Sharpening Mann pack ax

David Martin

David Martin

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I'm going through my axes and checking them for Fall readiness and noticed my Mann was
not sharp. I remembered using it for limb work back during the Spring. So, I took it to the
coarse side of my fine India and at a 21-22* started working it. It didn't take long, so it wasn't
that dull-- to take a sharp edge. I test it with my thumb nail then run some corners of dirty shop cloths across it. Which it needs to cut these in a 1/2" of movement across the edge.
Removing the burrs on this ax, I'd say is normal, requiring 3-4 flips and a light touch on the
stone. When I achieve this, I call it ready for use and hang it by the shop door. This is sort of
a quick edge but more refined than a file.
I haven't noticed much difference in how long a edge at this grit level last vs taking the edge up to the fine India and working the burrs off. Have you gents? Thanks, DM
 
Just thinking it through, the finer finish will stay sharp longer. Of course there are factors besides shiny bevels that are under consideration, like the quality of the two converging planes and more. So for example as the work proceeds from coarse to fine grit so does the chance of rounding over the edge and with this the urge to do the work using an additional guide, increasing the inconvenience of maintaining the edge and the chance that it will get put off. No, better to free-hand on all occasions. But look what you are dealing with. The filed edge is a serrated edge and inherently weaker, I think it's clear, requiring more frequent maintenance. I often do notice that an edge gotten with the lower grit will shave hair, slice paper, grip a thumbnail and it should surprise no one that it does but we are normally going beyond these when we want to get a sharp axe and it's here, when we actually put the axe to use, where the roughly ground edge will be inferior to the finely honed one. It is in fact the point of fine honing, to make a durable edge. It's one reason for leaving the burr on until the very last, only removing it with the finest grit.
 
I'm hoping some of our seasoned axe men will chime in on this.
I'll tell you, I'm not going to take the time to take this ax up through a zillion grit sharpening it. When it will last through the limb work on
One Emery oak. Then I have to give it some stone work. If I can during the evenings this week I'll take it to the fine India, 320 grit and I have a old extra fine India 5-600 grit. That I can give it some scraping on. But that's as far as I care to go on any ax. DM
 
Not always, but I usually sharpen to the work at hand. For example- if I am felling a large or dangerous tree, I want the sharpest axe. Or hewing, I want very sharp. Sounds like limbing is the work at hand, and you have dialed in on the sharpening. It is not like you intend to use a dull axe and say "well, good enough"
 
Crumb-- I like your sayings. I've fell trees with no sharper axe than with a file. So, I don't know if a higher grit matters. One year on the advice
of a Forum member I worked my Hults Buks on a hard Arkansas, for the final grit. I use this ax for splitting and I noticed a wee difference. Not sure I'd call one try, 'experience'. DM
 
Anyway, my Grandfather's at the most had a fine India stone they would use to go over their ax edge after the file. Of course the stone
had not been cleaned. Not saying they did it the best. Just discussing it. DM
 
If you could guarantee, that the edge only contacts clean wood, then a polishing the edge might be worth the time. In general use, I feel like the edge contacts sand and other stuff, that will dull the edge no matter if polished or not. I think that on an axe, the profile behind the edge (how well it's tapered) is more important than the ultimate sharpness of the apex. Sharpness would matter more on a carving axe, I imagine. I still take my edges up to a high sharpness (takes maybe 5 minutes more to go from coarse SiC to push cutting phonebook paper) because I enjoy seeing my axes that sharp, but I don't think it gives me a great boost in performance.
 
Thanks G. Here is my sharpening method for an ax. I'm working it on the fine India. I'm ambidextrous and use each hand when I switch.
Now, my right hand sets the angle while my thumb steadies the hold. The left hand does the pushing. When I switch the left sets the angle
while my right pushes. DM
mann2.jpg
 
I take pretty much every axe to hard black Arkansas when I'm originally restoring and sharpening them. The thing is, it doesn't take much time to go up a couple grits. A minute or two per side, tops. And I find that these axes penetrate a little deeper and more importantly release a little easier. In the field I touch up with whatever I have handy. But once I get it back home I'll take it to black Arkansas again.
 
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Ok, good, well worded. That's what I noticed when I took my Hults to the hard Arkansas. Now, I'm finished with the fine India and moving
on finer. I'll give you gents a photo when I get to the hard Arkansas. DM
 
Something that Gv hit at is sand, in my area we get winds in March, April and May and blowing sand with it. I have noticed sand gets embedded in the bark and when chopping this sand will poof out when you hit the tree. So, this could be a factor with my ax dulling. If we got good rains
in July and August this my help to wash some of this sand away. I should cut in Sept. or Oct. to take advantage of the washing. DM
 
There is a good reason that a very sharp axe is important in felling. When felling a large or dangerous tree the last thing you need at the moment the tree starts to fall is a axe that sticks or cuts slow. You may well need to cut one side of the hinge wood deeper in order to "pull" the direction of the fall to the opposite side. This of course is something any experienced faller would know, even if you are making the back cut with a crosscut saw or a chain saw you want SHARP when felling.
 
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I take mine up fairly fine, though not with a large progression. At 600-800 grit or so I strop and maintain it with a hard strop as long as possible. The finer edge has less friction into the cut, same as with a plane iron or a chisel - you notice real quick depending on the wood how much effort is needed.

Maybe not as big a deal with heavier weight of the axe, but if did side by side at the same time on the same wood, I believe you'd notice a difference.
 
David Martin said:
Something that Gv hit at is sand, in my area we get winds in March, April and May and blowing sand with it. I have noticed sand gets embedded in the bark and when chopping this sand will poof out when you hit the tree. So, this could be a factor with my ax dulling. If we got good rains
in July and August this my help to wash some of this sand away. I should cut in Sept. or Oct. to take advantage of the washing. DM
Click to expand...

I was camping on the edge of a lake in the Adirondacks and chopped up what looked like a cedar tree that had washed up on shore. My hatchet dulled incredibly fast, the bit was almost hot to the tough. Embedded grit and sand had been worked into the wood and trashed my edge - looked like I'd been chopping through sandpaper.
 
I'm glad someone else noticed how natural occurring environmental factors can affect ax performance when cutting wood. I'm thinking this
factor was at work many times when I cut wood. Still, I think you gents have a point with taking the ax edge to a high grit and that is
what I'm going to do and closely watch it when I go chopping. Then give you some feed back. DM
 
Debarking with some cheap machete/spare hatchet before taking the ax to said tree sounds like a possible solution, if you don't mind throwing little extra weight in the back of your truck.
 
Ok, I've taken it through all 5 grits, working up a burr on each and carefully removing it. Took me over an hour. Here is my hard Arkansas,
a 4"X 8" stone. A nice size stone to work on. You can see it has veins of pink in it at the lower center. This ax will slice paper. DM
ArkansasS.jpg
 
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