Why the fascination with Gransfors?

FortyTwoBlades said:
With open die forging it's still effectively hand-operated forging and isn't all that different from how a lot of tools back in the day were made in the larger factories. There's just a machine doing the hammering, but the operator still is responsible for the blows landing true and in proper sequence. Notice the series of dies that this fellow uses in forging the blades for pocket knives. It's nearly the same kind of operation in microcosm.

[video=youtube;zpeyhC-UIFg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpeyhC-UIFg[/video]
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The video don't work my friend.
 
Well, we all want to feel like we've either got good value for money OR that we've just made the score of the century by paying peanuts for a rare and valuable thing.

Most of the time we're just trying to convince ourselves. Should remember that the value of any thing is what you're willing to pay for it.

Which is why I laugh every time I use the GB I got for $2.00. I had a piece of handle from a cruiser that I re-made for the GB and it's a nice little kindling splitter.

For serious chopping I'll generally take a DB -- my favourite one is unmarked and hung on a handle that I extensively modded. I also have an HB axe that gets a workout occasionally when I'm on a major limbing kick.

The last new axe I bought was a Council Velvicut Boy's Axe -- a gift my wife treasures and uses regularly. I came home the other night to find her just finishing up polishing the edge and cleaning up the axe after splitting firewood all afternoon.

(OK, you can feel jealous that my wife knows how to use and maintain an axe. We share the duty of keeping the woodstove and the wood cookstove fed.)

I like to interact with my tools. By which I mean: I never like the edge profile, balance or handle of a new axe. I won't use Penny's axe because it doesn't fit me. Also I've been warned to keep my f&^%in' hands off it (and off her crosscut saw) whenever I have that "that handle needs reshaping" look in my eye. :) So to have an axe that some employee at the factory has sharpened to their gauge, to me, is a waste of their time and my money. Likewise with a fancy handle. I'll be all over that thing and it'll weigh about half as much when I'm done with it. I also like looking at some of the re-profiles people do -- might not do one myself but I like to see someone look at something and say, "It's a good start..."

One of my students spent a very frustrating weekend a few months ago, using a hatchet to cut firewood on a camping trip. Lately he was out hunting and came across a badly rusted 2.5 pound head in the bush. I coached him through cleaning it up and putting a boy's axe handle on it and he's now sold on the virtues of using a 3/4-size axe when hiking. Knowing he'd appreciate it, I gave him a nice round whetstone from our quarry to keep his axe sharp. Sometimes all that's necessary is just to try something different. It'll either work and be great or you'll have a better idea of what to try next (or go back to Plan A). For me that's the fun of these things we call axes. That and the joy of rescuing an orphan.
 
I've had a Small Forest Axe for 2 or 3 years. Attention to detail. Sharp. Nicely rounded corners. Great handle--shape, fit, grain. An item to pass to your grandkids. I don't have the skill or patience to match it. Oh, yes. Respect for the guy who crafted it.
 
Old thread but the issue is still alive.

Look at inputs and outputs if you like.

You want an axe to do some work with, you look up the GB (or whoever) catalog, find the one designed for the task and buy it. The GB will work out of the box, it has a 20 year guarantee, and is a nice tool to hold and use. You've got a quick convenient solution and you don't mind paying for it.

Alternatively you go the roll-your-own route, buy an old head, rehab and hang it, and you're good to go. You develop and use quite a lot of knowledge and skill (about how to judge the refurb potential of the head, what old heads were good ones in their day, whether the pattern will do what you want and how to reprofile and sharpen it, source or make a haft and hang it), you put in the hours and buy or use the tools needed, you probably get a less than optimal result on the first one or two, and you have a usable tool and the satisfaction of bringing it up to par.

My efforts have involved cleaning and reprofiling the bit and rehafting. I don't know where others get a time estimate of a couple of hours from. I'd spend that or more on the head alone.

If I costed my time at my normal hourly work rate, the rehabbed tool would be similar in value, or higher, than a GB.

If you get a kick out of DIY go for it, but don't criticise others who don't have the time, the workspace or the inclination.

The $5 head miracle find is a bit of a legend; you can't just decide to go out a get one! It's a matter of chance which only happens by spending time at flea markets and estate and car boot sales. You're unlikely to find it at a 2nd hand dealer as they know the values, or find one in an area that doesn't have a farming or forest industry and where old heads are usually only distressed domestic items. You only find one if you've put in the time to learn about old axes, their patterns and values, and can judge rehab potential. Seen this way, it's work, not a miracle!
 
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olybears57 said:
Why does everyone love flat cheeked Gransfors? Especially at their price point. Is it the romanticism of a "hand forged" tool? Marketing? Why buy a 200 dollar tool that will not perform as well as a piece of history you can remake and save for yourself for about 20 bucks?
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Good questions and good points. The simple answer is that today most buyers of axes are not making a living with them or using them as essential and practical tools to build, maintain or heat their homes.

