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Hardening Fiskars Maul Edge?

I

ImaginaryNumber

Joined
Nov 9, 2021
Messages
3
I have a Fiskars splitting maul, which I like. However, the edge is relatively soft and dulls readily. Sharpening the edge makes the edge less acute, which significantly increases the amount of force needed to split a round.

My question is whether there is a way to increase the hardness of the edge so that it doesn't dull so quickly?

I asked a welder to put a bead of hardfacing rod on the edge, but he used 4130, which is not a hard facing alloy. Too ductle and not hard enough.

I may try to find a small quantity of some random hard facing rod on Amazon or eBay and give it a try myself. But I thought maybe someone on this forum might have some helpful suggestions.
 
Fiskars tools have a reputation for having soft edges. With the axes it sometimes improves with sharpening. It might be that they are overheating them in the grinding process and ruining the temper.

Welding isn't going to be much help because the heat of the weld will further temper the edge. You might have success by building up a sufficient quantity of an air hardening welding rod. I found a product called, "Eureka 31 A.I.S.I. Type H-13" which supposedly has an as-welded hardness of 49-54 RC - just about perfect for a maul or axe.

Harris 3AH yields a deposited hardness of RC 55-60, maybe a little to hard for a maul but could potential be annealed back if you knew the exact temperatures and durations needed.
 
S-P
Thanks for the rod suggestions, and the RC suggestions. I don't mind if the new hardness is too hard for a file, as I will use a grinder to shape and sharpen the welded material. But I don't want a brittle material that will easily chip if I hit a knot.
 
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