sharpening axes

It's all in the edge. The edge of an axe is subjected to rather more abuse than your average kitchen knife. If it wasn't double angled, the edge would be much less supported, and tend to either bend, or fracture. The first angle is to provide a smooth back to the cutting edge. Then the second angle is put on so that there is enough meat there at the edge to support it even if you don't hit the wood quite right. A single angle will cut a little better for one, two, or maybe even 50 cuts. After that, the edge will chip, roll, ... and end up blunter than a double angled one.

One side is to be sharpened razor sharp for fine work, the other is to be sharpened with more of a wedge shape for rough work.

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

1. Lie
2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

I'm not clear what's meant by a double angle cutting edge. Do you mean that one side of the axe approaches the cutting edge at a different angle than the other? What angles are used?

I need to sharpen a single edge axe and a hatchet and I'd love to see a site with some pictures and recommendations for how to do this.

Peter

my apologies for the ambiguity. i meant for single-sided axes (?) .. maybe this is what they call a "hatchet"? :)

my mistake.

so, yes, on hatchets, the angle of each side approaching the edge is different. offhand i'd guess ~25deg on one side and

30 or 35 deg on the other.. if not more. the edge is still in the 'middle'.. but has two angles of approach from each side.

i've tried both ways.. and they both cut.. i'm just wondering if the double-angle method makes for a sturdier cutting edge.. less dings and such.

?

-tony

whoa.. my apology.. those angles are way off.. included angle is (eyeballing) about 15-20 degrees one side seems to have twice the angle then the other.. so maybe 5* on one, and 10* on the other?

this from my trusty Stihl handaxe.

-tony

google on "knife sharpening", you will find pitures, the same concept is used on most knives. the edge is centered and each side will have two "flats" ground, one of top of the other. that s/be perfectly clear...., no need for no stinking pictures, right? --Loren

If I understand you correctly, this is different than what Tony is saying. If one looks down at the axe had from the "top" (sighting down the edge and one considers the "centerline" of the axe as running from the edge to the middle of the back of the axe head, assuming a single bladed axe), then he's suggesting a total edge angle of 20 degrees with one side of the axe approaching the edge at 5 degrees and the other side at 15 degrees. You're suggesting, I think, that the angles are the same on both sides but start from the edge at, say, 10 degrees and then change to, say, five degrees. His is "uneven", yours is even.

I'll Google this.

Peter

i don't yet really understand how the angles are measured, but you do grasp the idea. theoretically, the axe blade could have a very narrow blade which would form the first angle, and the 2nd angle forms the edge. by the very geometry, the cutting edge is formed by a more oblique angle, but from what reference? --Loren

"tony" snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com

I'm not familiar with that geometry. For a single-bitted axe, I would sharpen both sides to the same slow radius, assuming a felling axe, or felling hatchet.

On the other hand, if sharpening a hewing axe or hewing hatchet ( to hew to a line, "broad" axe, for instance), only one side is a radius, the other is flat. Which side you sharpen flat depends on whether you are using the tool right or left handed. I'm right handed, so I want the flat on the left of the bit as it's coming down onto the work to be cut to line.

For a double-bitted felling axe (they scare me; I don't have any), you might have one side for coarse work, as Gunner suggests. If it were me, though, I would have both sides as sharp as I could get them, and use something else entirely for choping in roots, dirt.

Frank Morrison.

The ones I'm familiar with are equally sharp on both sides, so you don't have to carry as many axes into the woods for a full day of cutting.

GTO(John)

Dad always used his double bladed axe once he built back up when he retired.

Once he became a man of bronze, the double blade was needed when in the woods - as one was sharp when the other finally got burnished dull.

It was in sandy soil so the trees absorbed the Si (as many do anyway) and some sand would blow into the bark. No matter there was plenty to dull it in the wood.

Martin [ I'm with Morrison on this one - :-) ]

Enlightening responses, I've learned things I never knew about axes.

But, It won't be over until Rev. Al Sharp(ton) posts to this thread.. (Ducking....)

Jeff

i I i I \ / A \ / \ / B \ / \/ C

It depends on what you want to cut with an axe or any cutting tool to set the cut with the grinding and sharpening of the cutting blade... i remember an example years ago when reading some wood carving books... the example was a cheap pocket knife you buy off the shelf for $3.00. it is pretty sharpe when you buy it but it will not cut through the wood to any depth..... lookat the example above,... when C goes into the wood it cuts and stops when A hit the wood..... then you have to grind down A all the way from C so that A will not stop the knive(or any cutting tool) from going any further.....

another advantage of the double bit axe is leverage when splitting. i wouldn't expect very many of you guys to understand that unless you have seriously "worked in wood". --Loren

I should mention that I spent my summers as a kid, working as a lumber jack, and went to several DNR fire fighting schools before graduating high school.

Anyone want to know the various sizes of double bitted axes and why?

Chuckle...

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

1. Lie
2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

Yes sir, I would. First, I'll hazard a guess. Different widths for different tasks; felling vs trimming. Different weights for different density wood. And then there is handle length.

On Fri, 05 Dec 2003 05:19:54 GMT, Gunner brought forth from the murky depths:

Sure, and don't forget to tell us how a Pulaski was named. (We had a county by that name when I was a kid growing up in ArKansas, but he was a count.)

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Ah Ha! Now we are into something I know about. Been using one of those for about 8 yrs every summer building and maintaining trails in Forest service, BLM, and state parks and forests. The Pulaski they are named for was a forest fire fighter. Read the whole history back a few years ago. Unfortunately don't remember much of it. :-( ...lew...