew was there. Anyway, the first thing I did was take off the secondary bevel, this just took a few minutes with a bastard file and then some waterstones and stropping to restore the edge. I then spent an afternoon in the woods with the Hults and the Forest axe, both sharpened to a hair shaving polish. The Hults was way behind in terms of raw penetration, and still had to work at lower angles. I was using full swings from the hips with the Hults and just swinging from the shoulder with the Forest axe, which is lighter and has a shorter handle, showing of course the huge difference geometry makes. The Hults does not bind at all, which makes for a more fluid pace, but the lack of penetration swamps this factor out completely.
Heavy modification :
I wore out a coarse sanding drum on the Dremel removing metal from the edge grind on the Hults which is about 3/4 of an inch wide, then the primary multiple hollow grind takes over. I then used a bastard file to even up the edge, as the Dremel had left some hollows, and then sharpened with some waterstones (1000 and 4000) and finished with CrO on leather. Now the Hults could stay with the Forest axe on the softer woods, and since it didn't bind at all, and would readily knock the chips out, it was easily the preferred axe. In addition, I could work closer to the ground with less strain as I wasn't bending over nearly as much. I quite literally bashed through some of the heavier knots with no edge damage to the Hults, which isn't surprising as the very edge still sweeps out to more than 40 degrees included and isn't going to be effected by the harder of the woods we have around here like Oak, and even the knottier Black Spruce.
Further modification :
I basically repeated the above grinding again, and the entire edge bevel was starting to look very flat. The lowest it can go is about 15 degrees per side, unless I want to work on the primary grind, which won't be any time soon considering the metal which would need to come off. The bevel now only sweeps down too quickly in the last 75 thousands or so, of course as with any edge reshaping, the more shoulder you remove, the more metal you need to remove to drop it down the same distance again, so even though I did the same amount of grinding this time as I did previous, it only resulted in a slight refinement to the first session. Basically now even large Pine trees of say 10-11 inches (a two hit span) are very easily felled, under a minute on a clean run with no knots. The axe is still not binding, and readily breaks the chips clear of the wood. However the very edge is still too thick for the woods we have here, the harder woods like Black spruce are still a problem, as the penetration is still too low on them. However, the Hults now easily outperforms the Forest axe, but I would assume still could not stand against the GB felling axe. Anyway who has used the two I would appreciate a rough estimate of the relative felling ability.
So right now the Hults is seeing a lot of use on felling trees of above four inches. On the smaller woods I use a pruning saw as they are not stiff enough for the axe and too much impact energy is lost in moving the tree. As the bit gets slimmed down more and more, the axe will become able to work on smaller trees. On the four inches ones I use the saw for the undercut and then just give it a couple of hits to clear the notch. On the smaller trees I just saw them all the way down. The axe is a bit too big to use for limbing as it is fairly heavy and has a high rate of fatigue when using one handed, and of course is a bit overkill. I don't use axes for limbing in general as that is one of the things I like to do with the larger brush blades I have. I intend to bring the edge grind on the Hults basically quite close to flat with just a little sweep in the last 25 or so thousands to about 17-18 degrees per side. This is still a little heavy for felling on clear wood, but I want the axe to be able to take some of the harder knots, otherwise I would leave it down to ~15 which is about the limit I can go without working on the primary grind.
As for the metal, it can be filed, but not easily, so the hardness is up there, similar to the GB I would assume. It can also take a fine polish, it won't shave as well as the GB or do light cutting with the same ability, but that is just because the bit geometry is so much thicker. It will easily last multiple sessions of felling, but I sharpen it after every one just because I keep lowering the profile. I did find that my precision and accuracy went up with the Hults over the Forest axe, mainly because I was slowing down, but also because I wasn't as bent over, and was swinging from a more stable base. Hopefully I can get some time on a friends grinder this week and produce the optimal edge profile, I'll then post up some shots of the modification and some numbers on how it compares to the Bruks Forest axe in terms of raw penetration as well as time and fatigue issues.
I have not taken any shots yet, and if you want to see what this axe looks like Jimbo has some shots on the following web page :
http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/fire.html
-Cliff