Is Hultafors Bruks as goo as Gransfors Bruks?

brewcitymike

brewcitymike

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Aug 26, 2011
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A while back I came across a mention of Hultafors Bruks axes and it said that they were an old company like GB and Wetterlings and that they make a very high quality axe similar to GB. So is it true cuz their prices are way lower than Gb but if they are even somewhat as good I'll buy one. How are they compared to Wetterlings? I want a GB so bad but the price stops me each time, so if I can get one similar for a good deal less I would like to.
I'm currently looking at one or both of these

hultaforsaxe.jpghultaforshatchet.JPG
 
I'm curious about the Hultafors too, since apparently they are recently being introduced to the US market.
I keep choking on the GB prices.... and then I think what an incredible deal $120 for a top-quality hand-forged knife would be.

-Daizee
 
Mike,
Go to your Husqvarna dealer. Husqvarna axes are made by Hultafors. I have a couple. One made by Wetterlings(not as nice) and one made by Hultafors that is nice. If they have them in stock you can get just what you want. The steel is very high quality in all three sweedish axes.
 
I didn't even notice my type-o in the thread name til now,lol. These axes sure are goo:D

I have eyed a few Husqvarna axes that I thought were possibly made by Wetterlings. I have a wetterlings carpenter axe and its very nice, but not shaving sharp in the least and I REALLY want to see a shaving sharp axe like the GB's are always said to be.
 
I do not own any of the modern Wetterlings, but do have a number of GB's and HB's (Hultafors / Hults Bruks). I would say HB's are very close or equal to the quality of GB's. I like GB's but they are asking a premium in price that is not rewarded in a quality differential over other makers anymore as other axe makers have stepped up to the plate. These axes from HB / Husqvarna are a perfect example.

There was a review recently which can be found here comparing them:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/996539-REVIEW-Husqvarna-Forest-Axe

You can also find many older HB heads around which I like even more than the newer HB heads.
 
brewcitymike said:
I have a wetterlings carpenter axe and its very nice, but not shaving sharp in the least and I REALLY want to see a shaving sharp axe like the GB's are always said to be.
Click to expand...

I bet that wetterlings will take a shaving sharp edge... send it to me for testing. :D

-Daizee
 
No , We have 2 big hultafors, and one small. I have a GB hunters axe, and my father has the GB wildlife hatchet.

The GB handles is a bit better IMO. The hunters axe is really grippy!
I think the design is better, and the supposed to be 57 hrc highcarbon edge, differential heat treat head is tough to beat.

The main reason the GB axes are better in my opinion is the edge geometry and the edgeretention.
I could shave hair easily with my axe after hard use (wood only), and its posible to carve.
They might have done some changes to the hultafors over the years, and they are very good axes, But the gransfors has im my experiance a significantly better egde than both hultafors and fiskars.

That being said, I would still recomend buying a hultafors, it was my favourite untill I got my hands on a GB.


I did one interesting observation, my Gransfors huters axe chips if I hit stone. The hultafors egde bends instead, but with smililar amount of damage to the edge. And a friend once chipped a larger bit of the egde on his Gransfors. His axe , another model has a thinner blade than the husnters axe
 
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I JUST NOW bought a Hultafors-made Husqvarna hatchet.
The local Husqy dealer had an extra promo hatchet. I called asking about axes because of this thread, and he had only the spare promo hatchet, which he offered to sell me for a song. So... I grabbed it and just got back.
Somewhat unfortunately it's the newer one. I was hoping it would be the older swedish-style head with the ears and the slightly closed bit. But at flea market prices I wasn't gonna complain.

This is marked 1-1/4lb, 0.6kg (not an exact conversion) with a 15" OAL.
The edge bevel is WAY too thick. I'll work that down. I think the profile overall could be thinner. Clearly this is a budget HB, but it's marked HB very deeply on the head. The fore/aft balance is good.

I was particularly interested in the scandanavian haft. It has a nice shape but is a bit thick as well. I may thin it out somewhat.
The haft is marked Husqvarna.

It seems this was from the in-between period where they had dual markings, and later HB is making Husqy-branded heads too.
This is the same NEW version hatchet reviewed by woodtrekker: http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2011/08/husqvarna-hatchet-2011-model-review.html
Since this is an in-betweener, I wouldn't take my comments as representative of the current line.

I wouldn't buy this one for full price, but I didn't pay that. My plans for this one.... we'll see. It NEEDS edge work badly.
Since this one is not historic, but decent steel and CHEAP, I may modify it a bunch. Either that or possibly put it as-is only an 18-20" handle as a light truck axe.

Pictures when I get a chance. Might have to wait 'til Friday.
 
Since GB bought Wetterlings pretty much nobody has been able to tell the two apart. The only thing that seems to differ is that a little more effort is spent on finishing the GB axes, they usually come sharper out of the box. I can't really speak for the other Swedish brands, but very rarely have I picked up a Swedish product and been disappointed - especially when there's Swedish steel in the mix ;)
 
daizee said:
I was particularly interested in the scandanavian haft. It has a nice shape but is a bit thick as well. I may thin it out somewhat.
The haft is marked Husqvarna.
Click to expand...

The head appears to have a full-size axe eye, which makes choking up for carving a little awkward.

I'll open another thread for this hatchet so I don't hijack the OP's topic.
 
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Klammer I appreciate the posting cuz now I feel like buying a Hults immediately. Not a Husqvarna model, a real Hults first to see its quality. Of course I don't have a GB to compare it to so in that aspect I'm s.o.l,lol. But I can at least compare it to my Wetterlings and I might pop for a Council Velvicut Hudson Bay too while I'm at it.
 
The Hultafors Classic line axes are as good as Gransfors, including steel quality. The standard line also has excellent steel, though they are a bit "rough around the edges." Their Dayton style standard heads usually need to be profiled, whereas the Classic line comes with profiles that are highly polished and thin like Gransfors. I am reviewing both of these for my blog right now. Should have the review posted in the coming weeks. So far, I'm very impressed
 
can't wait to read those reviews, RMB.
I have thinned the edge grind on my husqy/hutla hatchet and I tell you, this steel takes a RIDICULOUS edge. I opened some mail with it. The cut edges of the paper are VERY clean, which suggests a very fine grain steel that's been properly heat-treated. Now if the classic line comes pre-tuned? voo-ha!
 
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