Square_peg
Gold Member
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2012
- Messages
- 13,799
I drug an old Woodings-Verona axe (Made in U.S.A.) out of the shed at work today. I had set it aside when I was sharpening up the other axes because it had a crappy haft and looked like it had had some major grinding work done to it.
The grain in the haft is almost 90° off of vertical. A 3/8" knot had fallen out about 7" from the swell leaving a sharp corner in the haft. The heel appeared to have been damaged and reshaped with a grinder. So this axe was a low priority for me but I had some time to spare this afternoon.
I had just finished sharpening a Swedish brush axe and started on the Woodings-Verona. My Gawd! The metal was HARD! A brand spankin' new file didn't want anything to do with it. That same file had just ate Swedish brush axe for lunch. The file would just barely cut the Woodings and I stopped using it right away before I damaged the file.
I ended up taking a bench grinder to the axe, being careful to stay away from the very edge. Then I finished it up with a Norton stone. It took a nice edge. I was just shocked by how damn hard that axe was. I'm wondering now if the heel damage was a crack caused by a lousy temper. If I decide to re-haft that axe it'll get a soak in a 500° oven for an hour before I rehang it.
Anyone else have a Woodings-Verona? Is yours extremely hard?
The grain in the haft is almost 90° off of vertical. A 3/8" knot had fallen out about 7" from the swell leaving a sharp corner in the haft. The heel appeared to have been damaged and reshaped with a grinder. So this axe was a low priority for me but I had some time to spare this afternoon.
I had just finished sharpening a Swedish brush axe and started on the Woodings-Verona. My Gawd! The metal was HARD! A brand spankin' new file didn't want anything to do with it. That same file had just ate Swedish brush axe for lunch. The file would just barely cut the Woodings and I stopped using it right away before I damaged the file.
I ended up taking a bench grinder to the axe, being careful to stay away from the very edge. Then I finished it up with a Norton stone. It took a nice edge. I was just shocked by how damn hard that axe was. I'm wondering now if the heel damage was a crack caused by a lousy temper. If I decide to re-haft that axe it'll get a soak in a 500° oven for an hour before I rehang it.
Anyone else have a Woodings-Verona? Is yours extremely hard?