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New Gransfors off center -what to do?

L

LonnyRS

Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
475
I have been reading this subforum for some time now, and decided that I needed a new hatchet. And like many of you, I want the best there is. It didn't take long to hear that Gransfors Bruk is to the axe world what CRK is to the knife world. My father and I are going camping in the Rockies in 3 weeks, so what better place to give one a go. Well, it came in the mail today - the Wildlife Hatchet. Smaller and lighter than I expected, but still I am very impressed. And underwhelmed at the same time. The edge of the bit is off center it seems, and I need opinions. Should I just keep it and use it, or return it to the place I purchased it, and exchange it? For $112.00 I expect a hatchet to be dang near perfect. I rehung a hatchet last week myself, a cheap one, and it's dead on straight. And that was the first one I've ever done! So how could this pass through quality control and not be noticed? Or am I just being too picky? Here's the pics:




And here I lined up the bottom of the edge with the center of the bottom of the handle, to show how the bit is canted (or whatever it is):


So basically I would be striking what I'm cutting slightly to the left of perpendicular. Would this bother you if it were yours? I need some advice here. Thanks guys..
 
If I spent the kind of money that is required for a GB, Hell yeah it would bother me. Call em up and get it replaced. It will always bother you.
 
If you are unhappy then return it. The only way you can be sure to get a perfect one though is to find somewhere to buy it in person, or a retailer that will inspect it for you before shipping.

That said, I have a wetterlings with a very similar cant to yours and it doesn't bother me or affect performance at all.
 
It looks to be hung correctly, but the bit is out of line with the lugs and the rest of the head. I'd return it. It is kinda funny how particular we are about a top of the line axe comparing to a top of the line knife when you consider the cost difference between a CRK knife and a Gransfors axe. There's a few hundred dollars difference there. You could buy a Tuatahi for the price of a Sebenza.
 
I have seen a few YT vids of the forging process at the GB factory, and the actual forging process itself is no more than 3 or 4 minutes. CHeck it out if you haven't seen one..
 
Yeah, that's a head geometry screw-up on the forger's part. It would be different if the hang was bad, but this is much worse. Especially on a smaller axe, this will bug you to no end and mess up your precision. Send her back.
 
It's understandable that a purchaser would have elevated expectations when paying a "Lamborghini" price for a recreational-use hatchet. On the other hand I've noticed that most of the old choppers that I have kicking around have some sort of flaws or alignment issues and yet their former owners obviously got one, two or three lifetimes of good use out of them anyway.
Until I joined this forum I only ever paid attention to grain orientation, comfort and length of handles and whether the hang was done by somebody that knew what they were doing.
You are likely not going to get this alignment issue out of your mind and this will affect your confidence in the tool so now (before you actually use it) is as good a time as any to bring it back and ask to inspect a half dozen others so as for you to be able to choose the best one.
 
The only problem with returning this is I bought it online from Wiseman Trading. I'm sure they will accept the return, but trying to explain to someone on the phone the issue with this may be fairly difficult, so I'll have to trust their judgment on picking me out a better one. Included with the hatchet was a letter stating they want my satisfaction, and apparently return shipping is refundable. So by the time they pay for my shipping, and then shipping on a new one, they surely will be taking a loss. That's just business I guess. But I will call them in the morning and get the ball rolling. Thank you guys for the advice, and I will report back what happens in case anyone wants to know. Does anyone have experience with them, and have good things to say?
 
Send them photos of what you don't want to see in an exchange (ie the pictures and description you posted on here). I know it's only a hatchet but you might coach them on haft grain orientation and run-out while you're at it. The current version is not ideal in either regard.
Out of curiousity I took a good look at the Sandvik boys axe that I used for many years during the 1960s and 70s and boy if you think the alignment on yours is off then mine can be put into service as a broadaxe. The haft likely warped some more from 35 years of having been kept in an unheated shed, but I'll bet it still chops and limbs like it always did. I sort of like to think it's become a 'right-handed' axe, and maybe it always was! A purist might notice a couple of degrees off straight but very few others will.
 
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Well first you're gonna have to school me on what haft grain orientation and run-out are, so I can sound like I know what I'm talking about to the person I talk to. I will send them pics, as well. Thanks..
 
Hi Lonny,

return that axe. You are NOT too picky about it..

I have 7 Gransfors axes, 3 of them have been forged by Ulrika Stridsberg (a woman, her blacksmith mark is US) and her axes are just awesome... totally symmetric and stright and well balanced and centered straight in line. I love These axes. One of her axes is a medieval bearded axe with eye-socket. I had this axe for 6 years now.

