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Sharpening
Made Easy
Knife and Cutlery Sharpening
Information and Equipment
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Sharpening an Axe
An splitting axe is the ultimate example of
the convex or
Moran edge. The thickness behind the
edge not only gives it strength, but acts as a chip breaker when
chopping and
as a wedge when splitting wood.
A felling axe is much thinner with a bevel of about 30 degrees, the
same as a wood chisel. Most axes you can buy today are general
purpose, not heavy enough for splitting and not thin enough for
felling, however they can be converted forfelling.
Since
the steel in an axe is softer than a knife
to prevent chipping, sharpening can be started with a file. Support the
axe head on a workbench or cutting
block, and file on each side. Keep
following the original contour until the edge is as sharp as you want
it. File sharpening is enough for most
applications.
The
edge can be improved with a bench stone. Rather than try to move the
axe across the stone, support the
axe head and
move the stone across the axe. To keep
your fingers out of the way, lay the stone down on the bench or other
flat
surface, then pick it up. As long as you
don’t shift your grip, your fingers are safely behind the stone surface.
Special
round stones are made just for axes and other outdoor tools.
A circular stroke is
easiest to use when
sharpening an axe. A coarse stone is
probably all you need, but you can keep on with finer stones until you
can
shave with it.
If you have a belt
sander, a slack belt technique
works well with an axe.
Copyright 2005, 2006, 2007
Updated September 18, 2007
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