GB - when did they start w/ maker intials?

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killa_concept

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Title pretty much says it all. Does anyone know whenabouts Gransfors Bruks started stamping their axes with the maker's initials? I ask because I picked up a couple of old GB axe heads that are only stamped with the weight on one side and the GB Logo/Crown and Made in Sweden on the other.

Thanks in advance for the replies! :thumbup:
 
I don't know the exact date, but it's at least been for the past several (5-8) years I would say.

There was a time when GB was not putting out the hand-forged "pieces of art" that they put out now. The notoriety they have now is actually a by-product of the reinvention of their company. As I said before, at some point in the past they were putting out machine forged axes that were good, but there was no personality to them. Many of the GB heads you find on Ebay are these older, lower quality heads. Now don't get me wrong, they are still nice by most all standards....but they don't hold a candle to the newer hand-forged models.

When they went through this "reinvention" of their company, they wanted to get back to their roots. They wanted to put themselves above the rest as far as quality, craftsmanship, and personality goes. That's when they started stamping the heads. Like I said, I don't know a exact date...it might be in the axe book that comes with their axes. Someone else might be able to chime in. I just thought I would kill the awkward silence :P
 
Well from my understanding, Gransfors Bruks axes have never been drop forged (if that's what you meant by machine-forged)... they've always been forged by hand (with the aid of forging hammers of course) by blacksmiths. The better quality of today's GB axes isn't coming from the change in forging process, but rather the change in business plan: they started paying the blacksmiths by the month instead of by the piece, which lowered the incentive to rush the forging process.

I just found and re-watched the lecture by the GBA CEO which confirms your time-line. It definitely happened after Gabriel Branby took over the bankrupt company in '85 and revamped the entire business model (though my axe heads certainly look much older than '85). Anyways, many thanks mate for the info mate :thumbup:
 
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I apologize...I meant to say machine "finished"

I was referring to them taking the heads to the belt sander after they were done.
 
Yeah, I think it was around 1989 when they started making the hand forged models.
 
devilpig said:
I apologize...I meant to say machine "finished"

I was referring to them taking the heads to the belt sander after they were done.
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Ah yes. I definitely like the direction that GB went and I'm glad to see them reap the rewards of such a well thought out and executed plan.


rg598 said:
Yeah, I think it was around 1989 when they started making the hand forged models.
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You mean the stamped models? I thought we established that they have always been hand forged...
 
All I can input is that the earliest axe from them I have is from 2002 and its a Mini with "LP" stamped on it. SO definitely they have been initialing heads for 9 years at least.
 
killa_concept said:
Ah yes. I definitely like the direction that GB went and I'm glad to see them reap the rewards of such a well thought out and executed plan.




You mean the stamped models? I thought we established that they have always been hand forged...
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My bad. I was thinking of the overall process and misspoke. They have always been machine forged. Now they are more "hand finished" by individual workers. They are certainly not drop forged, but I don't think it is fair to call this method hand forging while calling drop forgind a mechanized process. The drop forging process is just a faster version of what the current machine does. IMHO

I misspoke when I said they are currentlly hand forged. There is a way to hand forge with a mechanized hammer, but what GB and SAW do is not that.

It sucks that they stopped making the Dayton type heads. They are my favorite.
 
My new GB Double bit has the initials "UN" stamped on the head. I hope that doesnt mean United Nations:barf:
 
psp7 said:
My new GB Double bit has the initials "UN" stamped on the head. I hope that doesnt mean United Nations:barf:
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If you're living in Oregon, they should have sent you a "US" axe.:)

Here are some maker's marks:
US Ulrika Stridsberg
UN Ulrik Nilsson
MM Mattias Mattson
AS Anders Strömstedt LP Lennart Petterson
RA Rune Andersson
KS Kjell-Åke Sjölund
DG Daniel Gräntz
BA Bert-Ove Andersson

from:
"An axe becomes as good as its smith"
http://www.gransfors.com/htm_eng/index.html
 
rg598 said:
Here is a video showing how Wetterlings makes their axes.
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Awesome stuff mate! I think I've seen a small portion of this video before somewhere, but it wasn't tagged as being the wetterlings factory. Perhaps it was a completely different video altogether... Regardless, very neat video and nice to see how it's done! Also, on your earlier comment: while it's not hand-forged, it certainly does involve a stronger human element than drop forging. Also, from my understanding, isn't this method of forging much better than drop forging (which I believe only involves a single, very high pressure drop to press the metal into the shape)?

Steve Tall said:
If you're living in Oregon, they should have sent you a "US" axe.:)

Here are some maker's marks:
US Ulrika Stridsberg
UN Ulrik Nilsson
MM Mattias Mattson
AS Anders Strömstedt
LP Lennart Petterson
RA Rune Andersson
KS Kjell-Åke Sjölund
DG Daniel Gräntz
BA Bert-Ove Andersson

from:
"An axe becomes as good as its smith"
http://www.gransfors.com/htm_eng/index.html
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Is the double bit only made by Ulrik Nilsson? It seems like the ones I've seen have all had his stamp. I know a couple of models are only made by certain makers (such as the belt axe being made exclusively by Lennart Petterson...)
 
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late late 1890's i do believe is when they started making axes, as for makers marks, i cannot recall....
 
killa_concept said:
Awesome stuff mate! I think I've seen a small portion of this video before somewhere, but it wasn't tagged as being the wetterlings factory. Perhaps it was a completely different video altogether... Regardless, very neat video and nice to see how it's done! Also, on your earlier comment: while it's not hand-forged, it certainly does involve a stronger human element than drop forging. Also, from my understanding, isn't this method of forging much better than drop forging (which I believe only involves a single, very high pressure drop to press the metal into the shape)?
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I have not seen anything other than speculation about this method being better than drop forging. In fact, when the drop hammers came out, only the companies that were not doing too well continued to use this method. All the ones that could afford it switched to drop hammers because it was considered a better method. At the end of the day, I personally think they are the same. It all comes down to the design and the finishing work that is put into the product. A GB axe made in 1980 looks exactly like a drop forged axe made by Council Tool, and I'm sure they perform the same way. Whether a hammer hits a block one or ten times, I don't think matters much.

I think people believe this is a better method for social reasons rather than practical ones. We tend to think that "hand made" things are better. Back when people loved technology, it was the opposite. People have started to think that this method is better because of the high quality axes put out by GB, but that has nothing to do with the machines. At least, I have not seen anything that would show that.
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