How an axe is really supposed to be sharpened!

The people that use an axe to pay their mortgage probably don't care what people on the internet say is the best as proper way to do things. The people that don't, that's what the hipster thread is for.
 
You make a good point, daizee. I hadn't considered air hardening. That would explain a few things.
 
Whiskey_Jim said:
The people that use an axe to pay their mortgage probably don't care what people on the internet say is the best as proper way to do things. The people that don't, that's what the hipster thread is for.
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Axe earns a mortgage = real man.

Axe goes camping, carving, splits firewood, kept as family heirloom, etc. = hipster.

Got it. Thanks for clearing that up.
 
Agent_H said:
Axe earns a mortgage = real man.

Axe goes camping, carving, splits firewood, kept as family heirloom, etc. = hipster.

Got it. Thanks for clearing that up.
Click to expand...

There is a video on YouTube about felling redwoods before chainsaws. The is a short clip showing guys sharpening an axe on a gnarly looking hand crank wet wheel. The stone surface was far from flat and the guy doing the sharpening was rocking the axe up and down, side to side. He didn't seem worried about getting a perfect 20° convex edge. To him the proper way seemed to be getting the axe back in service so trees could get logged.
 
And you might get a tack boot up your ass if you stand over his shoulder and explain why he isn't doing it the proper way.
 
I took my axe over to the grinder earlier to do some edge work and in the split second I looked down for the start switch this happened:

33150034855_fd02d96f78_b.jpg


And I didn't even have time to get the switch turned on!

:eek::eek::eek:

Bob

PM me if anybody wants a free boat anchor (kinda shaped like a bench grinder).
 
rjdankert said:
I took my axe over to the grinder earlier to do some edge work and in the split second I looked down for the start switch this happened:

33150034855_fd02d96f78_b.jpg


And I didn't even have time to get the switch turned on!

:eek::eek::eek:

Bob

PM me if anybody wants a free boat anchor (kinda shaped like a bench grinder).
Click to expand...

What's the aftermath look like?
 
Whiskey_Jim said:
There is a video on YouTube about felling redwoods before chainsaws. The is a short clip showing guys sharpening an axe on a gnarly looking hand crank wet wheel. The stone surface was far from flat and the guy doing the sharpening was rocking the axe up and down, side to side. He didn't seem worried about getting a perfect 20° convex edge. To him the proper way seemed to be getting the axe back in service so trees could get logged.
Click to expand...

The rocking motion is deliberate. A wheel will create a hollow if you don't do that, while a fore/aft pulse creates a blended convex. Look up just about any old instructional material on grinding an axe with a wheel and you'll see that advice proffered. Here's an excerpt from the ©1960 textbook "The Farm Shop":

16999151_10212017477220690_1011758067526437816_n.jpg


16996518_10212017478260716_4088389811803097796_n.jpg
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The rocking motion is deliberate. A wheel will create a hollow if you don't do that, while a fore/aft pulse creates a blended convex. Look up just about any old instructional material on grinding an axe with a wheel and you'll see that advice proffered. Here's an excerpt from the ©1960 textbook "The Farm Shop/img]
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Yep, the guy was a professional and I bet it came off the wheel shaving sharp. Probably every morning those two sharpened up the axes.

I think that those bench grinders have ruined more old tools than all others causes combined. I own my share of tools but I don't own a bench grinder, which pretty much tells you how I feel about them.
 
Part of the problem is that most cheap wheels that folks are using (pretty much anything you find in a hardware store) are way too hard and slow-wearing, and not a good match for heat treated thin sections of steel. Softer resinoid bonds tend to be best, but the wheels wear out faster. Still possible to burn an edge even with the right wheel, though, if you don't use prudent technique.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Part of the problem is that most cheap wheels that folks are using (pretty much anything you find in a hardware store) are way too hard and slow-wearing, and not a good match for heat treated thin sections of steel. Softer resinoid bonds tend to be best, but the wheels wear out faster. Still possible to burn an edge even with the right wheel, though, if you don't use prudent technique.
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The first thing I look for when I pick up an old axe is how bad it has been butchered on a bench grinder. Hollow ground and by how much. Way too many have suffered from Harry home owner with his bench grinder in the garage doing it the fast way. I just picked this little cruiser up this week end. Its going to take some file work but I think it will be worth it and this is not an extreme case.
P1010028_zps6xip2xsw.jpg
 
That's a nice old Mann... lucky find.
 
daizee said:
That's a nice old Mann... lucky find.
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Thank you.
The thing is I will file the heels back a little and re profile the bit but I will be concerned about the heat treatment of the toes.
I have no way of knowing how hot this axe got. I will just have to judge by the file. A bench grinder is just not the right tool for sharpening anything.
 
300Six said:
No matter what you do or how careful you are the very edge or tip of a blade can and will become red hot within the blink of an eye when you use a grinder, especially one that is not water cooled.
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This is true, even with the less-aggressive flap disc on an angle grinder. I used a 36-grit flap disc on a double bit a while back, and while the metal never got all that hot, I blued the very wire ede when I got careless. Some stone work was needed to clean it up, and all was good again (it wasn't deep or far back from the bit), but it definitely easy to do.

I have a 8" Ryobi bench grinder with the big coarse wheels. I won't go near it with an axe. I wish I could get it to spin slow, but it's just too fast to control with a thin edge. Out of curiosity, I had a chisel that I use for rough work, so it's always getting the edge dinged (driving out axe handles, etc), so I thought I would try to sharpen it using quick touches. I was doing good with quick passes and dunks, until it blued (which I was expecting). It happens really fast.

The only thing I'll do now is maybe bring down a steep bevel well back from the cutting edge with the flap disc. There's too much risk involved otherwise. It's stones and files for me at the edge.
 
garry3 said:
The first thing I look for when I pick up an old axe is how bad it has been butchered on a bench grinder. Hollow ground and by how much. Way too many have suffered from Harry home owner with his bench grinder in the garage doing it the fast way. I just picked this little cruiser up this week end. Its going to take some file work but I think it will be worth it and this is not an extreme case.
P1010028_zps6xip2xsw.jpg
Click to expand...

Very nice...
 
Hi Guys

I sure do appreciate your thoughts on this technique(belt grinding) of sharpening axes. I believe that I should admit to all of you guys that I am a firm believer in using a file for shaping and thinning of the axe cheeks for proper thinness for deep penetration of the blade. It seems to me that the file is the only way that I can achieve the shape and angle that satisfies me. BUT I still like the first sharpening to be with the careful use of a small 1 inch wide belt grinder. The narrow belt doesn't seem to heat up the blade as much as a wider belt.

I really appreciate all of your opinions.

ripshin
 
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