{"id":12320,"date":"2020-11-04T16:42:27","date_gmt":"2020-11-04T16:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrigley.me.uk\/?p=12320"},"modified":"2020-11-05T01:10:55","modified_gmt":"2020-11-05T01:10:55","slug":"how-to-reprofile-an-axe-using-simple-hand-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrigley.me.uk\/2020\/11\/how-to-reprofile-an-axe-using-simple-hand-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"How to reprofile an axe using simple hand tools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I bought some simple Bahco hand axes to use if\/when I begin teaching spoon carving. I chose them on the basis that they are a reasonably well respected brand and I have seen what Barn the Spoon can do with one on the spoonclub.co.uk<\/a> videos (Highly recommended. If you’re a beginner and you’re not sure about signing up for a subscription, the lifetime basic membership is extremely good value with videos covering all the basics you’ll need to get started).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are also cheap. I think I paid less than \u00a312 each for these. You can pick up similar, cheaper ones from most DIY stores but the quality is unknown and often poor in my experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As with all of the off-the-shelf general purpose hatchets (i.e. not those sold ready for carving like those from Wood Tools<\/a> or Green Haven Forge<\/a> or fancier hand-forged carving axes), they come with a grind which is just about adequate for splitting kindling. They are blunt. You could not cut yourself on this easily. If you got your hand in the way while chopping, you’d get a nasty bruising injury, definitely not a clean cut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Blunt<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You could not carve anything with this. It’s essentially rounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many ways to sharpen an axe. I have a variety of angle grinder (with flap disks and grinding disks), bench grinder, a couple of different belt and combination disk sanders. The risk with using a mechanical method is that it’s easy to over heat the edge as you’re grinding away metal. This will make the steel lose its temper and so will you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

N.B. When steel edge tools are made, they are generally hardened by heating up past red hot and then cooled rapidly (by quenching in some form of oil, usually). This makes the steel very hard, but brittle. It is then “tempered” by heating up to a lesser degree and quenching again. Getting the metal too hot by friction will mess with this heat treatment process, usually meaning that it softens and won’t keep an edge very well, “losing its temper”.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is quite possible to use mechanical means to regrind an axe, but you have to be careful about keeping it cool by dipping the edge in water frequently. The other problem that power tools (or plugged in tools as Amy Umbel<\/a> calls them) is that by making the process faster, mistakes happen faster and the consequences are faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not too difficult to use hand tools to sharpen an axe, even re-profiling or re-establishing the bevels. It just takes time and some effort. I chose here to use a pretty cheap file and some wet-and-dry sandpaper to keep it cheap and accessible for anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This file hasn’t been used much, but was not stored well and got pretty rusty. It still cut surprisingly well.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The file worked well on this Bahco axe. The steel of the axe is pretty good but can be filed relatively easily. If you are restoring an old hatchet by Elwell or other makers, you may find that it doesn’t file easily. Either just take your time or do the work with lower grit abrasive paper. It will get there, but it will be slower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy to fuss about the best angle for a carving axe, but something I liked from Barn’s videos on the subject was that the width of the bevel is important. With all our carving tools, a lot of the technique is to use the bevel to guide the cut. A simple approach to the axe is to set the bevel to be about 10mm. Here I have simply coloured in the first 10mm back from the “edge” with a Sharpie (other permanent markers are available).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bevel<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It really helps to be able to clamp the axe down to something. I used speed clamps to clamp it down to an old workmate. Having something underneath to lift the edge up, and having it protruding over the edge of the work surface helps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being on my own, I found it next to impossible to capture the action needed, but the best option for this is to use “draw filing”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A great, short video Eric Hawkins demonstrating the technique here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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