Perhaps we could form a self-help group for people with OCD related to axes?
I am trying not to get an axe obsession but as I posting on this thread - there might be a problem with that
Used my Gransfor's carving for the first time yesterday. I was finishing up a spoon and realised that I still had too much wood to take off with my Mora 106 carving knife (nice).
Despite the spoon shape being already well formed, the Carving axe was sharp enough and precise enough to make short work of it - like a big, sharp knife -
a real joy to use. I stopped myself a couple of times from trying some slightly more marginal/dangerous cuts - that big sharp blade focuses the mind (thankfully).
I also got to try my new Lidls Poland/China/ebay axe (under £10 inc p+p) - seemed better value than most of the rusty, blunt old heads on offer. It came very blunt but shows potential I think:
The head weighs only 600g/1.3lb - so significantly smaller & lighter than the carving axe, but the long, curved up-turned blade/bit looks somewhat like the carving axe to me. I spent quite some time sharpening it. Being significantly smaller than the carving axe, it was handy for taking off a little more wood. It worked remarkably well and I think I will be using both axes together like this quite a lot in the future.
I love the right-hand bias on my asymmetric-grind Gansfor Swedish carving axe, so may adjust my "Lidl mini-viking hatchet" (my name, not theirs) similarly, gradually over time. The Lidl axe, although much sharper now than when it arrived is still not even close to the sharpness of the Gransfor axe -- I will work on that over time. I suspect it will never be as sharp but probably can become considerably sharper. (Most cheap small hatchets are sold for splitting firewood, so thick heavy, blunt blades seem all too common, this one is fairly slim but not as slim as a #2 Kent pattern axe of similar weight.)
Ok then:
I think I have a problem.
Is the shiny one a "pimped" Gransfor's axe? What's the one on the right for - carving?
Like the handle on the left one - do you use it choked up by the head for carving?
Do you still use the Kent axe - it looks a lot like the carving axe from a use/size perspective? (Maybe handy if you think a job might damage the carving axe?). I was tempted to buy a Kent this week but "stayed my hand" - I'd rather have a small focused set of tools rather than a huge collection, with most unused. But I can see the temptation - you want to try lots of things to see what will work best for different jobs. I can already see that axes are quite general purpose in nature but tend to do one thing well (e.g. splitting maul vs. carving axe vs. felling axe vs. splitting hatchet).
Double blade/bit axe heads (throwing axes?) just strike me as over-the-top and downright dangerous (ditto billhooks with a cutting blade on the back, as well as the front). What is the point? Is the idea to switch heads when the first becomes blunt? Or just to have a lot more mass in the head?
Nice leather sheaths/covers British Red - did you make them or get them made to fit? I love well made thick-leather goods - perhaps I should learn how make some. I came across a couple of old guys locally that work with leather at fetes/craft shows - I should probably get to know them. The Gransfor leather cover on my axe is nothing special to look at but smells great!
