Axe Question.

[greenphotos]

Hi
I am looking to get an axe super quickly at the weekend and want to go and choose it. I live in Basingstoke and work in Farnborough. Can anyone recommend a good place to go. I wouldn't mind a small Gransfors or cheaper equivelant. I would be using it for splitting small logs/branches rather than carving but would like quite a small one so it fits in my pack easily.

Can someone recommend one? - or even have a second hand one for sale?

Is this any good if I don't do all the work here: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23822 Kudos to -switch- though!
http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wc...=20001&partNumber=603366&Trail=searchtext>AXE
Wilkinson 1.5lb axe

Thanks in advance!

Mark

 

[buckley]

http://www.wealddown.co.uk/

Fantastic place, and you can try before you buy.

 

[JonnyP]

If you can nip down to the Weald and Downland museam, they keep the full gransfors range and offer a good price too. But then it may be too far for you to travel..?

 

[JonnyP]

Lol, Buckley, you type faster than me....

 

[British Red]

Where did you get that idea Buckley ?



Two people beat me to it!

Red

 

[TheGreenMan]

...Is this any good if I don't do all the work here: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23822 Kudos to -switch- though!
http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wc...=20001&partNumber=603366&Trail=searchtext>AXE
Wilkinson 1.5lb axe

I was in a few DIY stores the other day, and the head of these hatchets looked pretty good. The grind was nicely even, and thin too, though the edge would need some work, as one might expect. The thinness of grind is unusual for this type of widely available, mass-produced hatchet. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to tell if the quality of the steel is any good just by looking at the head, but switch seems fairly sure that the steel is OK. The store had about a dozen on display, and only one had vertical grain on the handle. If you can find one with a good handle, I’d say it would be worth a gamble.

If you haven't already sorted yourself out with something and you're not sure whether to go ahead and buy one, you could always PM switch and ask him how he's getting on with it.

Saw some of the Fiskars hatchets that were branded as Wilkinson Sword, too. These had a head that were V-shaped in profile/cross-section and were very much a splitting hatchet, which might be more suited to your stated purposes, and as they have a plastic handle there would be no worrying about grain configuration. I've read good reports about these hatchets and axes in repect to splitting firewood. I saw two sizes, both were around £30, so cost wise, well on the way to a Gransfors Wildlife Hatchet or Small Forest Axe.

Best regards,
Paul.

 

[greenphotos]

I got the Homebase one and have sharpened it up nicely. Looking forard to using it.... need to find a leather sheath for it from somewhere now....

Mark

 

[TheGreenMan]

I got the Homebase one and have sharpened it up nicely.... need to find a leather sheath for it from somewhere now....

Glad you got sorted, Mark.

The mask that Dougster made for switch’s hatchet looked pretty solid to me, and I’ve had the leather work of Graham, topknot and Leon 1 recommended to me also, so you might consider making an approach via PM to one of them…or have a go yourself

Cheers,
Paul.