Best size axe
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Hello and welcome to the forum.
What do you think bush crafting is? Put that way it sounds like topiary…definitely not axe work
All joking aside about the problems involved in defining “bushcraft”, and the legal aspects of walking around with an axe….
I have three Gransfors Mini, Wildlife hatchet and Small Forest Axe. I also have a larger camp axe with an old head that I hafted myself.
The Wildlife and the SFA will both work for many things that people do in “bushcraft”. I had the SFA first and it was my only axe for nearly a decade. It felled, snedded, split, and hewed. I used it for bow making, spoon carving, making pot hangers and shelter sticks…and processing firewood.
The Wildlife is lighter, easier to use for fine work and crafting but less good and less safe for splitting, shedding and felling related work.
The Mini is cute, but I don’t find it practical for more than feeding a hobo stove and light spoon carving.
Look up those descriptions and you will get sizes and weights.
On the subject of need. I used the SFA on trips to Sweden and Canada, for tree work in an arboretum as a volunteer, and at Moots and meet-ups. I have never found a time or reason to carry it in a pack while out for a walk just because I might want to cut something. Legality aside, it is too big and heavy to haul around just in case in most of the UK.
What do you think bush crafting is? Put that way it sounds like topiary…definitely not axe work
All joking aside about the problems involved in defining “bushcraft”, and the legal aspects of walking around with an axe….
I have three Gransfors Mini, Wildlife hatchet and Small Forest Axe. I also have a larger camp axe with an old head that I hafted myself.
The Wildlife and the SFA will both work for many things that people do in “bushcraft”. I had the SFA first and it was my only axe for nearly a decade. It felled, snedded, split, and hewed. I used it for bow making, spoon carving, making pot hangers and shelter sticks…and processing firewood.
The Wildlife is lighter, easier to use for fine work and crafting but less good and less safe for splitting, shedding and felling related work.
The Mini is cute, but I don’t find it practical for more than feeding a hobo stove and light spoon carving.
Look up those descriptions and you will get sizes and weights.
On the subject of need. I used the SFA on trips to Sweden and Canada, for tree work in an arboretum as a volunteer, and at Moots and meet-ups. I have never found a time or reason to carry it in a pack while out for a walk just because I might want to cut something. Legality aside, it is too big and heavy to haul around just in case in most of the UK.
It all depends upon what you want to do with it.
I have found that a fairly small axe head with a 16" handle is a very useful tool and easy to carry. I wouldn't bother with anything smaller.
A 2-2.5lb head with ~20+ inch handle is big enough to fell small trees, to chop and split logs and more delicate work holding close to the head , but is less portable inside a bag.
A heavier, longer axe is better for tree felling and log chopping, but obviously less easy to carry.
A splitting maul is better for doing a lot of log splitting.
I have found that a fairly small axe head with a 16" handle is a very useful tool and easy to carry. I wouldn't bother with anything smaller.
A 2-2.5lb head with ~20+ inch handle is big enough to fell small trees, to chop and split logs and more delicate work holding close to the head , but is less portable inside a bag.
A heavier, longer axe is better for tree felling and log chopping, but obviously less easy to carry.
A splitting maul is better for doing a lot of log splitting.
Here is 2 good videos based on Nessmuk's Woodcraft and camping. Small hatchet seems remarkably capable in the right hands.
Here are some of mine:
This started off as a very cheap hickory handled Silverline felling axe.
I have improved the blade profile and put a better edge on it, sanded and oiled the handle and made a simple leather handle protector.
I will be making a leather blade cover for it.
It will be interesting to find out how good it is to use in the woods.
Whilst sorting out the Scout group hatchets, I found two with heads that had potential. A HB 1 1/4lb and an unbranded one of ~1 1/2lb.
They both had terrible handles of around 13-14". The HB had a butchered/home-made effort and the unbranded one was damaged glass fibre.
The handles were removed and binned.
The heads were soaked in vinegar to remove the rust, then cleaned up and re-profiled and sharpened to smooth convex bevels. I left the HB head with a bit more patina.
