gransfors file sharpener

zyhano · May 7, 2011

Hey guys,

I'm in Stockholm at the moment and walked into a hardware store to check out some gransfors axes.
Now, I like sharpening stuff and I know gransfors has a sharpening stone so I asked around. They now have a sharpening file kind of thing, which essentially to me looks like crap. very small and with a small wooden handle.

The guy in the store told me stones were old news and this was the new system. Sounded more like a marketing trick to me.

Personally, I dont think a short/small double sided file with a wooden handle where it is pressed and glued in between (!) will do much better, but I'm curious to know if you feel the same or have any experience with it.

Ookami · May 7, 2011

Was it a regular file or a diamond coated one.

Ookami

bjp · May 7, 2011

pretty sure the gransfors files are diamond hones, fine on one side and less-fine on the other. don't have one, but I bet they're nice. their axe stone sure is nice, too, though.

-ben

zyhano · May 7, 2011

diamond I think. I wasn't paying that much attention to be hones, since I got so turned off by the look of the cheap handle.

NothingCoherent · May 8, 2011

I use a standard bastard file to sharpen my axes and machetes and greatly prefer it over stones. I go straight from the file to my strop and can get it hair popping sharp without much effort. Don't know much about this GB file, but I would assume it's of decent quality if they're willing to put their name on it. Files work great.

zyhano · May 9, 2011

yeah, you're probably right.
Maybe I'm looking too much at axes from a knife sharpening perspective.
I picked up a $4 piece of nothing axe 2 months ago and got it from totally dull to hair popping with a file, $2 stone and a strop.

As for the quality, that's the point, for 25 euro I thought it was expensive since the construction was not very solid. Otoh, dmt diafolds are in the same price range and have plastic handles and are a great product.
The same might be true of the gransfors thing.

I was also dissapointed that they didn't have the axe stone, which I wanted to pick up, and then the salesman doing his pitch was a turnoff too.

I judged too hastily probably.

bjp · May 9, 2011

zyhano said:
I was also dissapointed that they didn't have the axe stone, which I wanted to pick up, and then the salesman doing his pitch was a turnoff too.

I never really appreciate salesmen's pitches. Also, the stone is awesome. Had to order one myself a while back. It's considerably nicer to work with than other axe stones (I'm comparing with norton's round axe stone and the lansky puck).

-ben

Calebklyne · May 9, 2011

Gb makes both a regular file and a diamond coated one but I do have the puck and it's awesome

zyhano · May 9, 2011

bjp said:
I never really appreciate salesmen's pitches. Also, the stone is awesome. Had to order one myself a while back. It's considerably nicer to work with than other axe stones (I'm comparing with norton's round axe stone and the lansky puck).

-ben

Calebklyne said:
Gb makes both a regular file and a diamond coated one but I do have the puck and it's awesome

yup, it's still on my list to get. have to buy it in the netherlands now though.

In a related story, I chopped a dried birch stump today with my 4 year old watching, telling her about the axe and stuff (it was the $4 axe mentioned above) and I hit the stones underneath on purpose when splitting the wood to demonstrate the damage lol. That thing immediately missed about 1 mm of steel on the edge where it hit. Put it on the file and the $2 stone and it was literally good in 4 minutes.. very soft steel.