Secondary bevel on an axe..?

[Chainsaw]

Hi All,

I have had a Gerber Gator Combo Axe II for a while, see it here and I'm finding it's seems to be getting blunt quite quickly, I do better with my cheapy B&Q for chopping and carving wood. I think it may be down to the fact that the gerber axe has a secondary bevel where the B&Q fella doesn't. Is this reasonable or am I talking out a hole in me arm?

I'm considering trying to remove the bevel or at least lengthen it (if you know what I mean?) The axe still works great for chopping wood but seems like it doesn't have the same 'bite'??

If I am going to remove it slightly I intend to tickle it a little on the bench grinder while keeping it cold with water and then finish it off on a sharpening stone?

comments, flames, free SFAs all accepted

Cheers,

Alan

 

[British Red]

You shouldn't have a secondary bevel Alan - an axe should be convex in profile. I did a pictorial on axe sharpening that may help

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22814

Red

 

[Chainsaw]

Hi Red,

I agree it shouldn't but unless I've got my terms wrong (distinctly possible) it bloomin' well does which is why I'm looking to get rid! Check here or here it doesn't taper to a nice point on a pure scandi type grind (does that apply to axes?) but instead has a scandi grind then secondary bevel to the edge. Weird??

Cheers,

Alan

 

[British Red]

Thats a godsawful grind - convex it Alan (at least as much as you can)

Red

 

[Chainsaw]

phew, thought I was barking up the wrong tree, I'm not sure why you would do that unless it's easier to machine sharpen using a secondary. Right, I'm off to the garage!

Cheers,

Alan

PS great tutorial Red, I'll be using that once I've ground the bottom off it

 

[Chainsaw]

well got ripped in with the grinder, second or 2 light grinding, then into the bucket, repeat until you grind your fingers, swear, second or 2 light grinding repeat ad nauseum.

Worked out better than I hoped, I'm usually pretty useless at this kind of stuff but it worked out OK. Couldn't get much of a convex shape to it, it's pretty narrow at the tip but it's not bad. Looks at little squint but I think it's just the angle of the photo, it looks ok in the metal.

I've now got a lot of filework to do, but not tonight!

Cheers,

Alan

 

[British Red]

That looks more like it. I would be tempted to bring the tip back slightly with the file but its better already

Good job

Red

 

[Hedgehog]

That looks more like it. I would be tempted to bring the tip back slightly with the file but its better already

Good job

Red

Agreed. Better already.

 

[Chainsaw]

I was worried in case I took to much off 'cos as they say you can't put it back!

When you say "bring the tip back" do you mean take more off the 'sharp bit' so that the point is more rounded?? Sorry, noob alert!

Thanks for the help,

Alan

 

[Mirius]

Based on the photos I wonder if Red means to create more of a curved edge to the blade, ie pull back the corners of the blade. I think Red mentions it in his tutorial, but an axe will get more penetration if the blade edge is curved - because just a small part will hit first with all the momentum of the axe behind it. At the moment, judging by the photos, the blades are straight, so the force of the blow is spread out along the whole edge of the blade (assuming you were hitting something flat of course). Or then again Red might have meant something else, cos I is just a newbie too!

Checking back I see that what I was thinking of as the tip is in fact the toe, ah well, lol

 

[British Red]

I did indeed mean round it off just a bit more Chainsaw. Not a lot and not with a power tool - jest enhance the curve a fraction - more curved less straight - it might chip a bit otherwise. That said its a "light work" axe so the chances of chipping it are slim

Red

 

[Chainsaw]

Well just over a year ago this thread was originally posted and the axe pretty much stayed in the cupboard since. With some now tools and a bit more savvy it was reworked again last night and it's much, much better. Profile is a little slimmer and bitingly sharp, not much use as a splitter but it makes pretty short work of light kindling etc.

and it's now shiny

I quite like this gerber/fiskars/wilkie axe now, it's a pretty handy starter axe for light work, there is obviously better out there but for the money??? Unfortunately it's probably off to a new home in part-ex for a canoe sail

Cheers,

Alan

 

[Peter_t]

should an axe have a secondary bevel?

well it depends on the type of axe. felling axes and others with a similar profile should be sharpened with a flat or slightly convex profile with a small steeper convex secondary bevel.

http://www.woodsmoke.uk.com/documents/files/woodsmanship_by_b_mason.pdf

go to page 10 and it explaines it better.

the reason for this is it makes the axe more efficient and safer because it is less likely to glance.


pete

 

[Chainsaw]

Nice link pete, that's a keeper!!

The bevel on this guy was very angular, you can almost see it in one of the pic links up above, the bevel was completely flat and was about 7mm and I found it glancing a fair bit unless you were striking almost vertically. Rounding it off has certainly helped, there is a very small flat bevel on it now maybe 1-2mm at most.

Cheers,

Alan