Peening axe

[natkova]

I went to blacksmith in my town to see what he do and to learn new things.

He was peening axe like  (one will peen sythe) just using heat and great hits of hammer.

So i want to share this with you.

 

[EGreen]

that must be how they would sharpen a plow share years ago. thanks a bunch

[Gergely]

Thanks Natkova, and long time no see  :) ! If I were you and the old smith doesn't mind it I'd take the camera every time and tried to capture as much video as I can. These old gentlemen are getting rare, and their knowledge too.

 

Very interesting hammering technique there - it doesn't look like hitting hard although it can be effective...

 

Does anyone know the correct word for this work? - I mean if "to peen an ax" isn't the current English version. (In Hungary they say "to draw out an ax").

Thanks and bests

 

Gergely

[ThomasPowers]

I'd use draw out an axe,  he's working the edge thinner after it's been sharpened down fat or a new high carbon edge has been forge welded to it after many sharpenings has reduced it's size.

[PaulKrzysz]

My Father was born in Poland. He said they took their axe to the blacksmith every two years for it to be resharpened. After sharpening with stones, and through normal use the axe edge got too steep to be effective in it's duty.

This is how a blacksmith sharpens an axe, it is better then grinding because very little material is wasted to grinding.

 

It's just sharpening, but done hot.

[Nobody Special]

It's still drawing out. Saying it's sharpened is not really wrong, but it's a matter of semantics. Technically, yes. It is getting sharper as it's drawn out, but a bar of square stock is "sharpened" if you draw it out to a point.  It especially applies since it's only done after a long period of hard use. Then you still have to reheat it and replace the handle, and still have to sharpen it with a file and stone.

 

A scythe on the other hand darn has to be sharpened with a peening jig, what, every couple of hours? At which point it's sharp enough to make ya wary. And then re-honed every 15 or 20 minutes with a stone.

[natkova]

After this heat treat is done in water and later using wet rag.

He said if the axe is easy to file that mean axe is too weak, and after heat treat if it give clean white color it is not good the beter t is if it give yellow colour and best is if axe blade give a dark blue color.

Off course he put axe in vise than grind it with angle grinder, after he don "drawing" part. 

[natkova]

On first two pictures you can see axe hammered on third  you can se without hammering proces only grinded. On 5 it is some small axe same process done. To notice after this drawing out they are shaper and better instead off just regrinding cutting edge.

Axe with tin metal on handle is one that is not hammered and it is dull you can only regrind it again and again but that way you ruin axe. Only good for it is to hammer it like these two.

[Benton Frisse]

Super cool technique I've never seen or heard of before. Thanks for the awesome share! 

[natkova]

To notice be carefull with drawing out axe when you od that don't  force  axe in wood knots. Or you will bend blade edge, It is easy to bend when you draw it too much and not temper it good. I can allways use file and restore this blade edge quickly without ginder it took me 5 minutes and it is shapr again. 

[Aden Cassidy]

Can't do that here in Australia, most of our axes need to have a thickish edge cause of how hard and knotted a lot of our woods are. Just try cutting a gum(eucalyptus) log and getting some to split is a slight tap while you really need to wallop others from the same tree. Then you have the knots etc... Others will also just go less than 25mm into the log even while trying to follow the grain, only thing to use then is a chainsaw.

[natkova]

I don't do this with spliting axe . We leave it thick so it work like wedge. This technique is good when you want to hew wood or cut some branches from it. And it can be used to draw out chainsaw when stucked in wood. Just hit axe in place where saw blade is stucked. Hit axe using wood like malet and you will wedge out chainsaw.

[rockstar.esq]

It's stuff like this that makes me smile because it solves a problem in a different way.  Thank you for posting it!

[natkova]

You are welcome.

[Charles R. Stevens]

In the US, traditinaly we use two different profiles, the thin one for grean hardwoods and thick for everything else. Sounds counterintuitive but a thin axe will wedge in to soft wood, and of course hard knots and frozen wood are detrimental to the edge. This is the reason for the double bitted axe. The double bit alowd one tool with both profiles. Drowing out was the standard proactice, as knife sharpeners will atest, at a sertain point a knife needs to be re grount because ther is two much meat behind the cutting edge. The same hapens to an axe, you either grind down the sides of the axe or draw it out to reduce the material behind the edge.

[natkova]

Yes but double bit axe is hard to handle cause you cant hit it with mallet.

you can swing with it.And to notice one thing this axes are attached like tomahawk from bottom to top.

They have wide eye so when you make (hornbeam in Balkans cause it si strong wood and with good grain like hickory, Englishman will use ash, ash is fine but that wood is too much geting apart like toothipicks ) .

[rockstar.esq]

natkova,

 

Most of the double bit axes I see in America have handles attached like hammers, not like tomahawks/pickaxes.  They're also typically thinner in width than a single bit would be. 

 

I've also read of single bit axes being damaged by being struck.  The thin sections on either side of the handle buckle in some cases.  Splitting mauls are a different story alltogether.

[natkova]

I never saw double bit axes to be honest i saw it  have imagine it like weapon,not tooll. It is very dangerous tool  becasause if it twist you have two blades on each side.

 It woned me i saw videos on youtobeu when folks attach axe on handle they wedge it and than cut wood to be eaven with axe head. Why  you do that, i would like to leave 1 inch 2.45 cm so it can pervent let's say axe that are too thin to attach like pickaxe (becaseu it is uncomfortable for hand if it is too tin).

Why just dont give some space for wood to expand more it expand it more holds.

Spliting mauls associate me to simple wedge that have handle in it. Axe for hewing should have blade edge reduction from thick to realy thin there is no pause.