Gransfors Bruk Double Bit Axe Failure

[WealdenWoodsman]

Hello all,

I certainly never thought I would ever have to write a thread about a broken GB axe but today seems to be my lucky day...

I am currently in the middle of coppicing my small area of woodland and enjoy doing as much as possible with an axe when I have the time. So having recently purchased a double bit axe as a treat I thought I would give it a go. I hadn't been going more than 6 seconds before I see that the bottom tip of one of the edges had broken off and was lodge in the log. With a mixture of horror and bemusement I inspected the damage, it had snapped very cleanly from the rest of the axe.

Well I have emailed Gransfors to see what they say and hopefully they will stand by their warranty, just thought I would let you guys know as I thought it would be interesting to see how they handle this. Will keep you updated.

PS: Now before anyone says it I hadn't changed the edge or anything like that and had only sharpened it once using a GB combination stone.

 

[mrcharly]

If you'd hit something hard, I would have expected a ding in the edge where the fracture starts. Looks like a fault to me.

 

[daveO]

Ouch. The top tip of my mini hatchet did the same thing but not so severe. I've been able to sharpen it out without it making much difference to the profile. There doesn't look to be much you could do with that though without a lot of reprofiling.

 

[Janne]

Did you wiggle it side to side?

 

[WealdenWoodsman]

Did you wiggle it side to side?

Nope, no wiggling. Literally just a few swings to make the notch. Though to be honest it should be strong enough to take a little movement from side to side anyway.

 

[Janne]

It looks like the tempering failed or was forgotten. Yes a little wiggle should be fine.

I certainly hope they send you a new axe!!!!

If not, send me a PM and I will contact them. Keep us in the know!

 

[WealdenWoodsman]

It looks like the tempering failed or was forgotten. Yes a little wiggle should be fine.

I certainly hope they send you a new axe!!!!

If not, send me a PM and I will contact them. Keep us in the know!

I hope so too! Thank you, will do.

 

[sunndog]

Thats a waranty replacement for sure. I'd be absolutely shocked if they didn't honour it

Have you dug the snapped off bit out of the log?
That would prove beyond all doubt it was steel failure rather than any abuse on your part. (You'd never be able to snap a chunk off a good axe like that without leaving signs of any abuse)

 

[WealdenWoodsman]

Thats a waranty replacement for sure. I'd be absolutely shocked if they didn't honour it

Have you dug the snapped off bit out of the log?
That would prove beyond all doubt it was steel failure rather than any abuse on your part. (You'd never be able to snap a chunk off a good axe like that without leaving signs of any abuse)

Yes, sent an image of the two (the piece and the rest of the axe) along with the ones above.

 

[Nice65]

They don't like this cold weather much either, I snapped a thumbnail sized chunk out of a bill hook during a cold winter a few years ago while cutting frozen chestnut.

 

[SoldierPalmer]

They do sometimes suffer from heat treat issues just one of them things with metal unfortunately. I've seen it a couple of times before with GB but they are excellent in handling the warranty.

 

[Wayne]

Shouldn’t be a problem getting a replacement. Their warranty normally is pretty sound.

 

[Janne]

Frozen wood= fiber reinforced ice.

I have used commercial / standard axes wintertime for many years without ill effect.
Maybe these more artisan made axes are hardened to get a super hard ( and thus brittler) edge? And have a thinner edge? Made by them to satisfy our weird need for a shaving sharp edge?

I am sure one of the resident steel workers can enlighten us

The standard axe in Norway I use to chop wood has an edge that blunts much quicker than the edge on my Gränsfors axe. Easier to sharpen too.
It is well rusty, found it in the junk in the old cellar, no clue about age or manufacture.
Could be Swedish, could be Norwegian.

 

[WealdenWoodsman]

Having emailed them yesterday morning I thought I would of have got a reply by now. Has anyone had any experience contacting them? I just want to get this sorted as quickly as possible.

I've emailed their generic Gransfors email and also their customer service lead.

 

[Janne]

Today is the Swedish festivity Lucia, where huge amounts of Gingerbread, Saffron breads and rivers of Mulled Wine are consumed......

 

[WealdenWoodsman]

Today is the Swedish festivity Lucia, where huge amounts of Gingerbread, Saffron breads and rivers of Mulled Wine are consumed......

Ok, that will explain it then. Hopefully not too much mulled wine!

 

[Tony]

They might tell you to go through the company you bought the axe from as they're probably the ones that should exchange it, we'll see

My double bit has had a serious hammering and it's fine, so it does look like a material fault. Good for you getting stuck into your woods with some physical graft

 

[Samon]

Frozen wood= fiber reinforced ice.

I have used commercial / standard axes wintertime for many years without ill effect.
Maybe these more artisan made axes are hardened to get a super hard ( and thus brittler) edge? And have a thinner edge? Made by them to satisfy our weird need for a shaving sharp edge?

I am sure one of the resident steel workers can enlighten us

The standard axe in Norway I use to chop wood has an edge that blunts much quicker than the edge on my Gränsfors axe. Easier to sharpen too.
It is well rusty, found it in the junk in the old cellar, no clue about age or manufacture.
Could be Swedish, could be Norwegian.

You're right about the super hard edges. The GB axe are around 58hrc if I recall rightly. As hard as a knife..

Imo, although a hard edge on an axe is great in use it can lead to major breaks. I've enjoyed a few from the top end Swedish lines all of which were equally hard, they will chip if you doing something hard, naturally the shear weight and hardness will cause this.

An old neighbour of mine had a GB scandanavian forest axe and accidentally dug it into the ground and on a rock two swings after I sharpened it for him. There was a bean size chunk missing after! But it was his fault lol.

Having used much softer axes, some that are just beyond bad and like cheese I can say that GB axes are just a bit too hard. No other axe I've had has ever ever! Chipped like those. And I've cut a bicycle in half with a cheap axe, not chips, just a mushed edge I ground back to life.


Have full confidence GB will replace your axe mate, I have a feeling that failure was their heat treat done wrong, leaving it overly hard or unstable. Shame too, that axe looks beautiful and probably cost more than my car.

 

[Janne]

Ok, that will explain it then. Hopefully not too much mulled wine!

OT:

If you knew..........

The custom is quite old. St Lucia is the saint of light (I think).
Anyway, in the morning, while you are still in bed, your daughters and wife are supposed to wake you up, dressed in white habits with a tiara with candles in. Serve you newly brewed coffee and those Saffron breads ( lussebullar).

Of course, today - forget it, you have to drag yourself to the kitchen, mix the Nescafe with hot water from the tap, and dig something from the kitchen.

 

[scruff]

Ouch!

So long as you are safe, that's the main thing!

Hope it gets sorted out without too much hassle amigo.

Be sure to post back when they have you all squared away.