Rec for noob sharpening tools

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Spig

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Nov 28, 2021
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New cabin owner. There's a lot of opportunity to pick up used but still useful axes at garage sales and flea markets around here in Schoharie County, NY. Can I get some advice on what axe sharpening tools to have? I have wood tools (files, etc.) but nothing for sharpening. Just files and sandpapers? Stone?

Have a 4 1/2 angle grinder so I'm game for finding the right discs for using that.

Budget is small and don't need to compete with imported German axes, just would like to get a sense of what are the right things to have around to sharpen a few axes and blades if starting from point zero.

Thanks!!!

Spig
 
First of all a vintage American axe will be as good or in all likelihood better than any Euro import axe. Find an axe with convex cheeks that won't be sticky. Look for an axe with a long toe, longer than the heel. This shows that it isn't badly worn.

The only thing you should use the angle grinder for is to clean your axe. Get a cup brush for it. Grinding an axe with a power tool will most likely overheat the axe and ruin it's temper. Files and stones are best.

It's hard to find good files these days. What you find in a hardware store will likely be junk. The made in Mexico Nicholson's are junk. If you have some old files in very good condition or NOS those will be best. Pferd and Grobet still make some good files but they are hard to find in the large sizes we want for filing an axe, minimum 10", better to be 12" or 14". The Simmond's files coming out of China aren't as good as the old US made files but they are head and shoulders better than the Mexican Nicholsons. Use a file card to keep it clean.

Always clamp your axe in a vise or to your bench for filing. Old axes will have a dark oxidation layer on them which is diffucuult to cut through with a file. The file will have a tendency to skate across the metal. Concentrate on a small area and once through the oxidation layer work out from there lifting the oxidation layer along with some of the softer surface just below it. Put a guard on your file and file into the edge. Shape the bit to the Forest Service gauge (taken from Bernard Mason's book 'Woodsmanship').

Follow the file with your whetstones. I prefer to do this while the axe is still in the vise or clamped but others like to do it freehand.

That should get you started.
 
I've had good luck with Bahco files. My favorite is part number 1-106-12-1-0 ("Oberg" cut, with chip breakers similar to a Nicholson Magicut). Cuts fast, and with a light touch you can give a pretty smooth finish. Best of all, it actually stays sharp.

It's also reasonably easy to find larger double-cut files from Bahco that are good for a quick first reshaping. I've been using part no 1-110-14-1-0 with good effect recently.

Both of these have performed much better than the new production Nicholson and Mercer files I've used---though anyone who has used those knows this is damning with faint praise.
 
I like to use a Pferd square file to start and get the base shape them im after and since it has 4 sides it allows you to concentrate on what you are doing rather then having to stop alot to clean it out. After that i use a random mix of new "old stock" flat files. You can alot on ebay for a decent price if you wish to go that route. I would susgest doing this if you are looking to maintain alot of axes, if you only have 1 or 2, you can get away with a cheaper chinese one. A file card is a must, you can extend the life of a file by alot with simply cleaning it after 10 or so strokes or when it just doesnt feel like its cutting anymore.

For stones, its not really necessary unless you are going for a razor sharp edge, which for a working tool like an axe isnt needed, specially on a splitter. But a Lasky puck can help alot if you have a stuborn spot that just wont get there. And lastly, a leather strop belt (for straight razors) really really helps clean up the burr. You dont need to use compound, but if it comes with it, it doesnt hurt to use it.
 
Bastard metal file and a file cleaner...all you need.

Can get a small stone if you want too, for the more "buscrafty" smaller axes that need sharp edges.
 
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