Wet weather axe?

roninelh

roninelh

Joined
Dec 14, 2010
Messages
610
I have a couple axes in carbon and love them, but hate the rust. I am just curious what are a few options for stainless axes? Or do you just put a heavy patina on carbon and wipe dry as often as possible? Any production axes in sandvik steel? Are the fiskars pretty rust proof? I live in the northwest and go camping near the ocean sometime and spend time in the dense/wet north Idaho woods. Any suggestions will help, thanks in advance!
 
I have had good results by rubbing the entire blade with a candle. It will even fill the pores well. After use, simply reapply. I have axe/hatchets that have sat for years with this treatment w/no rust. Hope this helps.
 
Stainless axes are generally pretty poor.
In my experience you're generally ok wiping axes after use. You can also coat them with oil/wax.
Arguably an axe left unprotected during the night will end covered with rust surprisingly quickly, but it is often mostly a cosmetic problem.
Fiskars come with some sort of fairly durable teflon like coating that covers most of the head.
 
If going out doing trailwork in the rain, I use Snow Seal (the beeswax boot/shoe waterproofing stuff). I learned this trick from the Forest Service. Most times I don't use it though.
 
Some folks use a mix of wax and turpentine on thier wooden handles, just use this on the whole dang thing.
 
Yup. It's stainless. And the polymer handles won't get damaged in the wet either. Probably the best bet for nasty wet weather.
 
thanks for all the response guys, I love my traditional axes, but think I will try out a fiskars polymer handle for the wet part of the year. I also think I will wax treat all my axes in carbon. Great suggestions, thanks again!
 
Just been on the Fiskars website, I think the blades are carbon:

"Drop-forged Finnish carbon steel w PTFE coating"
 
Hmmm...I know that my old-gen splitting axe is carbon but I could have sworn I read somewhere that the new ones were stainless. Either way the coating on them is pretty durable so it helps keep corrosion to a minimum.
 
Boiled linseed oil on the head as well as the handle is what I found best living in a very wet environment. BLO dries hard. Works very well. The only stainless axes I have seen are the old Condors. 420C?
 
Only a couple of Condor axes are 420HC. Even the originals were mostly 1045. :)
 
I just wipe an axe (machete, etc.) down before I put it away and I have no problems with rust - even here in the Great Northwet.
 
Picked up a couple fiskars. Purchased a x15 and x7, they feel good and I love the Scandi grind as it bites soooo hard and deep, but the steel is stupidly soft and am getting sick of using a file to get past the rolls and dents in the edge. If this is the trade off with stainless....... I'll stick with carbon.
 
In my experience the reason you're experiencing dings and rolls is because they actually come with too thin of an edge. Just thicken it out a little with a few strokes and you ought to be fine.
 
roninelh said:
Picked up a couple fiskars. Purchased a x15 and x7, they feel good and I love the Scandi grind as it bites soooo hard and deep, but the steel is stupidly soft and am getting sick of using a file to get past the rolls and dents in the edge. If this is the trade off with stainless....... I'll stick with carbon.
Click to expand...

1: It's stated above that Fiskars uses carbon steel.

2: It's a function of hardness and thickness that allows the edge to roll, not the chromium content.

The scandi grind you love on the Fiskars axes is inappropriate for most axe work.
 
roninelh said:
Picked up a couple fiskars. Purchased a x15 and x7, they feel good and I love the Scandi grind as it bites soooo hard and deep, but the steel is stupidly soft and am getting sick of using a file to get past the rolls and dents in the edge. If this is the trade off with stainless....... I'll stick with carbon.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the report, Ron.

And hey, aren't you supposed to be on the dry side of the state? What's up with Spokane and all the flooding lately?
 
Stainless steel does not make a good chopper. Or stainless that does would be cost prohibitive. I would way rather oil my axe head then use a Fiscars axe.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top