Finnish/Earlier Scandi axes - Kirves

Agent_H said:
The previous owner vinegared it and I didn’t like the look of it. It got cold blued a couple of coats. The sharp end needed a profile...
Click to expand...
Very nice axe you have there! And nice work on the blade. What brand of cold blue? What did you do for prep?


Bob
 
rjdankert said:
Very nice axe you have there! And nice work on the blade. What brand of cold blue? What did you do for prep?


Bob
Click to expand...

Thank you sir.
The cold blue is Brownells Oxpho-Blue. I think I got it at Cabelas.

The finish was grey and “tinny” looking.
1. Scrubbed it with a wire brush and WD-40 several times.
2. Hot water and wire brush.
3. Soapy water and wire brush.
4. Pat dry.
5. Applied the blue via heavy dabbing.

I think the saturated dabbing got it in the crannies. It’s sharp.
 
That's a great Axe.
Agent_H said:
I should have taken my own Pre photos but here is a before after montage.








Click to expand...
I am greatly impressed with the end result and ease in the process of blueing you chose.
Agent_H said:
Thank you sir.
The cold blue is Brownells Oxpho-Blue. I think I got it at Cabelas.

The finish was grey and “tinny” looking.
1. Scrubbed it with a wire brush and WD-40 several times.
2. Hot water and wire brush.
3. Soapy water and wire brush.
4. Pat dry.
5. Applied the blue via heavy dabbing.

I think the saturated dabbing got it in the crannies. It’s sharp.
Click to expand...

I have filed your cliff notes on the product and process for any future needs and experiments :cool::thumbsup:
 
I was fortunate to get a couple of hours of shop time in today and decided to reprofile/grind my little 15.2 for better performance. Those smaller models become less carver and more general purpose when they get worn unless you commit to removing material to shape.


Kellokoski.15.2.grind by Agent Hierarchy


Kellokoski.15.2.grind by Agent Hierarchy

The toe on one side and the heel on the other had been swooped up higher on a grinder. It wasn’t really hurting anything but it left the bevels a little uneven, I did a “remediation” grind – just enough to bring them back to even and sharpened it with an old Atkins Silver Steel mill bastard. It seems to like the dried Cherry I have here more now.

More or less 32.5 degrees across.

Kellokoski.15.2.grind by Agent Hierarchy
 
Great looking grind!!

Agent_H said:
The toe on one side and the heel on the other had been swooped up higher on a grinder. It wasn’t really hurting anything but it left the bevels a little uneven, I did a “remediation” grind – just enough to bring them back to even and sharpened it with an old Atkins Silver Steel mill bastard.

More or less 32.5 degrees across.
Click to expand...

I did a little remediation work myself today - more on that later. This looks good. Like old American axes it seems to me that most of these old Finnish axes show excessive wear, especially at the toe. It's right to grind them back into shape.

It has surprised me how well a 30° Scandi carves. I typically want a carver to be a bit thinner than that but if it works it works.

I've checked a few of my axes with that angle gauge you sent me (thanks again!). My favorites measure about 25° at the bit and roll back to around 22.5° at 1/2" back from the bit. I think I grind thinner than most.
 
Square_peg said:
Great looking grind!!



I did a little remediation work myself today - more on that later. This looks good. Like old American axes it seems to me that most of these old Finnish axes show excessive wear, especially at the toe. It's right to grind them back into shape.

It has surprised me how well a 30° Scandi carves. I typically want a carver to be a bit thinner than that but if it works it works.

I've checked a few of my axes with that angle gauge you sent me (thanks again!). My favorites measure about 25° at the bit and roll back to around 22.5° at 1/2" back from the bit. I think I grind thinner than most.
Click to expand...

Very much agree that thinner is better. I was trying to clean it up without taking too much off of it - this little guy is worn back to where it gets a bit thick/thick bit. It's a work in progress - more of a usable preservation maybe. I did, however, use it to rough out a handle without too much effort. That little 15.2 allows for a lot of control and takes a smaller bite than larger carving hatchets I have. Makes it nice to use on details because you can hold the head in your palm with your index finger on the blade and kind of push/shave.

I've been trying to thin the axe herd in general and pay attention to setting some up properly for use. Having a lot of axes is fun but unless they are sharp they are just more...things.

My current favorite carver is an old Plumb hewing hatchet set to angle specs like you mentioned. Now I want to know what you are "remediating" :thumbsup:

Bob's little Piggy looks like something that would take an edge angle like you are describing - lots to work with there ;)
 
I've seen a few pictures of these on the net, but find it hard to get much info. From a forum:

Högfors 10

post-11697-0-09830900-1477947316_thumb.jpg
:
post-11697-0-89374500-1477947324_thumb.jpg

post-11697-0-55432700-1477947333_thumb.jpg

post-11697-0-22384100-1477947341_thumb.jpg

post-11697-0-17439200-1477947348_thumb.jpg

https://translate.google.com/transl...0%BF%D0%BE%D1%80-h%C3%B6gfors-10/&prev=search


Elsewhere from that forum:

Högfors' plant has long traditions of casting products. The first designs were of course imported goods, but since the 1920s Emil Cederceutz, Gunnar Elfgren and Fortune Tarjanne made the Högfors brand known. A few decades later, Michael Schilk, Helvi Hyvärinen and Antti Nurmesniemi jumped on their boots.

