Wetterlings modified by Bark River Knife and Tool

I saw them, but dang, you can buy a Gransfors Small Forest Axe (19"), or Scandinavian Forest axe (25") for a lot cheaper, or a Hunter's axe or Swedish carving axe for the same price.

I like Bark River, but IMO that's just too much.
 
It is a lot of money.

A lot of it, is probably shipping. Look how many times the axe has changed hands. From Sweden to USA. Shipping to Bark River. Shipping to Knivesshipfree. Shipping to customer.

I'm sure it all adds up, plus a couple hours of American labor added to each axe.

Is it worth? I don't know.

Hope so, because I just ordered one!:D
 
Pricey in my mind also.

Varg,
Please let us know your take on it once you have it in hand.
 
They look quite nice, but is anyone else a little uncomfortable about how thin the steel gets alongside the eye?
 
There is no need for all that grinding. The Wetterlings products have done very well for over a hundred years. If SHINY makes you cut and skin well, than this axe is for you. Lawyers keep Wetterlings axes from shipping very sharp. Look, 50 to 60 bucks with shipping and you will chop chop for life.
I was looking at Wetterlings axes to carry while I track big bucks the Benoit way. Not sure on what size to carry??????????
 
It's not the "shiny" that helps it chop better, it's the "smoother" and the "thinner". So that part of it makes sense, if you're going to be chopping a lot of wood. Less friction = better penetration = less work.

To dress out a deer, get the smallest one they have. It can be done with a pocket knife, so not much else is required. No sense trailing deer for miles with 5 pounds of axe.
 
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Would the removal of the blag slag make the steel more prone to rust? I don't know anything about forging or the steel used for these axes.
 
Admittedly I don't have much experince with axes, but I already considered Wetterlings and Gransfors to be top shelf.

Is the high polish and whatnot really neccesary? I mean it's not some delicate woodworking tool, it's an axe. You hit things with it.

But hey, if you have the money and want something to show off by the campfire, then by all means.
 
Having the edge refined and prepared is not necessarly a bad idea, because even being miles better from most of competition Wetterlings and GB generally come with some minor flaws.

That said they are just asking too much.
 
I'm going to pay 1/7th of that for a Council Michigan axe and put some time in putting a good edge on it.
 
I posted these comments on another discussion, but in the interest of getting others' views I am re-posting this here.

The Bark River customized axes do look great, and I have a Bark River Mini (customized Vaughn mini axe). Bark River does excellent work and I am a fan. However, I have to question the value of the Bark River customized Wetterlings. For camping, at least for me, I am working with dried wood for the fire. Most dried wood is hard, and some is very hard, so the axe is unlikely to sink into the wood more than an inch to 1 1/2''. So, I wonder how reprofiling the entire axe improves performance that would be useful to me. A sharp Wetterlings would serve me as well as a customized Bark River version.

For splitting, I have similar concerns. I am no expert on axe design, but have seen a number of different mauls and splitting axes, and none had thinned bits. Perhaps the Bark River Wetterlings is good for batoning, as the thinned bit may more easily work through a round, but I would not expect it to be built for splitting.

For work in green wood, I would expect improved performance (improved but not significantly), but that accounts for a small percentage of my usage.
 
KarlMaldensNose said:
Would the removal of the blag slag make the steel more prone to rust? I don't know anything about forging or the steel used for these axes.
Click to expand...

A polished surface is less prone to rusting, as it eliminates many of the small pits and pores that would otherwise trap water against the surface.

jurisprudence's comments on the subject were pretty much on IMO, though I would expect the performance increase to be much more significant than he does, especially in green wood.

Without much doubt, what Bark River has done to these axes will improve their efficiency, the only question is whether it is enough to justify the extra cost. For someone who processes a lot of wood I think it would be, but for the casual user I don't. An hour with a sharp new file and an assortment of sanding paper might get you 80% of the benefit at much less investment.
 
I will readily admit to being partly attracted to the Bark River customization because of the polished and reground head. Hey, they call it their "performance version speed ax grind"... that's got a nice ring to it, although I'm not a fool and am aware of something called marketing. I will also cop to having not ever handled a Wetterlings (or GB) before, so I can't really say if these axes actually need to be reprofiled. Based on the glowing reviews they always get, I will assume they definitely do not really need reworking.

But it is the size offered that is also sucking me in. I am interested in the 18" version. I can't find that size of Wetterlings or GB available anywhere else in Canada (Workwear Canada can and will order any Bark River product for its customers). For the task of processing my own wood in the backcountry (no car camping), I have Wetterlings 13" and 16" available to me from Workwear. At Lee Valley Tools I can find GB 13.5", than a jump up to 19.5". To my mind, 19.5" is a bit too long for my pack and the 13" range is not quite enough leverage. So the BR custom Wetterlings is a nice upper-limit for me at 18".
 
Whatever happened to these? The only review out there exists on KSF for the modified carpenter's axe. Haven't seen any other reviews. Also there's never been one on the exchange.

Anyone here played with one of these?

By the way, i do realize that this thread is over 2 years old.. but hey, we like "old / vintage" stuff here right?
 
They polish off all the black stuff, so now it is to pretty to use. it is an axe, beat hell out of it or throw it in a draw no one will see it there, so black doesn't matter.
 
KSF shows no stock in store for this axe. no price either.

if you can't clean up an axe or sharpen it when you receive it you really don't need one.
hell if you let a tool get rusty you deserve what you get.


buzz
 
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