lovely pieces hedgehog, those helves look great. which pattern double bit do you prefer, unamed or the granfors? in the market for a 2 bit you see
cheers
Well I must first say the GB is not mine witch may jade my opinions a bit. Actually having put so much time into the other two it will take a while to really get a balanced view of them.
Three of us used all axes in rotation throughout the felling, snedding & bucking of the tree. It was the first time any of the axes had been used. I think I can say they all performed well, the Brades had the disadvantage of being rather blunt.
I was more concerned that the two handles & wedges held up to a good bashing from a couple of big stocky chaps.
The wedge on the unstamped moved about 0.5mm out of the eye after felling - there was no play in the head & it remained stable during the rest of the work. It will be closely watched in case it needs refitting or cross wedging with metal (I'll keep that for a very last resort). All part of my learning curve.
I felt the double bit & the GB performed fairly comparably. The GB is 3ib on 35" Hickory while the unstamped is 3.5lb on a thinner 36" Ash. The GB seemed to me to bite more keenly - After studying the grinds with a little more refinement of the cheeks I think the unstamped one will equal this.
As far as geometry goes I think I prefer the unstamped 'Maine' pattern. The edge is straiter so should require less in-line cuts across the trunk & the heel & toe are much less pronounced making them more durable. My opinion here is influenced by reading 'The Ax Book' a while back & searching for a head with particular geometry. Again, time will draw me to my own conclusions here.
I should leave a more balanced appraisal to the others who used them really but that's my tuppence worth.
Ta.
You obviously enjoy making and fitting axe handles more than I do 
