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The best ax?

N

neocon

Joined
Mar 16, 2005
Messages
19
I need a good ax. For felling small trees, cleaning brush and splitting kindling. Who makes a good one? Who makes the best?
 
I like 3 1/2 pound double bits and have a few that are U.S.A. made. They are Snow and Nealy, Council Rail Splitter, Barco/Kelly Perfect Western, Kelly Woodslasher and a few older ones that i am not sure of. I think they are all good but if forced to pick one it would be the Kelly Perfect (I think the name is fitting). But a double bit aint the best for splitting fire wood.
 
Cold Steel has the Trail Boss, it's pretty good with a great price. Also, there's always Fiskars. To decide between the two, I'd have to make up my mind between traditional versus modern styling. Though I hate the look of Fiskars, I'd give my nod to them as long as the head said "Finland" on it. A few forum members have reported chipping and outright failure. The top of my 14"er on the blade head chipped last Thursday while felling 3" diameter dead wood. Bastard file at firt, then the dremel fixed it up, though.
 
I assume that the folks who mentioned the Scandinavian Forest Axe were referring to the excellent Gransfors-Bruks model (www.gransfors.com). However, I thought I should note the manufacturer in case the OP was not familiar with Gransfors. [Wetterlings is another Scandinavian manufacturer that produces very good axes.]

I have several Gransfors axes and can recommend them highly.

DancesWithKnives
 
While I don't have one (yet), the Gransfors axes get high marks from those that do. It's probably guaranteed that you'll be happy with one of their axes.
 
I've looked around and the price of the GB Scandinavian Forest Axe seems to be consistent between the various retailers. Does anyone have a retailer they would recommend?
 
I can't recommend a specific retailer but can offer two tips. Although GBs generally have excellent hafts, sheaths, edges, etc., I would ask a retailer if: (1) They will hand-pick one with really straight grain in the wood and (2) they will take the sheath off and check the edge and sheath before shipping it. Tell them you're kind of picky about the grain of the wood.

On rare occasion the axes can get bounced around in shipping. This can cause the edge to bang against the rivets in the sheath. I once got a GB with a couple minor scuffs on the edge and a couple severed rivets in the sheath (over a dozen other GB axes I've bought had no such problems). The tiny edge nicks came out with a fine diamond steel and the seller immediately sent me a fresh sheath, so now I have two if I want to replace a couple rivets on the first one.

When you get the axe, be cautious when you re-attach the sheath after using it. The sheaths can sometimes be a snug fit and if you just slap them on, you may slice the leather with that razor sharp edge. Also, read the axe booklet that comes with the axe.

Gransfors told me that the factory puts a convex edge on their axes when they do the final finishing. If you want to maintain that edge the way it came from the factory, you'll want to bear that in mind when sharpening.

You'll really enjoy the axe when you get it!

DancesWithKnives
 
They can be a bit harder to maintain than a regular edge but a strop---like the suggested belt---is one good way. You would normally want to use some abrasive/polishing compound on the strop. At home, a mouse pad with some moderately fine abrasive paper (maybe 400-600 grit?) will also work. At the GB factory they use a cotton cloth polishing wheel with fine abrasive compound on it.

Unless you are doing one heck of a lot of chopping or the work is particularly hard on your edge or you are on a lengthy backpacking trip, I have not had that much need to sharpen my GBs in the field. I can usually wait until I get back to the truck or house to take care of them.

DancesWithKnives
 
One other thing to note: Many people don't try to maintain the convex edge---they just sharpen them with a stone. With a standard axe edge they still seem to perform just fine.

DancesWithKnives
 
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