SFA Head alignment problem.

[robin wood]

I've taken a couple of pics for a side by side comparison of the original and new axe. The defective one is on the left:

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Well i thought I would add my two peneth worth and I know I am rather a lone voice. :swordfigh I would say that is not a "defective" axe and is perfectly fit for purpose. In fact if I was doing a lot of felling as a right handed user I would prefer the tool on the left as it would mean I would have to bend down less to get a felling cut near the ground. I could also use it very happily for snedding or splitting firewood. If I was doing a lot of right handed carving I would prefer the offset to be the other way but really 2 degrees is going to make little difference if you know how to use it.

It is important for an axe to cut well that the edge strikes perpendicular to the direction it is traveling but the haft does not have to be in line with the edge to achieve that. Many old hewing axes have the haft off to one side to keep the knuckles of the user away from the wood, the offset can be quite significant up to 20 degrees and the axe still works well so calling an axe with a 1 or 2 degree offset defective to my mind is simply asking too much. The left hand axe would be more difficult for a left hander to use for many tasks but perfectly usable and perhaps even preferable for a right hander.

Quality control at Gransfors incidentally is the responsibility of the smiths. The smith that forges the head of your axe also fitted the haft to it.

 

[Bernie Garland]

Thanks for the info Robin,and no one more than you should know,with your experience with various axe's,i'll have to send mine back now for a right hander

Bernie

 

[Lurch]

Heh! I'll keep a look out for one for you!
We just got 10 SFAs in yesterday and they were all MM. We are trying to get a JE or an LN for a customer but it seems that SFAs are Matius's bag at the mo.

 

[British Red]

Robin,

I think I would diagree to some extent with "fit for purpose". Thats true of some purposes - less so of others. I absolutely take your point in terms of broad axes and other shaping tools and "defective" is an emotive term for certain, but if I asked myself "would I select that particular axe" the answer for "all round" use - particularly with a view to splitting, would be "no". I have certainly seen worse, but it would be disappointing. I have encountered axes that certainly turn or buck in use due to poor head alignment and the idea of modifying my "swing" to each axe when I may use several in a day does not appeal.

The only thing it proves to me is that its always best to pick your axe in person from several examples if possible. That way you get to select based on the features that you personally find important. I know its not easy for everyone to do, but I find that those who have vastly prefer it

Red

 

[The Cumbrian]

Well i thought I would add my two peneth worth and I know I am rather a lone voice. :swordfigh I would say that is not a "defective" axe and is perfectly fit for purpose.

Robin,

It's not as if the edge just feels a bit off parallel to the helve, it also feels as though the edge isn't directly underneath it when you're chopping with it.

Cheers, Michael.

 

[The Cumbrian]

The saga of the misaligned head has been sorted out. Rob replaced my axe for me, and even sent me a gift ( a groovy little LED light that clips onto a 9V battery) because I had to send him the old axe twice, due to a mix up with the post that wasn't even his fault.

Thanks again to Rob at Wilderness 1-2-1, who I'd recommend to anyone, and could you let us know what GB have said about the axe Rob, if they ever got back to you?

 

[johnnytheboy]

my wildlife hatchet is abit off as well, mm stamp on it, to be honest i wasn't overly impressed with the gb axe, its not a good allrounder, wished i got a cheapo bahco or an estwing

 

[NatG]

i think with axes there come a point when further development is essentially pointless in most cases- a knife is a complex tool used for many different jobs and needs to be to a high standard due to the delicacy of the tasks done with it.

An axe on the other hand- and i think this is true with most of the "bushcraft" crowd- is used for breaking up bits of wood that are abouyt to be burnt, an d as such perfect head alignment isn't essential. When doing carving and other such activities i can understand why greater qualitry could be important but for splitting firewoood and felling the odd tree, a cheap axe will do nearly as well as one costing £50

 

[johnnytheboy]

There is the outside possibilty the axe skids of the material being cut, possible cause the bit not being true and the blade has caught something and deflected the blow, honest nat the hatchet just doesn't seem right when you are cutting with it

 

[robin wood]

my wildlife hatchet is abit off as well, mm stamp on it, to be honest i wasn't overly impressed with the gb axe, its not a good allrounder, wished i got a cheapo bahco or an estwing

I'll give you the price of a Bahco or Estwing for it.

 

[johnnytheboy]

Done, £37.99 for a estwing in screwfix

 

[johnnytheboy]

Its actually more out of alignment than i thought

 

[robin wood]

Done, £37.99 for a estwing in screwfix

Well I was a bit hasty that's a bit more than I pay trade for a new one but I am good for my word and the head alignment doesn't bother me, it is good for a right hander, in fact Japanese hewing axes are hafted with exactly that alignment. So if you you will swallow the postage I am happy to give you the £38 and you can get the Estwing.

Robin

 

[Dave Budd]

is it just me or are people a little too obsessed with straightness and orientation?

I'm with Robin, you get used to the tool in your hand. I've got axes that are way further out than that, but I don't notice it because I autoimatically adjust to how the blade is cutting when i use it. For general camp chores (including carving) the angle of the axe wouldn't cause huge problems until it meant that I was actually using an adze by mistake!

just my opinion of course

 

[johnnytheboy]

Robin, if you can buy one cheaper trade then we could just do a straight swap, let me know what you think? Its the leather handled one i was looking for.

 

[robin wood]

No I don't buy Estwings it was the trade price on the GB I was talking about, no probs though I am happy to add it to the collection or tune it up and pass it on to a course student that likes it.

 

[robin wood]

Paypal on its way John. Out of interest i just had a look at my wildlife hatchet. i have used this quite a bit myself and really rather like it, quite a few folk on courses have used it too and everyone has enjoyed using it. I never bothered looking at the head alignment and it feels right in my hand but having taken a look the alignment is pretty much the same as John's.

 

[Lurch]

Most MM wildlifes seem to have that slight cast.

 

[Dougster]

My MM SFA that I bought nearly 3 years ago has that same head misalignment.

I bought it when I saw Ray using it, then learned it was a duffer a year later, feels fine tho'.

 

[johnnytheboy]

The hardest thing i found taking this picture was to get the axe handle point upwards to show how off the head was from the handle alignment, i took about 20 pics to try to show the true alignment in relation to the handle, if you look at the handle it is slightly to the right of where it should have been which means the alignment is even further out than where the photo shows. If you look at your picture robin the poll is not parallel with the bottom of the picture, which shows the axe is slightly twisted in the photo, which is not showing the true alignment, it will be interesting to see both of them together it will be pretty hard to get a decent picture to show the difference as its hard to picture one not two. The axe is bound to had a good carpentry use as you can buy axes specifically sided, i think robin you will be able to put it to pretty good use in this situation as you do allot more woodwork than me.

I think maybe the key thing that we have discussed is avoid the MM ones or inspect them heavily before your purchase.

Thanks for helping me out robin, i much apprecaite it, hopefully you can put it to good use, I will post it asap