show me your axe...

[pigeonfarmboy]

The Husqvarna 26" is hard to beat for the value. I have a few Hults Bruk and Granfors hatchets too. All are trustworthy tools that I will last beyond a lifetime. I like to try different axes and will also be buying a Hardcore Hammers Super Naturalist Hatchet soon.

 

[Cruzerman]

Looks like people take their axes way more serious than I do. I have a Sears axe that I have been using (and abusing) for 35 years. To say that it has served me well is an understatement.

 

[pigeonfarmboy]

Too bad an axe purchased at Sears in present time would last a weekend maybe......if you can find a Sears with an axe that is.

 

[Cruzerman]

Too bad an axe purchased at Sears in present time would last a weekend maybe......if you can find a Sears with an axe that is.

Agreed. Sears of old had some great stuff and sold everything.

 

[Dirty Koala]

Agreed. Sears of old had some great stuff and sold everything.

Including stocks... the old Dean Witter Reynolds days “Sears Stocks & Socks”

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Gransfors Bruks small forest axe, 19”

 

[ArBrnSnpr]

+1 on the Husqvarna axe!
I have the carpenters axe, splitting maul and hatchet.

I did a ton of research before starting my husky collection.

Each one has a steel wool stripped handle along with a filed blade, then stone sharpened then stroffed.

The handles are linseed oiled daily for the first week, weekly for the next month, then monthly for a year, then after each trip to the woods. I also use bees wax on the handles before winter.

I've been using my woodstove exclusively for heat this year and relying heavily on my axes. Their maintenance is an overkill process but it's therapeutic and my boy enjoys doing it with me.

 

[scrapdaddy]

The handles are linseed oiled daily for the first week, weekly for the next month, then monthly for a year,

I tried this on a handle and it got pretty sticky, not drying out. how did you avoid this when applying it daily?

 

[hotdiggitydamn]

I tried this on a handle and it got pretty sticky, not drying out. how did you avoid this when applying it daily?

Coat well then wipe excess off 10 minutes later.

If I could throw my 2 cents in it would be to say just soak the end grain of the wedge very well so it stays swollen and tight. I also like to get as much oil as I can around the bit where it fits up to the handle. I’ve had a bit come flying off before because of rot under the bit. The amount of dammage it can do is actually frightening. I could have easily and nearly did kill my wife. I now treat oiling my axe as a safety rule. I also treat the direction I swing the axe as “down range”.

Sorry for the tangent but as a full grown man it scarred the hell out of me. I never really thought of an axe as dangerous in that way until then.

 

[hotdiggitydamn]

Coat well then wipe excess off 10 minutes later.

If I could throw my 2 cents in it would be to say just soak the end grain of the wedge very well so it stays swollen and tight. I also like to get as much oil as I can around the bit where it fits up to the handle. I’ve had a bit come flying off before because of rot under the bit. The amount of dammage it can do is actually frightening. I could have easily and nearly did kill my wife. I now treat oiling my axe as a safety rule. I also treat the direction I swing the axe as “down range”.

Sorry for the tangent but as a full grown man it scarred the hell out of me. I never really thought of an axe as dangerous in that way until then.

By the way you want boiled linseed oil. Not linseed oil.

 

[scrapdaddy]

By the way you want boiled linseed oil. Not linseed oil.

Copy that.

 

[hotdiggitydamn]

Copy that.

Haha I like what you did there! “Such a fine site to see!”

 

[ArBrnSnpr]

I meant boiled linseed oil, i was just being lazy.

To keep water and rot out of the bit, I cover the area with beeswax shavings then hold a candle near it until it melts and runs into any voids.

Another tip I learned from a retired Forest Service guy who was working in the 60's; never shapen an axe with a grinder. The heat takes the temper out of the blade. I'm not a blade smith, but it made sense to me.

 

[Dirty Koala]

Here is most of my collection...there should be another 1 or two hatchets buried in the cruisers.

From left to right.

1. Husquavana Forest Axe
2. Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe
3. Liam Hoffman Saddle Axe
4. John Neeman / Northman Northlander Felling Axe
5. John Neeman / Northman Northlander Hatchet
6. Gransfors Bruks Small Splitting Axe
7. Gransfors Bruks Large Splitting Axe

The GF small forest axe and my Husquavarna hatchet (not shown) are my go-to axes for most things. I do also have a big Fiskars splitter that I use on nasty dirty logs...but it’s not worthy of being lined up with the rest of these.

The Northman axes took about 3 years to arrive from Latvia and the Liam Hoffman Saddle ace took almost as long. But they really are works of art...especially the Northman axes.

I think I am done ordering axes for a while.

 

[ArBrnSnpr]

Beautiful collection!

 

[mudgudgeon]

Here is most of my collection...there should be another 1 or two hatchets buried in the cruisers.

From left to right.

1. Husquavana Forest Axe
2. Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe
3. Liam Hoffman Saddle Axe
4. John Neeman / Northman Northlander Felling Axe
5. John Neeman / Northman Northlander Hatchet
6. Gransfors Bruks Small Splitting Axe
7. Gransfors Bruks Large Splitting Axe

View attachment 2127200View attachment 2127201View attachment 2127202View attachment 2127203View attachment 2127204

The GF small forest axe and my Husquavarna hatchet (not shown) are my go-to axes for most things. I do also have a big Fiskars splitter that I use on nasty dirty logs...but it’s not worthy of being lined up with the rest of these.

The Northman axes took about 3 years to arrive from Latvia and the Liam Hoffman Saddle ace took almost as long. But they really are works of art...especially the Northman axes.

I think I am done ordering axes for a while.

That Northman axe looks like a great bit of gear. What's the weight of it?

 

[Dirty Koala]

That Northman axe looks like a great bit of gear. What's the weight of it?

They make beautiful axes, are you referring to the hatchet or the felling axe?

 

[Dirty Koala]

That Northman axe looks like a great bit of gear. What's the weight of it?

Northmen Guild

www.northmen.com

Overall weight of the felling axe is 5.3lbs

 

[mjosoba]

Those Northman’s are a thing of beauty. I think I’m going to buy my father in law one of the Husky Carpenters axes soon. He’s been griping the last three camping trips about his hatchet. I sharpened it for him, with an angle grinder (normally a no go, but I knew this was a cheap piece of garbage) and the metal was so soft it would get a lip on the reverse if whatever side I was grinding. Worthless.

 

[Hojack]

Here’s my axe but also how I stack my firewood to save room in my shop. This axe is a splitting machine.