Tell me about sharpening axe

[jzmtl]

I bought a hatchet from local hardware store a while ago, the edge on it is about 1 mm thick and doesn't cut anything.

I used angle grinder with sanding disk to thin out the head to about 15° per side, then sharpened on sharpmaker at 20° per side. Below is a pic of what the edge looks like. I know it's not symmetrical, but that's the best I can do with hand held angle grinder, and holding the hatched on a stool with my foot. 

So did I do this right? Did I make it too thin or something or messed up the geometry?

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Looks ok to me as it's only a little bit out , once you've used it a few time and resharpened it, it'll true it's self up anyway

[NutSAK]

I'd say you've certainly improved the edge.  It wasn't symmetrical to begin with, so it's probably best that you didn't immediately remove enough metal to true it up the first time.

[jzmtl]

Was sharpening the fiskars hatchet I just got. The secondary bevel on it is 30°, since it's almost a centimeter wide and teflon coated, it's pretty hard to sharpen at that angle so I went to 40° and followed by a little sandpaper on mousepad. But the instruction from fiskars does say sharpen at 30°, consider they've been making axe for hundreds of years I'd imagine they know what they are talking about. So did I ruin the geometry of the axe by increase the edge angle?

[Anthony]

Go chop something and find out!

The edge doesn't have to be as delicate as a SAK or other small knife...and axe is made for heavy use...if it pops branches off a downed tree with one quick wrist snap I'd say it's sharp.

[Tarrodemierda]

to me its teh only good way for axes and many other big blades.

[jzmtl]

Go chop something and find out!

The edge doesn't have to be as delicate as a SAK or other small knife...and axe is made for heavy use...if it pops branches off a downed tree with one quick wrist snap I'd say it's sharp.

Heh I wish, living in the city I don't really have the luxury of go out and chopping something, only test I can do it cutting papers. 

[Mike]

I use a file to take down the shoulder a little bit, then use a Lanksy Puck to finish it off. I also try to keep the bevel even on both sides of the blade. Since I normally only split wood with my axes, I think thinning down the shoulders help. However, I do not thin the edge down nearly as much as my knives. For my splitting axes I want a good amount of material behind the edge.  Now, if I was actually chopping wood I would probably thin the edge down a little more, but not overly so.

Mike

[Poncho65]

I am not that much of an axe user but I find that a good file some time and a good eye are all it takes to have a good edge.  I use a file on my chisels as well the mason chisels don't get as sharp of an edge but I can make my wood chisels razor sharp.  Angle grinder sometimes can get a little agressive for me I occasionally use one when edge is bad ex. like the new axe you got then mantain it with a good mill file

[WhichDawg]

yeah I've heard them pucks are really nice for axes, I gotta get me one.

[jzmtl]

Angle grinder sometimes can get a little agressive for me I occasionally use one when edge is bad ex. like the new axe you got then mantain it with a good mill file

You need to use sand disk not grinding stone, I use 120 grit disk and it gives a very smooth finish.

[mcniac]

i like axes, and i like em sharp, this is the way i sharpened the last axe i bought, it is a chinese copy of a bahco, kinda cheap but has been working good since 2 or 3 months ago.
- first use a file to thin out the edge
- then go with a coarse stone (both file and stone freehand, i mean no jigs or anything like that)
- when the axe is getting closer to what i want i use some sandpaper over a mouse pad to give a kinda convex edge, and well polished

this kind of sharpening gives me an axe that will chop good and also can be used in woodworking

here you can see a pic of the axe along with other pieces of my kit



and in case you want the bigger pic (wallpaper size) http://picasaweb.google.com/esteban.soler/Wallpaper/photo#5225938044979852418

Cheers
Esteban

[crls1]

This is a good axe sharpening tutotial over BushcraftUK. Very informative and lots of pictures

Carlos

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

[Freudian Frog]

I go for a very lazy convex edge. XD

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Look's like a good set up Esteban