Gransfors Bruk Small forest axe crack - pics

R

Remzy

Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Messages
373
Hello fellow forumites,

Yesterday I was using the Gransfors bruk small forest axe that ive got last Christmas on a very old, weathered, knotty and dry piece of fir of something like that, I am no expert on wood identification, but at some point when I was chopping I noticed that the bit was less and less effective and when I checked it out, there were small chips all over the cutting edge so i stopped there. Today when I went on to fixing the edge, I noticed something unusual, a crack that was going towards the pole, kind of like a chip that did not break off? I don't know, but it never happened to me before on American made axe heads.

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I was curious to know if anyone out there that owns a Gransfors bruk had this happen to them. I will try to contact their customer service to see if there's something that could be done because, the way I see it, the crack is parallel to the cutting edge and there's no telling how far it could go with prolonged use.

Regards,
Remy
 
Probably the knot. When you chop into a hard knot on a typical axe stroke angle of 45 degrees or so, the edge of the blade will ride up on the knot while the rest of the blade keeps traveling in its swung direction. This will pop a chip out of your axe. Hemlock is famous for doing that to axes. GB may replace your axe, but the new one will chip again if you hit a similar knot on a similar angle. If that's the type of wood you typically chop, put a wider bevel on the blade.
 
I've chopped a lot of firewood over the years (my only source of heat) and never damaged an axe that way. Knots can do serious damage to knife edges, in the way that Trailtime suggests, but axes are usually too robust for that.

Normally, I'd think the problem was an inclusion or other flaw in the that part of the metal, but if you're getting chips all along the edge, I'd lean toward a faulty heat treat.
 
Definitely too brittle/hard. If the temper had been drawn back properly, it would either chip (if on the hard side) or dent/roll (if on the softer side). That one is basically shattering slowly. I have very limited experience with GFB, and most of what I've seen them used for is on the order of chopping down and limbing Christmas trees or carving utensils, so I don't know if that is normal for them with actual use or not. I do know the steel is either 1050 or 1055 type steel, so they do not have a lot of margin for attaining both superior hardness and serviceable toughness.
 
Bad hunk of steel I would think. I've had a few tore up GB items come through the shop. Never seen anything like that. Hopefully you can get some satisfaction from wherever you purchased it.
 
Bad hunk of steel that is slowly shattering... hum, cant wait to hear back from them now.
 
trailtime said:
Probably the knot. When you chop into a hard knot on a typical axe stroke angle of 45 degrees or so, the edge of the blade will ride up on the knot while the rest of the blade keeps traveling in its swung direction. This will pop a chip out of your axe. Hemlock is famous for doing that to axes. GB may replace your axe, but the new one will chip again if you hit a similar knot on a similar angle. If that's the type of wood you typically chop, put a wider bevel on the blade.
Click to expand...

That's it. You probably hit a hemlock knot. That will damage the best axe.

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But judging by the shape of the break there's a heat treat issue there as well. I would ask GB to replace it.

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Hey!
The crack looks like crack in cast steel...
Is it original... Is it possible to be some fake...
 
Thanks for the wealth of information guys, I was tempter to break away the crack/chip and try to repair the edge as I thunk, maybe its on a superficial level, like when steel lose its carbon on the surface if you heat it too much for too long, but then again, that wouldnt make sense as it would have bent or rolled if the carbon content was low.

I got a responce from GBA support team in sweden, they also said it would be a candidate for exchange and telling me to contact the GBA place in USA, still got to hear back from these guys.

thanks again.
 
Remzy said:
Thanks for the wealth of information guys, I was tempter to break away the crack/chip and try to repair the edge as I thunk, maybe its on a superficial level, like when steel lose its carbon on the surface if you heat it too much for too long, but then again, that wouldnt make sense as it would have bent or rolled if the carbon content was low.

I got a responce from GBA support team in sweden, they also said it would be a candidate for exchange and telling me to contact the GBA place in USA, still got to hear back from these guys.

thanks again.
Click to expand...

I expect they will gladly exchange it. I don't think that kind of chipping is acceptable or normal for GFB or any other axe, just one on the margins that slipped through. Good luck to you!
 
This chip, caused by a frozen hemlock knot, in a Tuatahi work axe filed 10° primary/17.5° secondary per side. Axe was was from New Zealand, not China.

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No, it wasn't the fault of the axe. It has been reground and cuts well in all other wood. When we encounter hemlock, we use the crosscut saw. I've sawed a lot of hemlock and have never chipped a tooth or raker.
 
Heres how it happened.

At first I thought the warranty for the axe had to go thru GBA in Sweden so I emailed them, the person on the mail was very professionnal and told me to contact GBA USA, which I did. he was innocent mistaken because I live in Canada, but thats no big deal, this mean I can vouch for GBA USA aswell as they provided me with excellent customer service even tho Ive never bought from them.

The person from GBA USA told me to contact the Canadian seller, Canadian outdoor equipment co, which i did and i have gotten an excellent service and a superb replacement, all in all, they sure took care of their brand name!

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Very happy with the replacement :)
 
I didn't realize Hemlock was such a problem. I cut hemlock on almost a daily basis with my Small Forest Axe and haven't had an issue.
 
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