View Full Version : Sharpening an axe
Anyone know of somewhere or someone that will sharpen my axe in preparation for Memorial weekend? I have a fiskars axe, and after a year of hard use, it needs a bit of love. I'm in Thornton, local would be best.
Hmm. Am I wrong for just using an angle grinder, a file, or a stone depending on how dull it gets?
Hmm. Am I wrong for just using an angle grinder, a file, or a stone depending on how dull it gets?
I think a grinder will heat it up too much and screw with the temper. Not to mention getting a consistent angle would be hard.
I don't have the patience to do it with a file.
StagLefty
05-19-2012, 08:18
This might help:
http://www.yellowpages.com/thornton-co/knife-sharpening
Don't know if there are any good knife/axe sharpening places, but you should learn how to sharpen it yourself. Good thing to know and really not that hard.
Also, a word of warning on sharpening, using power tools can create enough heat to change the properties of your blade, thereby ruining it. Beware of people who use tools that can create lots of heat. you have to know what you are doing with power tools.
good luck
If you have a good bastard file it doesn't really require too much. Less than 10 minuets and you should be done. i sure wouldn't pay someone for that.
bobbyfairbanks
05-19-2012, 09:29
If you have a good bastard file it doesn't really require too much. Less than 10 minuets and you should be done. i sure wouldn't pay someone for that.
This is so tue. Put your axe head in a vice pull out the file and your done.
I also recommend buying a file or a puck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIZBwT-VDBY&feature=related
if you're set on someone else doing it contact Primal on here, though i'm not sure he's made a new login since the crash. He's who i take my expensive stuff to.
Yeah, an axe ain't like a knife, all you need is a way to clamp it so it won't move, and a 10-12" fine bastard file. They don't need to be as sharp as knives do, or need perfect edges. A friggin' chimp could sharpen an axe with a file.
yup, super easy. You really don't want to go super sharp with an axe anyway. They use as much blunt force and they do cutting so as long as it is moderatly sharp you will be good to go. Files are cheap, you should see a return on the investment after the first time.
The video wulff02 posted is excellent, and is the method that I've used in the past (minus the vise grip because I don't have one).
Any "real" hardware stores left in your area? McGuckin's and Ace will both sharpen axes.
I have never needed anything beyond a file and two sided whet stone. Grinders can mess with the temper.
Everything you ever wanted to know about axes. Sharpening starts at 18:00.
2B7Wy7iskVE
"yup, super easy. You really don't want to go super sharp with an axe anyway. They use as much blunt force and they do cutting so as long as it is moderatly sharp you will be good to go. Files are cheap, you should see a return on the investment after the first time."
Actually, a really sharp axe cuts MUCH faster and easier than a file sharpened one. I keep my Gransfors-Bruk axes shaving sharp with a couple of stones. I use them for felling, sectioning and limbing nasty old elm trees and such on some rental properties I maintain. (Thursday I took down a scraggly fifty footer on crowded property - it took longer to rig the tree for a safe drop than to fell it.) They are also useful for some carpentry tasks. The wood's cut surfaces feel like they are polished and I get a lot more work done in a given amount of time than I could with a cheap, dull axe.
Sharpening is easy if you support the head on a firm surface (you don't really need a vise, though it can help) and watch your stone's angle of engagement. If your bit is really dull, you will need to rough-in the basic edge with a file, but you really want to finish up with stones.
When I bought the thing, I tested the edge with my thumb. Bled for like 2 hours, it was evidently sharp as hell.
Ill have to check Ace. I don't have a vice at home and broke my file in a fit of rage with a Cadillac. There's a few good nicks in it and I work pretty solid this week, won't have much time to do it myself.
If I was closer I would hit it for you
Ace on 120th and Colorado did it for $2.50.
Ace on 120th and Colorado did it for $2.50.
Nice. Good to hear that there are still shops around that do something useful.
SigShooter
07-12-2012, 20:40
"yup, super easy. You really don't want to go super sharp with an axe anyway. They use as much blunt force and they do cutting so as long as it is moderatly sharp you will be good to go. Files are cheap, you should see a return on the investment after the first time."
Actually, a really sharp axe cuts MUCH faster and easier than a file sharpened one. I keep my Gransfors-Bruk axes shaving sharp with a couple of stones. I use them for felling, sectioning and limbing nasty old elm trees and such on some rental properties I maintain. (Thursday I took down a scraggly fifty footer on crowded property - it took longer to rig the tree for a safe drop than to fell it.) They are also useful for some carpentry tasks. The wood's cut surfaces feel like they are polished and I get a lot more work done in a given amount of time than I could with a cheap, dull axe.
Sharpening is easy if you support the head on a firm surface (you don't really need a vise, though it can help) and watch your stone's angle of engagement. If your bit is really dull, you will need to rough-in the basic edge with a file, but you really want to finish up with stones.
Milt is correct. A maul is better slightly dull... but most axes are better SHARP! BTW, Gransfors-Bruk axes are fantastic. You'd be amazed at hos well they do their job!
KevDen2005
07-13-2012, 09:22
um....i know this sounds stupid but what is a bastard file?
A orbital sander and a way to clamp the axe to a bench with something like a C clamp.
I used such a set up to thin out the blade of a hachet. 320/400 grit should get you good to go.
um....i know this sounds stupid but what is a bastard file?
the short version is a big flat file. usually coarse on one side medium on the other.
um....i know this sounds stupid but what is a bastard file?
I always thought the name came from being an in between size.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_%28tool%29
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.