How are you hand sharpening ?

[upnorth]

I don't know a heck of a lot about axes, so this is fairly new to me. I have been using a Lansky axe puck to sharpen my European axe heads Wett., G.B. (both convex edge), Fiskars (chisel edge?, I am following the factory grind). Then I put a finishing edge on them (slice printer paper) with my Spyderco Sharpmaker. I used to just remove material quickly with a file for my trunk beater. But my axes are casual use and I don't want to remove excess material unnecessarily. How are you fellows sharpening your tools?

 

[Square_peg]

I don't always sharpen by hand but when I do, I do it like this.

I start by profiling with a file and the axe head held in a vise. I prefer to do any major work on the head before it gets hung. Clamp across the eye of the axe in a non-marring vise with the bit flared out over the jaws. This gives the head plenty of support so that you can really bear down with the file and work the hardest axes.

If the top and bottom of the eye are not parallel then you may have to use a wedge to clamp it securely.

Once I have the grind I want with the files then I switch to stones. I hone the bit with it held in the vise the same as when I was filing it. I start with an 8" multi-grit Norton stone. I use mine with water but if you're into oil then that's fine, too. Contrary to how I sharpen knives when I sharpen axes I wet the stone and let a bit of slurry build up. For some reason this works best for me - maybe it's because of the greater force I'm able to apply with the stone when the axe is held in the vise. I take out the file marks and any facets left by the file with the course side of the stone. I form the wire edge and remove it from both sides. Then I polish out the coarse stone marks with the fine side of the stone, again forming and removing the wire edge.

Next I switch to a hard black Arkansas stone about 6000 grit. With this I polish out the marks left by fine side of the Norton stone. I could stop here because at this point I have an amazingly sharp axe. But I continue. I give it a minute on the buffing wheel. Then I finish up with a few strokes on a razor hone, either a Franz Swaty or Keen Kutter - those are the only razor hones I own. These are in the 8000-12000 grit range.

For normal service I like to grind the final bevel to about 25°.

 

[Pondoro2310]

I'm also interested in what people are doing.

 

[leebrewer]

When I sharpen by hand I profile the edge with a file like Square_peg but then go with automotive wet/dry sand paper instead of stones. Usually starting with 400. I progress with finer grit sand paper until I close the finish up and remove any scratches. I'll take it up to 1500 or 2000 the initial sharpening. For me it's easier to take to a mirror finish with sand paper. I think the edge stays sharper longer, cuts better and is easier to maintain this way. I just feel that the grain in the steel gets much tighter and stronger as I progress with the sandpaper. I have nothing else to do with my time anyway.

 

[Echo63]

I very rarely use an axe, I have a fiskars hatchet, and their X15 (I believe it's cruiser sized)
Both get sharpened following the factory bevel, although it has become slightly convex.
Once I blunted the factory edge, I took off the grey paint, and ground out all the roughness with a cheap course diamond stone, then used wet/dry papers from 320 to 2000 grit, then bark river black and green compounds to finish.
The end result is a pair of scary sharp edges with mirror bevels.
X15 - I used it to chop tree roots, the sand messed up the edge and the nonstick coating on the head
You wouldn't know by looking at the edge when I was done !

both - sharp but not polished

x15 again

 

[upnorth]

Thanks for the info guys. I am currently plying with the little Fiskars hatchet and it is great fun. After a couple of sharpening's I can get it to smoothly slice paper.