What Did You Sharpen Today?

Touched this one up after debarking a stave today, it's ready for thinning it down to it's rough shape.
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rockman0 said:
Touched this one up after debarking a stave today, it's ready for thinning it down to it's rough shape.
c0NcjUFl.jpg

uAE6aA7l.jpg
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Good lookin' edge rockman! The business edge looks keen as a briar. Sawing through hickory bark will make sparks fly from a chainsaw chain. It's pretty tough stuff.
 
quinton said:
Good lookin' edge rockman! The business edge looks keen as a briar. Sawing through hickory bark will make sparks fly from a chainsaw chain. It's pretty tough stuff.
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I'm sure sparks were flying off my hatchet today but I couldn't see them for the sunshine. When you start talking about the hardness of wood "air dried" hickory is the benchmark. It's the flexible diamond of tool handle wood. ;)
 
speakin of sparks flyin, there's this tree in my yard and its weird, whenever i hit a certain spot on it, sparks, i know what you're thinkin, but it's only wood there, no rock, no metal, nothin. it has white flaky bark with a hint of gray-ish green. im just gonna call it birch. but the crazier thing is, this tree sharpens axes! its the weirdest thing, i'll take a butter-knife sharp axe down, and i'll bring a mildly dull axe up. now im probably just thinkin what i want to but it's weird
 
phantomknives said:
speakin of sparks flyin, there's this tree in my yard and its weird, whenever i hit a certain spot on it, sparks, i know what you're thinkin, but it's only wood there, no rock, no metal, nothin. it has white flaky bark with a hint of gray-ish green. im just gonna call it birch. but the crazier thing is, this tree sharpens axes! its the weirdest thing, i'll take a butter-knife sharp axe down, and i'll bring a mildly dull axe up. now im probably just thinkin what i want to but it's weird
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Sycamore or London Plane (a common cultivated hybrid) maybe. Does it have vaguely maple-like leaves and bristly brown balls for seeds? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platanus_occidentalis
 
Sounds like London Plane, common street tree. If so it will have a coarse interwined grain that makes it extremely difficult to split. For this reason it's a great wood for making things that you don want to split like wooden mallets and such. Plane burns amazing well, hot and clean and leaves little ash.
 
Touched up the Pickett's Pride Council. Took out most of the old file marks and brought the edge back up to snuff. I used my Baryonyx puck, follwed by a 1000 grit flat ceramic stone. Works for me, and it's shaving sharp. I hit with silicone spray after to see how well it protects the steel when not in use.

From this:


To this:


There's a big difference at the edge now. This thing'll cut.
 
"Pickett's Pride" rides again!

That thing looks better and better every time SCT100 - I know this post is about the edge but that shoulder sliding in under the lugs/ears is fine work.
 
Agent_H said:
"Pickett's Pride" rides again!

That thing looks better and better every time SCT100 - I know this post is about the edge but that shoulder sliding in under the lugs/ears is fine work.
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Thanks! Yes, I like how axes become more and more refined the more you improve them. And thanks regarding the haft. It took a while, and the alignment is quite perfect, but I thought it turned out great. It's definitely one of my favorites.
 
Square_peg said:
It's amazing how much nicer they release with a finely honed convex edge.
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Oh, definitely. Even when splitting I can tell. That goes for machetes too...rough edge and the stick like crazy. Smooth them out and you can chop away with far less sticking.
 
Working on this Craftsman 3-1/2 pound single oval. I really like the shape of the bevels on it. I'm filing a banana grind on it.

Banana%20grind.jpg



Ever wonder how to clean the rust out of the eye of an axe? Small wire brush on a drill with an extension.

Wire%20brush%20for%20axe%20eye.jpg
 
The older Craftsman axes are a little under appreciated.

That one looks like it is going to be wicked sharp when you are finished :thumbup:
 
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