Högfors' factory, when it came to the 1970s, became a subcontractor for casting products, and the design and manufacture of its own products had come to an end almost completely. Högfors 10-ax is an exhilarating exception in this context. At the mill, it was decided to produce a top ply at the beginning of the 1980s with unmatched splitting characteristics.

The first was contacted at the Kymi forest industry department (Högfors was at that time in Kymi), which provided the necessary specific requirements. Based on these requirements, Högfors' advertising agency started design work with the artist Jaakko Ahopalo. The material used was the unique Kymenite Iron product developed in Högfors in the 1970s. During the design work, various versions of the ace were produced, model numbers 10, 20 and 30. The end result was a graceful yet powerful full-ax ax.

The history of production of the ax was not as glamorous as the assumptions would have made. The early side of the ace turned out to be easily degradable, so the object never came to large-scale production. The prototypes born during the project are currently collecting items.

The Finnish designers' association in the Finnish Art Industry Association chose the 1985 Fifth Anniversary of Finland's design as an exhibition. The exhibition was held at the Museum of Applied Arts in Helsinki.

Text quoted from the Karkkila Library's exhibition. The text is written in Ruukkimuseo Senkassa.

T.Juha
Source : http://www.kotiverstas.com/keskustelu/index.php?topic=4676.0
As I understand it, the ax was a commemorative piece dedicated to the transition to a new stage of production.​
https://translate.google.com/transl...keskustelu/index.php?topic=4676.0&prev=search

The poster give a source for the information, but no link.


Here is a citation of the company existing as early as 1919:

Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce, 1919

https://books.google.com/books?id=y...DoAQgvMAE#v=onepage&q=Högfors fiskars&f=false

I believe Högfors is Swedish. Karkkila in Finnish.



Bob
 
"The material used was the unique Kymenite Iron product developed in Högfors in the 1970s"

Apparently a type of ductile iron with improved strength properties even at low temperatures.

"Years ago, I was working with Högfors Foundry, then part of the Santasalo Group. They had invented a new type of austempered iron called Kymenite ADI, whose microstructure makes it extremely strong. The material was first used in heavily loaded industrial gears, but it soon found its way to other applications, too.

Did you know, for example, that this iron was used by major European truck manufacturers for commercial vehicle components intended for markets like Siberia, where they have to operate reliably in deep sub-zero temperatures? Ordinary iron and steel parts turn brittle in temperatures that may reach -50°C. Or that it was tested as the material for tank and bulldozer tracks thanks to its high strength and wear resistance?"
 
Nice! I had seen pictures of that type/make of axe several times via rabbit hole Google searches and a couple of well-worn examples for sale on tradera and huuto. The rusknife site is super cool - there are some hidden gems of information and interesting characters to boot.

Google translate comes up with some wild stuff in translation but I figure it's a bunch of guys talking axes unadulterated and some of the idiomatic expressions just don't translate that well lol. Half the time I can't figure out if someone agrees/disagrees/is joking/or pissed off lol. Great axes and discussions to be had. Jake Pogg is a regular there so maybe he can be our cultural interpreter on specific things.

I was under the impressions that the "förs" part is reference to the stream or the waterfall/rapids there that would have run the machinery somehow? It does seem to be a Swedish or shared word. Mariefors Kellokoski (Marie Falls/Rapids, Kellokoski?) I've seen "Kello" translated as "clock" as well as a reference to "Kellis" meaning "snake" and "Koski" means rapids or waterfall or there abouts.

So would Högfors be something like "High Falls/Rapids"?
"Karkkila" being the town?"
40005-600x600.jpg


I don't know anything about the axe (beyond what you posted here to be exact lol) - It did send me looking though!
 
Square_peg is correct,that material had to do with innovative work in the direction of martempering/austempering of a special iron...(i'd not be able to define either without looking it up if my life depended on it...).

There was indeed a thread on rusknife on it,one of the guys having bought one by chance,but only Agent_H knows how to find that thread:)...I've failed,being extra-lousy at search.....However,i seem to remember that it wasn't particularly informative(those guys are even more dependent on electronic translating)....
 
Not an axe but I did receive a Billnäs made "Vesuri" (billhook) today, with a black leather scabbard marked with the SA stamp for the Finnish Army and a "P" beneath that for "Pioneer" (engineers). It was my Christmas present to myself. John
 
No it is a Svord Hunter from New Zealand. You can just see the brass butt of my custom made Pekka Tumoninen "Vesainen" puukko sticking out up my the head of the axe. It is a heavy duty puukko I asked Pekka to make for me. John
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top