Axe Maintenance Gear
I have a client who has caught the “Bushcrafting” bug, including having bought the requisite hand-forged Swedish axe for that purpose. As a matter of full disclosure, I have a hard time accepting this new “Bushcrafting” descriptor, maybe because I am old enough to remember when most of us referred to this skill set as “going to the woods”, “camping”, or “working on my scout project”. But I digress. My client was full of expert information on the optimal grind angle of an axe bit, to which his pricey Swedish axe did not conform. This bothered him and I offered to regrind his axe, thin the edges of the bit (cutting edge) and hone it for him. He did finally accept my offer, and, along with his axe provided me with a sectional template with copious notation regarding current axe sharpening theory. He is a friend, so I nodded thoughtfully. Later, in my shop, on the Tormek wet grinder and with a little hand work, it was done in less than an hour. My client was so happy with his axe healing that he wanted a case in which to store his maintenance gear, which includes: a petite safe-edged file with sheath, a twin grit ceramic hone, jojoba oil for rust prevention (and skin care, I guess) and a safely stored wiping cloth. By the way, I now own one of those Swedish axes and they really are nice.
