AX SHARPENING WITH POWER TOOLS

Don't let it get hot.

It's just that easy.

No need to to completely dismiss the fastest way to get something done.
 
I've seen this debate played out before. Either here or on the knife side of the forum. If I recall someone made some pretty good points about heat and the very edge.
 
Woodcraft said:
If I recall someone made some pretty good points about heat and the very edge.
Click to expand...

That's where I'm at. I don't have Liam Hoffman's grinder. But I will reshape an edge to even up a shortened toe. I draw the edge shape I want with a sharpie and then cut it on a coarse wheel grinder with the bit held 90° to the wheel. My wheel is made for sharpening mower blades without overheating them (you can still do it). But with an axe held edge-on the material comes off much quicker than it can be over-heated. Sometimes this leaves me with section of the bit that is over 1/8" thick. Often I'll file from here - it doesn't take that long with my filing method. But sometimes I'll thin the edge slightly with that same grinding wheel. You can do it without ruining the temper if you do like Liam suggested and keep your fingers on the bit to sense the heat. I try not to remove any material that I wouldn't have removed by filing. This way when I switch to the files there is no remaining evidence that the bit was ever touched by a grinder. No grinder marks. No temper lost. If I feel like polishing the edge I'll hit it with a non-woven wheel I have on a different grinder and maybe with a buffing wheel on yet another grinder.
 
Here is some other discussion on the same idea:

http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/how-an-axe-is-really-supposed-to-be-sharpened.1470168/


http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/sharpen-axes-with-a-belt-sander.1409134/


http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/ben-orford-grinding-an-axe-youtube-ripshin-lumberjack.1409758/


http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/axe-sharpening-woes.1405580/#post-16246064

I have never used a sander/grinder so I shouldn't really have a say but I have fixed the edges of quite a few that were done pretty poorly. A couple of them were wicked knife sharp that the edged chipped and and rolled on - coincidence? Maybe so.
 
If you're a professional, you will use power equipment.

All the knives and axes are made that way.

It's the fastest way to shape metal.
For new guys it's also the fastest way to ruin tools so I see why it's not advocated but those that CAN will DO.
 
Agent_H said:
Here is some other discussion on the same idea:

http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/how-an-axe-is-really-supposed-to-be-sharpened.1470168/


http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/sharpen-axes-with-a-belt-sander.1409134/


http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/ben-orford-grinding-an-axe-youtube-ripshin-lumberjack.1409758/


http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/axe-sharpening-woes.1405580/#post-16246064

I have never used a sander/grinder so I shouldn't really have a say but I have fixed the edges of quite a few that were done pretty poorly. A couple of them were wicked knife sharp that the edged chipped and and rolled on - coincidence? Maybe so.
Click to expand...
I just hung a red Warrior that was flat ground. And not the same on both sides. Lol. I'm guessing power tools and a lack of patience. I took it out by hand. File and stones.
 
Here is another way it was done.

Grinding%20stone%20lever.GIF
 
Square_peg said:
Here is another way it was done.

Grinding%20stone%20lever.GIF
Click to expand...

Do they specify the intended wheel diameter? That'll impact the edge angle such a jig would be putting on the axe. Also looks like there's no way to pulse the head forward and back to produce a convex instead of a hollow. I've seen that sort of jig used with knife production in old videos but I don't recall seeing it done for sharpening axes.
 
I guess that's why there are many nails - to adjust based on the axe head length, as well as for the wheel being eaten in time. I think with some "give" (e.g. the holes the nails go into being of a somewhat greater diameter than the nails themselves), you could solve the convex grind as well. At least that's how I am picturing it.
 
Come to think of it, paper wheels should have some "give". I wonder if such a setup would work better.

Probably having a belt instead of a wheel would be the best aproach. But that's a different animal altogether.
 
Square_peg said:
Here is another way it was done.

Grinding%20stone%20lever.GIF
Click to expand...

FortyTwoBlades said:
Do they specify the intended wheel diameter? That'll impact the edge angle such a jig would be putting on the axe. Also looks like there's no way to pulse the head forward and back to produce a convex instead of a hollow. I've seen that sort of jig used with knife production in old videos but I don't recall seeing it done for sharpening axes.
Click to expand...

See this in action (about 8:45 min.):


Bob
 
DeadboxHero said:
If you're a professional, you will use power equipment.

All the knives and axes are made that way.

It's the fastest way to shape metal.
For new guys it's also the fastest way to ruin tools so I see why it's not advocated but those that CAN will DO.
Click to expand...

Apt summary DbH. During my working days as a carpentry contractor I always kept a series of 'hack' chisels (in the 1980s these were blue plastic-handled Marples) that were conveniently/routinely sharpened with a grinding wheel, and a set of prize Sheffield chisels that were solely hand sharpened and honed. The good ones of course were never lent out nor used for 'common' work and the expendable chisels had to be replaced every couple of years when the blades became overly short. The good chisels on the other hand are still in service 40 years later and there's lots of life left in them.
You can be very sure that the lifespan of most axes is shortened considerably when they're sharpened by amateurs with power tools.
 
rjdankert said:
See this in action (about 8:45 min.):


Bob
Click to expand...
Cool video. No power, no problem. Give Jimmy a couple of doughnuts and watch him go:)

Another important distinction is to be made between manufacturer and user. If we were to step back to a time.....
Take the video of ax manufacturing in Maine, clearly using a grinding wheel and bathing in Sparks.
But videos like above, and other documentation show that ax sharpening was done by hand or with the water wheel sharpening stones when it came to the men who used axes all damn day. And for good reason.
 
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rjdankert said:
See this in action (about 8:45 min.):


Bob
Click to expand...

Yeah. That shows that the jig makes a hollow. At about 10:00 in they then freehand it to blend it in. So it'd be important to note that the jig is only for roughing in a profile and additional blending work is required as a secondary operation. That also still doesn't address the fact that the jig proportions have to be gauged appropriately to the diameter of the wheel being used or else it totally throws all the angular relationships out of whack. Giving dimensions for a grinding wheel jig without also giving the intended diameter of the wheel isn't very useful. The resulting geometry would be totally different if the wheel diameter was altered, and it takes surprisingly little change in diameter to have a big impact on the angle of presentation. :p
 
rjdankert said:
At about 10:00 in he's on to a different axe.

:p
back at you :)


Bob
Click to expand...
Doesn't matter that it's a different axe. It's showing blending in the bevels. Holding an axe on a wheel like they do at 8:45 will put a hollow bevel on the axe.
 
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