Axe profilling help and advice?

[Tadpole]

Ok yet another post asking for help, well advice, ok I’ll be honest help and advice. I bought another bargain axe. One I am really happy with, so bargain it is.




I need some advice, it’s a tad heavy at 1000gram, the length is perfect (for me) at 15 ½ inches. The head is 5 ¼ inches long and the cutting edge is 3 ¼ wide. It’s stamped “Made In Canada” but other than that I’ve no information.

There are always questions
I’d like the thin the blade down somewhat., and change the profile so it is suitable for chopping through pine trees, (I’ve read that the thicker, more rounded axe head is better for harder woods and the thinner more narrow style of head is better for softer woods, the sort of woods I find locally to me) is this true, that axes should be thicker for hardwood felling?
I think there is about 3/8 of an inch to come off.


Questions
Is it possible to do the job properly using just hand tools, i.e. hand files and emery paper?
How long would it take, given it’s been 20 years since I’ve done anything like this, and back then it was in a fitted out workshop, my workshop is the kitchen table and a workbench in the garden.



Would I need to take the handle out of the head, if so is it possible to do so without destroying the handle. If not how much extra work is involved by leaving the handle in?
Where would I need to start, is it a case of filling away until I get the thickness I like, then cleaning it up, or is there some things I should not do. is it possible to file away all the tempered material, leaving me with a axe that is as much use as a toffee hammer.

The handle is two holes from what looks like wood worm,( near the end farthest away from the head. I plan to super clue them to seal them, and then fill them, would this be enough, or is the handle now compromised.

Thanks in advance

 

[Longstrider]

Where's that squirrel when we need him?

I'd say that the removal of 3/8" of thickness from just about any axe head I've ever seen would be both one hell of a lot of work with hand tools, and it would also change the axe so radically (and not neccesarily for the better) that you'd probably be far better off buying a different axe.
You could do the job with a decent ******* file (I wonder if that will past the censor? It didn't. I mean an illegitimate child sort of file ), and a good helping of wet-n-dry but you'd end up with arms like like tree trunks from the effort if the steel is any good to start with. The careful (notice the emphasis on " careful") application of an angle grinder in the initial stages would make the job a whole lot less tiresome, but either way I think you are in for a lot of work to get the job done right.
Removing the helve (handle) would not be neccesary unless whatever grinding you were going to do was going to heat the axe head up a lot . Getting the head that hot would then mean that it would need a re-do of heat treating anyway, so I guess you won't be wanting to go down that road.
Sorry to be so negative on the idea, but thinning an axe by that sort of degree seems a little OTT to me.
Red, on the other hand, might think it's a wonderful project and be able to give you some decent pointers on the matter. I'm sure he'll put a word or two in on the matter in due course...

 

[British Red]

Hmm now as for the wood worm - treat it first - if its still inside it'll eat the handle from the inside out....... A replacement helves about £2. Your call.

Can you re-profile? Yes you can? By hand? Yep. Would I? No, not a full re-profile and removing lots of metal like that for lots of reasons

1. its hard to keep it even - you will be filing a curve - actually more of an S bend

2. the steel is tempered so very hard - easier if you anneal and then re-temper, but if you had the facilities to do that......

3. You could just tidy the bevel up and try it out. There is some truth in different profiles for different woods. Green vs seasoned and through grain vs cross grain matters too.


Jimbo would recommend a slack belt sander - he's the expert! He would also dip the axe frequently if it got warmer than he could hold in his hand.



All that said, I've seen pictures of it being done and done well with hand tools. It was on here too!

Its stemmed from here

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=11059

and led to this

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=13346

Red

 

[Tadpole]

Thank you for your advice, I kind of guessed that it would be a lot of work and frankly I have neither the skill needed nor the time to learn the skills, or the money to buy practice pieces on which to learn the skills . Don’t get me wrong the axe is a good one, my almost new files hardly mark the steel, and it was sharp enough to cut through 2 ½ inch branch of dry poplar in just a few strokes. But feather sticks are just never going to happen from this axe. I’m sure with some effort, and some application of emery on my part, the axe will be shaving sharp, just not profiled enough to do anything other than cut trees or chop logs.