Today's axe owners are mostly casual collectors and hipsters who own them as jewelry to hang on their egos. You are correct that there is no real or practical reason to buy any new axe for 200 bucks when you can go buy an old Kelly for five to twenty bucks second-hand.

Hipsters like fancy names, fancy marketing and fancy looks, all the better for making them feel fancy and special. They could not stand to just own a Kelly Flint-Edge because it would not garner them the attention they desperately need.
 
It's a fundamental apples to oranges problem with the question itself. People who buy GBs, buy hatchets and they work exactly as they should for the intended job - not full size axes. The whole center line issue can be argued until you're blue in the face - the proof is in the pudding.

Hanging a vintage axe that you "restored" on your wall gets the same ego points for the hipster as hanging a BCX or GB or whatever it is, when he tells his friends about it.

Vintage lawn mowers, vintage chain saws, vintage tooth brushes, vintage everything are probably better than a lot of the crap available in stores today, but not everyone has the time, interest, skill, or even the awareness of the possibility, to go and restore one. And so, another fundamental flaw with this line of thinking is, these people are buying the best tool that is available TODAY. I really don't see how buying the best tool you can bothers so many people. How much did your pants cost compared to those in a thrift store? How much did your new car cost compared to the one in the used car lot? How much does an American made pocket knife cost compared to the one from 1960?

Next issue, GB axes are not expensive. The $200 number is wrong and vague, so that doesn't help the argument much. They are reasonably priced in TODAY's market - ie they are no more expensive than a CT Velvicut. A CT Velvicut HB is the same price as a GB SFA. It isn't 1930 anymore. Why would someone have bought the highest priced, top of the line X brand axe in 1890 when compared to the lower priced line from the same company?

Really, the OP question boils down to, why do people spend a bunch of money on a new thing, when they can find the old thing for a lot less money. The answer; they aren't you.
 
I have GB Wildlife hatchet. I paid $112 for it about a year ago. I checked today and found it still selling in the same price range. I have quite a few hatchets, including 3 Norlunds, but the GB would be the one I'd choose to have with me.
 
For MANY years I have collected, rehabed, and used older American axes to make a living. But, I like GB axes/hatchets. I own quite a few and use them all the time. It just depends on what my task is. Buy the way I really like their drawknife.
 
Yeah, I swing both ways too. The GB American Felling Axe is a fine tool. In hardwood it outperforms my Kelly Dandenong which was designed for it.
 
Old Axeman said:
For MANY years I have collected, rehabed, and used older American axes to make a living. But, I like GB axes/hatchets. I own quite a few and use them all the time. It just depends on what my task is. Buy the way I really like their drawknife.
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That draw knife is an odd one. Reminds me of a fleshing knife. I have tried a lot of old vintage draw knifes but none quite like that.
 
gben said:
Good questions and good points. The simple answer is that today most buyers of axes are not making a living with them or using them as essential and practical tools to build, maintain or heat their homes.

Today's axe owners are mostly casual collectors and hipsters who own them as jewelry to hang on their egos. You are correct that there is no real or practical reason to buy any new axe for 200 bucks when you can go buy an old Kelly for five to twenty bucks second-hand.

Hipsters like fancy names, fancy marketing and fancy looks, all the better for making them feel fancy and special. They could not stand to just own a Kelly Flint-Edge because it would not garner them the attention they desperately need.
Click to expand...

Axe collector and Hipster are not two things I thought I would ever see used together. Wow.....:confused:
 
Hey Fellows,

we can laugh about the lumbersexual Hype, or we can as well appreciate that at least a few more younger men discover their taste for forestry and wood processing ...
let's be tolerant ... at least as long those Hipsters don't disturb us in the forests, or get in the way during logging :-D

regarding Gränsfors: their axes & tools rock!
I have used quite a few of their stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GUzHYdOgWA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtL1ANGhSDY

and here is something REALLY funny about Gränsfors that i found in the web:
http://patrickhnewman.com/gransfors-bruk/

ho ho ho,that is a creative guy ...

Cheers, and always safe chopping, Erik
 
I agree with COTS - GB's are cheap. If you don't think so, try forging some axes. I've been thinking of making traditional axes here in the US for years, but I never got into it because I didn't think anyone would buy them after seeing how much hate the GB's get at their very reasonable price. I simply couldn't afford the entry price for those big ol' tools and chunks of steel. Now I look at someone like Liam Hoffman and realize that maybe people will pay for a traditional axe made in the USA, maybe I will get into making some in the future. Everyone has their own ideas about how to fix the economy, liberal or conservative, we all need jobs, but across the board I am absolutely sick of people complaining about the price of quality when they buy only import junk. If you are willing to learn to restore and rehandle axes, great. If you want a GB, great. These things are not mutually exclusive as Mr. Weisgerber has pointed out.
 
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