A Cheap Alternative to the Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe

Nice work on that axe! Thanks for a great post.

It think it's a difficult comparison as the geometries are so different. They will be better at different things. The straight V shape should get stuck easier in thick wood than the GB, which penetrates a bit "slower" but the curved geometry will cause the wood to steer clear of the head.

Over time a GB axe will actually be cheaper as that steel and workmanship is of outstanding quality. If you can't afford such an investment rg598 shows us that with no money one can still get a really good tool.
Personally I think GB axes are a steal, delivering hand made quality, with a design heritage of hundreds of years, for a price less than that of mass produced things like an F1 or Bravo 1.
 
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kinskibrain said:
Nice work on that axe! Thanks for a great post.

Over time a GB axe will actually be cheaper as that steel and workmanship is of outstanding quality. If you can't afford such an investment rg598 shows us that with no money one can still get a really good tool.
Personally I think GB axes are a steal, delivering hand made quality, with a design heritage of hundreds of years, for a price less than that of mass produced things like an F1 or Bravo 1.
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I think you are exactly right. Even the highest cost axes these days are much less than what many of us spend on a knife without thinking about it twice.

The GB axes are great tools. The designs we see today however are fairly recent. GB made a lot of changes to their designs and production methods in the early 1990s, giving us the tools we see now.
 
I've had some questions about where to find a Small Forest Axe handle. Most of the places are in Europe, so you will have to have it mailed to you. You can try here, here, and here.
 
Regarding some of the postings: I've been collecting and using small axes for forty years and though I practically grew up with a machete in my hand, I have always considered a small axe vital for work here on the ranch. I've got just about every sort of small axe you can think of and have spent entirely too much money over the years purchasing small axes...as I'm sure others here have done also.

One thing to remember is that axes are oftentimes deigned specifically for certain geographic regions. What works so well in one part of the world often performs poorly in other locales. The GB, Wetterlings etc. designs are made primarily for the "hardwoods" or Scandinavia. But those northern hardwoods are soft when compared to a lot of the woods found in the Southwest, especially in South Texas where we've got a smattering of woods ranging from 0.85 to 1.0+ in specific gravity. For those of you who are not into numbers, that's extremely dense (read:hard) wood. Axe profiles that work in the north frequently don't do as well in the Southwest. We need slightly different grinds and those grinds often come when we do our own work on the axe.

As for types of steel: Surprisingly, steel type (1050, 1075, 1095 etc.) and temper value is related proportionately to axe weight and grind shape. All these factors must come into play and interestingly one factor does not necessarily outweigh all the others.

Ironically, an inexpensive axe (when properly beveled and of sufficient weight) might outperform a more expensive axe that is not ground or beveled correctly for the woody species it will encounter. Weight also plays a very important part here since weight can act as an assist in control and cutting ability thus reducing fatigue to joints, ligaments and tendons.

If we keep these things in mind when discussing what axe is better than another then we see that an expensive axe is not always the best ticket. A lot of factors play into the axe user's script. That's why a post like this one is ultimately both revealing and insightful: It shows that "cost" is not necessarily the prime factor in choosing an axe.
 
Gerbers are a good value, but the steel doesnt compare to the GBs as the powdered metal of the Fiskars/Gerber wont hold an edge as long and will chip more often in my experience. Still good beater tools though.
 
rg598 said:
I have not done anything with Wetterlings so far because there is a good amount of info on them out there unlike most other axes.

I do not like carpenter's axes because they have a very specific bit profile. I don't think of them as all around bushcraft axes.
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I am thinking about getting a Wetterlings Carpenters axe as appossed to a Wetterlings Hunting axe

So could you explain more?

thanks
 
Carpenters axes tend to be made more like broad axes than felling ones. That is why they have the flat bit, which helps with making level cutting surfaces. They usually don't have a good balance because the poll is small. That being said, if you like using one, and feel comfortable with it, then go for it.
 
Hi
$19.95 Marbles small axe/hatchet---Smoky Mountain Knife Works---+$8.00 shipping +odd cents.
1045 carbon steel. Heat treated to take and hold an edge. Go to Wranglerstar on You Tube for Wranglerstar axe reviews. Here is the answer for everyone who
just needs to buy the axe and just do a little sharpening.

I haven't purchased it yet because I have owned over 20 old vintage axe heads & still have one left that will do me the rest of my life. All of them were PLUMB. They
sharpen to a razor head and retain their edge exceedingly well. I have actually shaved my beard entirely with my Plumb Boys Axe.

Ripshin Lumberjack
 
Thank you! Not everything that costs 5X as much as it should performs twice as well. Name of the game here is 'ordinary production' VS 'boutique' and that's what you pay for much more than what the implement can do.
 
Hi

I really enjoyed your article on your excellent $23.00 axe. EXCELLENT! I am hoping that you or someone else will give us an article on Marble's Camp Axe
for $19.95 +$8.50 shipping. It is made of 1045 carbon steel. The only review I've seen is from Wranglerstar who enjoyed and admired the Camp Axe very much.

Please give some thought to doing this review.

Sincerely

Ripshin
 
Oh!!!!!!

I forgot to tell you, the Marbles Camp Axe can be purchase from Smoky Mountain Knife Works for $19.95 +$8.50 shipping.

Ripshin
 
I just rehung my husqvarna hatchet today. 1.5lb head and is now 20" long. Head is made by hultafors in Sweden. I have a total cost of $65 CND. Half the price of a GB with a decent leather cover.

 
Ripshin Lumberjack said:
Oh!!!!!!

I forgot to tell you, the Marbles Camp Axe can be purchase from Smoky Mountain Knife Works for $19.95 +$8.50 shipping.

Ripshin
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This thread is 4 years old...

But while I agree that Wranglestar is a bit of a dip, most of the Marbles axes are made by Condor/Imacasa in El Salvador and are good quality.
 
Time for this Zombie to live again.

Cool thread- lots of talk of blade geometry, steel quality and Wranglerstar; really everything you need to get a thread boiling.

I'm not very interested in blade geometry beyond the basics, and axe performance is impossible to judge: we'd need some kind of chopping machine to take out the human element, and some very consistent samples of wood.

I suspect that individual chopping technique plays more in what axe we prefer. Axe durability/edge retention is fairly quantifiable because at some point it's a practical thing- anyone who uses an axe can best determine what is "durable enough".

I think the essence of this thread, and what makes it really interesting, is to put together (or find) a small forest axe on the cheap, and have it be effective.

OP did a cool thing and it seems to work just great, Kudos on that. The relatively new (and inexpensive!) Council Tools Flying Fox comes in at 1 lb 10 oz, which is right in the sweet spot for this small forest axe weight class. Who's got a CT FF hung on a 20" handle? I'm considering doing something similar on a 19" house axe handle. (probably more than considering- the handle is ordered).
 
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