Last year, i decided to get another Gransfors Bearded Axe, and ordered a new one. What shall i say.. when i got the new one (which was unfortunately NOT made by Urlika, but by some guy with a "P" as Blacksmith Mark), the axe blade was off-centered just as in your pics! I felt exactly like you now... questioning myself if i was too picky. But hey, i did spend almost 300 Dollar on this bearded axe, so i returned it. Also a handcrafted product should be symmetric. handcraftsmanship should NOT be an excuse for poor work.. just the other way round: handcrafted axe heads should outperform machined heads.

So just return it....

Cheers Vincent
 
I am returning it. I spoke with the rep this morning, and he is going to hand select me one himself. He also said that I am not the only one that has had this problem lately. He seems to wonder if their quality control is going down a little. Mine was made by MM - Mattias Mattson. It is a bit difficult to see if the geometry is off until the handle is put in maybe, I don't know. But the demand for these are not going down, so production must go up, just like anywhere else, so maybe that is causing quality issues. I know this will be made right, but it's quite a let down getting your first Gransfors, only to find it crooked. Maybe this particular one was forged around 4:45 on a Friday. Who knows..
 
All of the Gränsfors axes I own (four of them) exhibit some twist, which is similar to your photo.

The twist may be an artifact of their heat treating process... warpage induced during quenching. This is to be expected from a relatively thin metal object that has been freehand hammer-forged and then heat treated. So, I would not necessarily consider it a defect. It is more like a business and/or process choice on the part of Gränsfors.

I have two Wetterlings axes that do not have any noticeable twist, but they are splitting axes and thus have more mass, so they are naturally more resistant to quench-induced warping.

Personally, my preference for a general-purpose pack axe is the Wetterlings small splitter. SMKW has been offering them for $60 for quite some time now.

Having said that, many people here do not prefer to carry a "compromise" axe, which the Wetterlings small splitter clearly would be in your case. Even though it's a splitter, it's not a great splitter unless the wood is very dry. The head is narrow for a splitter, yet fat for a chopper, and does not have a high centerline that people here seem to favor.

But it is cheap, very rugged, handy, easy to establish and hold a great edge, and can be pressed into service as a chopper, splitter, grub hoe, hammer, knife, prybar... last-ditch defensive tool?

I have mine teamed with a crosscut saw (either a Bahco bow, or a 32" Warranted Superior w/ Great American tooth pattern) and have been able to do all manner of campsite and 4x4 recovery jobs with no problem.

FWIW, the tolerates impacts into rocky soil quite well. I have a leading-edge bevel on mine at 40° included.
 
Too bad, shouldn't have to worry about a GF like that. I wonder what the production output is and how many of these heads each forger slams through in a day.
Hope you get squared away on the second try.

J
 
I don't know how many a day, but I've seen a few videos of the forging, and it takes about 3 or 4 minutes for a standard axe head. I'm sure the more fancy ones take a little longer. But anyway, Wiseman Trading has already sent me a new axe yesterday, and I am shippong the other back today. Pretty good people to deal with if you ask me. I'm looking forward to seeing the new one, that's for sure!!
 
LonnyRS said:
I don't know how many a day, but I've seen a few videos of the forging, and it takes about 3 or 4 minutes for a standard axe head. I'm sure the more fancy ones take a little longer. But anyway, Wiseman Trading has already sent me a new axe yesterday, and I am shippong the other back today. Pretty good people to deal with if you ask me. I'm looking forward to seeing the new one, that's for sure!!
Click to expand...
Boy would I ever hate to be a sales rep/agent/broker for a fashionable/exclusive gizmo that is advertized to be entirely hand-made (meaning anything but perfect) and then having to deal with the overly well-heeled/fussy buyers that expect absolute perfection like they see in a lesser-priced well-tuned automated long-standing production line implement.
Does help to explain why there is such a price difference between the two. Half of this is increased (and requiring more skills) additional labour and the other half is to honour warranties and exchanges that 'budget buyers' never would have noticed nor complained about in the first place had they bought into an ordinary version for 1/10th the cost.

Happy Canada Day, by the way! July 1 1867 was when enough alarmed Brits, Colonials, ex-Americans and 50,000 displaced Frenchmen (who lost out on the n. American colonization war 95 years earlier) officially declared that there was enough difference between the folks south of the 49th parallel, and the folks that lived north, to create an individual Nation called "Canada".

You guys ('murricans) all get to whoop and holler later on this week. And rightfully so; Taxation by representation and 'right to bear arms' are direct reciprocity for lousy and heavy-handed British policies to cash-in on and then attempt to subjugate the successful eastern seaboard Colonials of the mid-1700s.
 
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