I lacquered the heads for a bit of...
They both had terrible handles of around 13-14". The HB had a butchered/home-made effort and the unbranded one was damaged glass fibre.
The handles were removed and binned.
The heads were soaked in vinegar to remove the rust, then cleaned up and re-profiled and sharpened to smooth convex bevels. I left the HB head with a bit more patina.
I lacquered the heads for a bit of...
This started off as a very cheap hickory handled Silverline felling axe.
I have improved the blade profile and put a better edge on it, sanded and oiled the handle and made a simple leather handle protector.
I will be making a leather blade cover for it.
It will be interesting to find out how good it is to use in the woods.
I found this fairly terrible 7lb maul at our scout hut. It apparently originally came from HSS.
The head had potential, but the handle was extremely flexible. Striking a log resulted in the handle bending, with terrible transfer of energy and a lot of vibration. It was unusable!
The handle had a thin core of fibreglass with a plastic outer.
I took the head back to bare metal and tidied up the profile and edge. I blued it and gave it a couple of coats of Danish oil...
The head had potential, but the handle was extremely flexible. Striking a log resulted in the handle bending, with terrible transfer of energy and a lot of vibration. It was unusable!
The handle had a thin core of fibreglass with a plastic outer.
I took the head back to bare metal and tidied up the profile and edge. I blued it and gave it a couple of coats of Danish oil...
There is no "one axe to rule them all".
Just the one best suited to the task in hand.
It genuinely does depend on what you're gonna use it for.
For me... I found the sweet spot in a 600g head with a handle around 40cm. Can be used 1 handed or 2 handed... I think its this one i have... cant be 100% certain, but basically this anyway.
www.buildandplumb.co.uk
I've quite literally tested over 100 axes... from tomahawks, to small hatchets to double bit felling axes... And everything in-between. I prefer something like the one in link.
I dont work in forestry, i'm not a lumberjack... So this suits my needs.
Welcome to the Forum.
For me... I found the sweet spot in a 600g head with a handle around 40cm. Can be used 1 handed or 2 handed... I think its this one i have... cant be 100% certain, but basically this anyway.
Hatchet 600g (1.1/4 lb) - Hand-Forged
The Hultafors Hatchet is hand-forged and made from Swedish axe steel using traditional methods in use since 1697. The steel is struck several times, increasing its density and thereby the durability of the axe. It has a clear tempered zone within which the axe can be sharpened whilst not...
www.buildandplumb.co.uk
I've quite literally tested over 100 axes... from tomahawks, to small hatchets to double bit felling axes... And everything in-between. I prefer something like the one in link.
I dont work in forestry, i'm not a lumberjack... So this suits my needs.
Welcome to the Forum.
I haven't tested quite as many but found that the 500-700 g weight and 40-50 cm handle to be OK. Most manufacturers do not do the longer handle because it looks a bit funny but it is much better for two handed work.
The Scouts used a selection of axes to split hardwood (beech and chestnut) rounds and to make kindling yesterday.
The boy's/forest type axes were a very useful and effective size for splitting, even for the smaller scouts.
A few of them made good use of the 16" 1.25/1.5lb axes for a bit of splitting and producing kindling.
Both of the above types are very portable and applicable to "bushcraft".
We do have some smaller cheapo (Aldi?) hatchets (I didn't procure them), which had terrible cutting edges. I have worked them all to be better profiled and usefully sharp. They are only fit for very light jobs, though.
The splitting mauls and felling axes were too big for them.
The boy's/forest type axes were a very useful and effective size for splitting, even for the smaller scouts.
A few of them made good use of the 16" 1.25/1.5lb axes for a bit of splitting and producing kindling.
Both of the above types are very portable and applicable to "bushcraft".
We do have some smaller cheapo (Aldi?) hatchets (I didn't procure them), which had terrible cutting edges. I have worked them all to be better profiled and usefully sharp. They are only fit for very light jobs, though.
The splitting mauls and felling axes were too big for them.
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