GB vs Council Felling axes

made2cut

made2cut

Gold Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2001
Messages
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After reading another users post about Coucil's Hudson Bay Velvicut axe I decided to pick one up and found a good deal on a Felling axe as well. I'm pretty happy with both of them with a minor complaint about the wood splitting a bit where the wedge was driven in on the Felling axe. The edge while pretty sharp was strangely finished with a straight bevel instead of continuing the convex grind like the rest of the bit. The Council is slightly larger and heavier than the Gransfors Bruks and has a longer handle so a direct comparison is a little unfair. I'm not a huge guy at 5' 10'' & 160 lbs so the smaller GB felt a little more comfortable to me. Both axes performed well on the large limb I cut up. I took turns with them to compare at the same area of the limb. Inspection of the edges after the cuts showed no damage, rolling edges or discernible loss of sharpness and both heads remained tight. I probably still lean towards my GB's for overall quality but these Council axes are very nice and get my seal of approval. I actually got the Hudson Bay a few days after the Felling axe so it has not been used yet.

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Edges after chopping
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Very nice! Great post. So, for pure chopping power and all other considerations aside - which one out chops the other?

Maybe I'm a picky sucker, but I would have returned that Velvicut. At that price range, that damage done by the metal wedge would be a deal breaker for me.

ETA: Interesting to note that the Council has the higher quality handle. Density looks great in both, but the grain orientation is clearly better on the Council, virtually ideal.
 
yeah memphis, im with you... i would have returned the velvicut too! for a 'top-o-line' axe like the velvicut, that should have never left the factory IMO...

but that being said, both are fantastic companies and axes... just a mistake on the part of CT on that one...
 
Maybe this has been covered before and I missed it.....BUT......The velvicut does NOT have a high centerline?????
 
Yeah that was a perfect handle too on the council. What a shame. I can't believe the person putting in the metal wedge would do such a piss poor job on it.

Great comparison though. It's nice to see two axes of very close quality and price going at it.
 
M3mphis said:
So, for pure chopping power and all other considerations aside - which one out chops the other?
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If I was going after a big tree the Council would probably be my choice. The extra handle length and head weight gave it a slight advantage in pure cutting power.

I did get a good deal on it, perhaps they were on sale because of the messed up wedge job.
 
The wedge job looks crappy, for sure. I would not be happy with it for a 100+ dollar axe. But realistically, it will probably not amount to much especially with the handle being so tightly wedged both side to side and front to back. It's mostly a fetish amongst the perfectionist crowd, seemingly originating from "an ax to grind" video and PDF file. I've never seen an actual breakage occur because of it (though It's probably happened), it just looks crappy.
 
M3mphis said:
Maybe this has been covered before and I missed it.....BUT......The velvicut does NOT have a high centerline?????
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At least the cheeks are crowned, not flat. Same for the GB.


G-pig said:
....But realistically, it will probably not amount to much especially with the handle being so tightly wedged both side to side and front to back.
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You're right. It's a shame but it really won't matter much. One thing I've been watching for lately in my handle purchases is the kerf being centered and vertical. I see a lot of crooked kerfs. They should just sell the handles without kerfs. If you can't cut a simple kerf then you shouldn't be re-handling an axe.


G-pig said:
....It's mostly a fetish amongst the perfectionist crowd....
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Thanks for the pics You have some top notch gear right there mang.
The gb and ct are on my Christmas list this year.
Curious if you did any average splitting with them and how they did.
BTW if you got the hb where I think you did that's an excellent price. I can't go camping without my ctv hb it's first one I grab no doubts.
Something about the nostalgia with that one.

ETA The CT wood looks a little thirsty.:)
 
cattledog said:
Thanks for the pics You have some top notch gear right there mang.
The gb and ct are on my Christmas list this year.
Curious if you did any average splitting with them and how they did.
BTW if you got the hb where I think you did that's an excellent price. I can't go camping without my ctv hb it's first one I grab no doubts.
Something about the nostalgia with that one.

ETA The CT wood looks a little thirsty.:)
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Didn't do any splitting. I thought the wood looked thirsty as well and used some linseed oil on them. Funny thing is I really didn't see any difference afterwards except they smelled like BLO :). The wood seemed like it had a sealed quality about it and did not absorb the oil like I'm used to. Council states on their web site that the handles are already coated with linseed oil so I dunno... Pics above were before I applied the oil.
 
made2cut said:
Didn't do any splitting. I thought the wood looked thirsty as well and used some linseed oil on them. Funny thing is I really didn't see any difference afterwards except they smelled like BLO :). The wood seemed like it had a sealed quality about it and did not absorb the oil like I'm used to. Council states on their web site that the handles are already coated with linseed oil so I dunno... Pics above were before I applied the oil.
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I just picked up the standard 26" hudson bay and modded it. Mine also had almost perfect grain orientation with a pre-oiled handle. The wood possessed a beautiful sheen straight from the box and didn't accept much of my linseed oil. In discussing the edge, mine came a little bit off but I think I got it right on my stone. I also use a file to thin it out a bit.
 
I find that edge-comparison-pic to be really interesting. I had designs on a straight-handled GB for a long time. Then, the local dealer finally got one in-stock. Boy was I unimpressed. The bit looked like the hack "sharpen-it guy" down at the flea market had made a go at it with his grinder. It was nothing like any other GB I've ever had or seen. I couldn't even say anything to the guy behind the counter.....all I could do was walk away. Judging from your pics, though, the one I handled was a one-off, a poor example. Might have to give it another look, if I can find one in-stock somewhere so I can see and touch it.

Of course, we also now have a Wetterlings dealer in town.........axe money will be spent before I have earned it!


-ben
 
Nice looking axes no doubt. I think some more field time is needed, more than just a limb, but that is just one guys opinion, and the same game that is working in the BMC vs GB comparison now, oh, for months lol.

Nice axes, thanks for the insight on both!
 
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