best axe pro's con's personal choices

[prkchp76]

alright folk's we are always talking about knives and such we covered hatchet's the other week .now what about axe's should we say a double bit axe is best, a single head , what brand,what length ,what weight ,do the weights vary,what kind is easiest to sharpen should we include wedge's,steel or wooden what kind of handle and last but not least what color does it matter??????????????

[rsanders]

alright folk's we are always talking about knives and such we covered hatchet's the other week .now what about axe's should we say a double bit axe is best, a single head , what brand,what length ,what weight ,do the weights vary,what kind is easiest to sharpen should we include wedge's,steel or wooden what kind of handle and last but not least what color does it matter??????????????

I have both single and double bit, only because I buy whatever the yard / estate sale has to offer.Personally I prefer a hickory handle. As far as weight ,.... I've never really noticed much difference between the two, but on the matter of wedges, I like to have one on hand just in case.

[prkchp76]

if you watch the lumberjack competions they have different weights i like the sigle head just cause it seems to fit better

[Omegaman]

There are 2 types of double bits. 1st is the same on bothe blades, this is designed so that when one side gets dull you can switch to the other so you don't have to stop to resharpen. The 2nd has felling bit on one side and a limbing bit on the other, they are ground to do to different jobs. I prefer single bit axes, I like them in a felling design. I am a big fan of pre 1980 Snow & Nealley axes made in maine for a good price and the model I have is the hudson bay model and it has been in my family for 72 yrs and still going strong it is a great all round lite axe. For heavy work felling and clearing my go to axe is a Gransfors Bruk 35" felling axe I think they use to call it the american model but you will end up spending about $180 for one but a great axe will last a life time. The problem with a lot of cheap axes being produced today is that they are made from coarse grain steel and have poor edges and blade grinds as they try to make them to genral perpose ( splitting & chopping) .

[weaver]

An Ax to Grind-A Practical Ax Manual written by Bernie Weisgerber

Much more than you want to know about axes.

Found here along with a lot of other great info.

http://www.sctrails.net/Trails/LIBRARY/FSPubs/fspubs.html

[prkchp76]

great posting guys keep up the good ideas i wanna try to make some stone axes just to see if i can right

[Legionnaire]

When it comes to sharpening an axe, any axe, take the hump out. Simple way to improve every axe. Enjoy.


I'm liking the scanner today.:)