How do i sharpen an axe????

[Vermont woodsman]

I bought a new 1 1/4 pound camp axe and it was rather dull....far from sharp like my sebenza. My question is should an axe be razor sharp? and do you sharpen it at the same angle as you would a knife? Thanks guys

 

[mycroftt]

Note the convex shape of the axe that allows for lots of strength and weight behind the cutting edge. Follow that when putting a nice sharp edge on it. Yeah, it should be sharp but it should not be a low angle sharp edge. I'm sure the sharpening gurus here will provide the info on what angles are best.

 

[fracmeister]

Your sebenza isn't sharp like a surgical razor either. "Horses for courses" -- a surgical razor is pretty useless for cutting down trees but there is a reason they use them instead of Sebenzs to operate!

As for me, I use a Tormek to keep mine sharp and I can get them shaving sharp even with the 30 degree angle I use on it. Some people go to bigger angles than that of course. Good luck

 

[J. MacDonald]

Traditional sharpening of an axe is done with a bastard mill file, preferably a 10" or 12" single cut version. If you want to go nuts, use a coarse stone after the file work. There's not much to be gained by trying to get a polished edge on an axe. Working up to 600 grit max should give you a good cutting tool.

 

[fracmeister]

Traditional sharpening of an axe is done with a bastard mill file, preferably a 10" or 12" single cut version. If you want to go nuts, use a coarse stone after the file work. There's not much to be gained by trying to get a polished edge on an axe. Working up to 600 grit max should give you a good cutting tool.

You are right of course. But if you continue to go to ever finer stones and polish up the edge you can have an incredible edge -- until the first chop. Then the last hour and 45 minutes of the two hour project were wasted.

My real advice is to keep it sharp and keep it handy. Much easier to maintain an axe than reprofile it.... unless you have a tormek.

 

[OwenM]

Recently sharpened my dinged up GB small Forest Axe, and made the edge a little more obtuse so it could handle heavier use.
I used a belt sander(lightly), followed by stropping on sandpaper backed by a leather strop(I just hold a strip in place with the same hand that's holding the strop-other end held under my foot), and after 320/440/600/800, just the leather strop loaded with polishing compound. Took maybe ten minutes total, since the belt sander did most of the work in a matter of seconds. It shaves hair and pushcuts paper.
btw, you will get all kinds of answers on the forums when you ask about how sharp XX should be. Sharp is just the two bevels coming together, and ending at a point. It has nothing to do with the angle, which will be determined by the use you expect to put the tool to. For instance, my sFA was shaving sharp, but the edge was too thin, and was damaged by hard use. It now wears a thicker edge that won't be damaged as easily, but is just as sharp.

 

[weldon]

You are right of course. But if you continue to go to ever finer stones and polish up the edge you can have an incredible edge -- until the first chop. Then the last hour and 45 minutes of the two hour project were wasted.

My real advice is to keep it sharp and keep it handy. Much easier to maintain an axe than reprofile it.... unless you have a tormek.

Actually the polished edge is more desireable in an axe, it hold better than the non-polished edge. You don't want microserrations on an axe.

 

[Dijos]

http://www.alpharubicon.com/primitive/AxeSharpeninghawkeye.htm