Gransfors Bruks: Care And Feeding?

T

Texas Slim

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Feb 12, 2007
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Finally picked up a GB today from a friend who's a dealer. Unfortunately, his shop doesn't sell many of these axes and he recently learned that GB were droping him as a dealer so what he had in stock was the last he would ever have. With that in mind and a 20% discount as a further incentive, I jumped on a wildlife hatchet and am really impressed with this little tool.

I have a general idea of how to maintain it but thought I'd turn to the experts for pointers. Anything I ought to know?
 
keep it sharp, a polished edge is recommended for chopping.

don't keep it wet for too long, keep the handle clean and dry. you might want to oil the head and the handle in the future, but i understand they do a good wax treatment on the handle.

keep it inside, or otherwise protected from the elements.

don't feed it blood, whatever you do:eek:;)
 
do yourself a favour and oil the handle with a thinned 50/50 mixture of turpentine and Danish tung oil. Then wet sand (with the 50/50 mix) using 300 thru 4000 wet/dry autobody paper by 3M. At the end of the sanding process, wipe clean with fresh danish tung oil and coat liberally with boiled linseed oil. Let dry and re coat with more linseed oil. Soak the head and the haft in the remaining turp/tung oil and wipe the whole thing down.

Do this once a month (takes several minutes) or more depending on use and you wil have an ax that can be passed down for many generations.
 
Bushman5 said:
do yourself a favour and oil the handle with a thinned 50/50 mixture of turpentine and Danish tung oil. Then wet sand (with the 50/50 mix) using 300 thru 4000 wet/dry autobody paper by 3M. At the end of the sanding process, wipe clean with fresh danish tung oil and coat liberally with boiled linseed oil. Let dry and re coat with more linseed oil. Soak the head and the haft in the remaining turp/tung oil and wipe the whole thing down.

Do this once a month (takes several minutes) or more depending on use and you wil have an ax that can be passed down for many generations.
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Dang, that sounds like a lotta work! I guess I better get busy. lol

Great info, thanks a lot.
 
takes about 10 minutes tops, plus a few hours drying time. A little work now will go a long way in keeping the ax in tiptop shape.

oh yea, dont loan it to anyone as was mentioned, thats what the estwings are for...
 
I wipe my GB SFA handle down with boiled linseed oil. The head may get mineral oil, depending on the current rust threat.
 
It's not good to give a friend a knife. It will cut the friendship. So goes the saying. I recently gave a close friend one of my knives. I made him give me a quarter in return. Just to be safe.

LOL:D
 
A few things I learned from hiking with hatchets:

>Polish the head 1-2" behind the edge, this will prevent the hatchet from sticking, it will increase penetration, and prevent rust.
>Convex edges penetrate far better than beveled edges
>Put a tiny but steep microbevel on the edge. I sharpen my Wetterlings on a sandpaper strop, then put a 60 degree included angle (30 per side, or twice that of a knife) on the edge with a few swipes of a fine ceramic stone. This will remove any burr, polish the edge, and prevent a thin edge from rolling which vastly improves the edge durability.
>Once a year, I sand the handle with 300 grit, and apply two coats of Linseed oil. It takes about a week to dry, but it remains slightly tacky and puts a real nice finish on the wood. If I am going on a week long hiking or camping trip, I'll apply beeswax to the handle along with my leather hiking boots.
>Oil the head if it gets wet, but rust should not be an issue if you wipe off the head after use.

Good luck with your new toy, I always find myself using my hatchet a lot more than my knives while hiking.
 
riddleofsteel said:
Don't lend it to anyone.

;)
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If you didn't get this one yet: Don't lend your axe to anyone.

On one of my first real hiking/canoing trips, I let somebody borrow a Fiskars hatchet to chop a sappling that was in the way of where he was going to set up his tent. I turned around and heard the dreaded metal on stone sound. Come to find out, he had decided to clear the giant roots that were underground and managed to take a 1/4" chunk out of the edge on an embedded rock. He didn't even stop, just kept swinging until I got over there and asked him to stop:mad:. Now I only let my left hand borrow my hatchet when my right hand gets tired!
 
Not only should you not lend it to anyone, don't leave it where anyone can get to it. Although most of us on this forum would never do it, a lot of folks think nothing of taking an axe out of a friend's open truck bed and using it. I keep my GBs secured. If I leave something accessible, it's usually an old Sears beater axe.

DancesWithKnives
 
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