Report On My Christmas Present

R

RossA

Joined
May 28, 2004
Messages
81
I asked for, and received, the Japanese Hand Axe from Garrett Wade tools for Christmas.
http://www.garrettwade.com/shopping...RODUCT&iMainCat=0&iSubCat=0&iProductID=106250

It looked and felt nice out of the box, so I thought I'd take it outside for a little tryout.
I began by spitting some kindling from some pecan barbecue wood that I have. The axe worked OK, but nothing to write home about.
I figured I would try something a little heavier for it to do, so I took a 6" diameter well seasoned pear log and decided to chop through it. After about 40 strokes, I began to feel some movement in the head. I took it into my shop and hammered the wedge farther into the top of the handle until it felt tight enough. Back to chopping. About 40 more strokes and I feel movement again. This time I take a small scrap piece of steel ( I didn't have an extra wedge lying around) and I sharpened it on a bench grinder to make a new wedge. I drove the new wedge into the handle, so now I have 2 wedges in the top.
Finally, after a couple of attempts, the head feels steady when I chop. And chop. And chop.
It took forever to chop through that log. The blade seems very thick, so it doesn't bite into the wood very quickly or very deeply. Just sharpening the edge isn't going to fix the problem. I am going to have to remove a lot of steel from the shoulder of the blade and reprofile the edge so that it is narrower and will bite more quickly and deeply. This is going to take some time and effort. I wish I had a belt grinder setup, but I don't.
I think this can be a decent tool, now that the head is secure and if I can get the blade thinned out enough to actually cut something.
 
thanks for the review, I was thinking of getting one and also reprofiling the head... I like the bearded shape of the head but it looks thick... does it hold and edge, and how is the quality of the steel? also can it be used for hammering, ie tent stakes, nails , etc...
 
The edge seemed fairly sharp, but in a strange way since the profile is so thick. It will feel much sharper once I take some meat off of that thick blade. I haven't tried any hammering with it, but it seems like it would be Ok for that.
 
It looks like a soft wood profile, have you any low density woods in your area, clear white pine or similar. It might work well in them. Thanks for the report.

-Cliff
 
Plenty of soft wood around here. East and Southeast Texas are full of various types of pines. I want a thinner profile that will work in a variety of woods, though, since I don't know where I might need this out in the field.
 
I would do the same as I would rather have a little less fluidity in softer woods than suffer low penetration on hard woods. Does anyone know what is the density of japanese woods in general, or is this more of a splitting than chopping tool when used natively?

-Cliff
 
Please post your mods when done with an updated report...I'm still interested in
this one... :)
 
I'll definitely post when I am done. It may take me awhile since I don't have a belt grinder. I may have to do this on a small bench grinder and go pretty slowly so I don't totally butcher a new hatchet.
 
Consider using a good file instead of a bench grinder. I've reprofiled a number of axes this way and with a little practice you can get really good results. Start with a new one, the wider the better. Go slow and stone the edge when you're done. Unless your axe is harder than most, I think it will work out better for you.
 
you could run into problems with a file since japanese cutting tools have a very hard edge most of the time...
 
All in all, I would prefer using a file since I would have better control and there would be less heat input into the steel. The only problem is that I have to remove a fairly substantial amount of steel, and it could take forever by file. I regularly sharpen my axes with a file, but that's just sharpening, not actually reprofiling and removing a lot of steel.
 
I looked at the link and it is sandwiched steel with a hard core layer, so you should try out some japanese waterstones.

Ookami
 
The waterstones might be good for sharpening, but I have to remove a lot of steel to reprofile the blade before I get to that point.
 
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