Husqvarna Axe Project: Grinding the Axe to Chop Well, and Why Most Axes Don't

I started the husqvarna axe project years ago. I finally got around to putting a grind on it so it can be put to work. I’ll link the new video here and also the whole playlist for the series.

I have learned quite a bit since starting this project. One thing I’ve gravitated toward is what some might refer to as a flat grind, though that is fairly meaningless without some details. I’ve always been able to make my axes cut, but once I stopped worrying about flat spots and not making the bit too thin and took a more thorough approach to trimming the fat from my axe bits, I got to a new level of cutting ability. Almost all stock axes are much too thick in the bit from the factory and have to be filed down. This has long been asserted by almost everyone that has written about axes. Opinions on how to do that are varied and details about how to go about it are usually missing.

If given a file and an axe, few people will take off enough to get the axe chopping efficiently. That is understandable as there is really no reference. In this video, I offer a simple system that is easy to carry out and understand and which will make an axe bite deep. Once a person has that, it can be used as an important reference when experimenting with grinding axes. I also talk about fundamental issues that keep axes from cutting deeply, though I have another video and blog post planned that goes into more detail on that.

Axe Strops From Scratch Part 3, Preparing Wood and Seasoning

Part 3 in which I prepare some green wood to season as slabs and billets for making the paddles.

Pocket Axe Strop Production Part 1, Introduction, Liming Hides and Selecting Wood

This is part 1 of my project to build up Pocket axe strops from scratch as incentive/rewards for the Axe Cordwood Challenge.  I may also sell some on the website depending on numerous factors.  For those who don't know, a strop is a device for polishing or refining a sharpened edge.  it is the last step in many sharpening sequences and can also be used to touch up edges, especially if polishing compound is used.  It usually involves leather, which my design of course does, but the act of stropping can also be done on wood or even cloth.  In this project, I'm building strops from the ground up, which involves, tanning, glue making and working up some wood from it's raw log-like state.  There should be no materials used in these strops that were not processed by me here on the homestead, down to the lime and fat used in preparing the leather.  The project will span an undetermined number of videos, as well as a short version of making an easy high quality hide glue from scraps that most hunters or butchers of animals typically throw away.  Almost anyone who is not me should learn a lot from this series and I hope to learn some stuff too! ;)  Feel free to vote on names for the pocket strop or think of new ones... Stropet, Pocket Strop-It, Pixie Paddle (the woods are a dangerous place full of mischievious pixies!).