Argos axe mini review

[HillBill]

I picked one of these up this morning.

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/s...1&langId=-1&searchTerms=AXE&Submit=GO+%3E

I agreed to do a small review of it so here goes.

When i took it out of the box, my initial impressions were not the best tbh

The edge was blunt, i mean really blunt, rounded over. I put firm pressure on it with my thumb and slid it down the edge, no cut, nothing.

The Handle narrows into the head, so it will be weaker to lateral forces.

The handle is glued, wedged and sealed into the head, so if the handle does break i can imagine it will be a pain to get out, the attachment is a little rough also.

The grain seems to be good in the handle and the handle fills the hand well, a bit better than my Wildlife actually.

The head from top down is very similar in shape and thickness to the SFA

The head is set slightly off centre. nothing major.

Some comparisons with the SFA and the Wildlife

That is it out of the box.

I spent an hour putting a good edge on it and narrowing down the ramps, i have never had to sharpen one to such a degree before so i don't know if this would be classed as a long time. I used the mouse mat method with 180, 240 and 600 grit wet and dry then a strop. By the time i had finished it had a good working edge. I didn't shave test it but it felt very sharp with my thumb, I was not going to put any pressure on now put it that way.

I have not used it much, I just split a few logs and it performed very well for this task, better than either of my GB to be honest. The edge was still there too.

The axe has potential to be pretty fair for the price, but it does need a bit of work before it can be used as an axe. I'll update this as i use it more.

Mark

 

[Shewie]

Good review Mark

Why did you get it though ? I would`ve thought the SFA was very similar ??

At least there`s a 30 day money back guarantee with Argos

 

[HillBill]

I wanted a cheap axe for splitting firewood at home. I chipped my SFA twice in 3 days so i got this so i didn't even have to think about not damaging it.

I was also looking at the bahco axe.

It has the potential to be ok, but isnt out of the box

 

[Shewie]

I wanted a cheap axe for splitting firewood at home. I chipped my SFA twice in 3 days so i got this so i didn't even have to think about not damaging it.

I thought you might say that, I have a nasty steel shafted B&Q jobby which I use for the same thing.

What did you use to put a decent edge on it ?

 

[HillBill]

I thought you might say that, I have a nasty steel shafted B&Q jobby which I use for the same thing.

What did you use to put a decent edge on it ?

Wet and dry,mouse mat.

 

[Draven]

How very odd, the handle looks like it had a slot cut for a wooden wedge and then they skipped that altogether and just smacked in a ring wedge. Bizarre. Thanks for posting this, I was thinking of buying one!

Pete

 

[British Red]

Good photos - Cheers HB.

Is it me or is there no wooden wedge in the split on the helve?

Could be my eyes?

 

[HillBill]

How very odd, the handle looks like it had a slot cut for a wooden wedge and then they skipped that altogether and just smacked in a ring wedge. Bizarre. Thanks for posting this, I was thinking of buying one!

Pete

I thought that myself Pete, it does look like they missed the wedge.

 

[British Red]

Thats plain odd!

Seems like Draven beat me to noticing too

Red

 

[Shewie]

It`s as though they couldn`t get one in as the slot has closed up too much.

It`d be interesting to see another. Shame we can`t do that in Argos though.

 

[Peter_t]

good review, has anybody got a bahco axe to compair it to?

pete

 

[Draven]

Thats plain odd!

Seems like Draven beat me to noticing too

Red

Just a slightly faster typer I was wondering, you know more about axes than me - in the fourth pic down, do you think the heel of the bit is a bit more out of line than the toe or is it just me?

 

[stijnb]

I have a similar axe from the local diy shop, I've ground the top part of so its al flat at the top. Also gave it a flatter grind and added a longer handle, seems to do fine now altought it has to be sharpened a bit more often than a gb,I might post a pic if you like..

Seems that the cheaper axes have to short handle/to heavy head for some reason

 

[HillBill]

I have a similar axe from the local diy shop, I've ground the top part of so its al flat at the top. Also gave it a flatter grind and added a longer handle, seems to do fine now altought it has to be sharpened a bit more often than a gb,I might post a pic if you like..

Seems that the cheaper axes have to short handle/to heavy head for some reason

The head, while larger than the SFA is only 600g, It weighs 800g total i think. It does feel head heavy though. From the 5 minutes i used it, i must say i prefer it this way for splitting tasks. The ramp is still slightly wider and has a steeper angle than the SFA so it forces the wood apart more.

The head does look dodgy on the photo, like its twisted slightly. On closer inspection, it is. But only a little. That pic makes it look worse than it is.

Heres a better one, you can also see how blunt the edge was on this one too.

It also has a nice ring to it when using, the blade is musical

 

[Draven]

That is definitely a bit more slight than I thought - don't imagine it'll be a massive problem.

The forward balance is a good thing for splitting, if you want the axe to do the work - and I don't see why you wouldn't

Have you done a file test to see how hard it is?

Pete

 

[HillBill]

That is definitely a bit more slight than I thought - don't imagine it'll be a massive problem.

The forward balance is a good thing for splitting, if you want the axe to do the work - and I don't see why you wouldn't

Have you done a file test to see how hard it is?

Pete

It will be getting used, lots of BBQ's coming up this year aswell, save on gas

How do you do the file test? Never done it before.

 

[British Red]

Just a slightly faster typer I was wondering, you know more about axes than me - in the fourth pic down, do you think the heel of the bit is a bit more out of line than the toe or is it just me?

I think the head may be squint - if you ook at the picture of the poll next to the SFA it doesn't look true.

Still - its a quarter of the price.

Given a re-grind and a new handle and so on.......


As a friend said about my coat "that would be a nice jacket if it was a different cut, colour, style and material"......

 

[Draven]

I think the head may be squint - if you ook at the picture of the poll next to the SFA it doesn't look true.

Still - its a quarter of the price.

Given a re-grind and a new handle and so on.......


As a friend said about my coat "that would be a nice jacket if it was a different cut, colour, style and material"......

I like the head profile, just not sold on their invisible wedge

Hillbill - Good man, a steak just ain't a steak unless it's impregnated with smoke The file test is just running a file along the edge - if it digs in lots and leaves deep scratches the metal is soft, if it skates off the metal is too hard.

 

[HillBill]

- if you ook at the picture of the poll next to the SFA

Thats the Wildlife, the only SFA pic is the one with all 3 on the log. The SFA poll is about 8mm longer than the Argos one

 

[HillBill]

I've been musing over the missing wedge.

My thinking is Argos buys the handles seperately. The company who makes the handles may have either, a standard handle that comes pre slotted or they were for a different head originally and they have been sanded down or something to fit in the Argos head. which is why the handle narrows.

Have to see another though. May just be an error or lack of wedges.