For fast and high-quality chopping of firewood, you must have a sharp axe. Over time, its sharpness is lost. Therefore, you should regularly sharpen the ax. This procedure can be performed either with the help of a special master, who is called to the house, or with your own hands. A blunt tool for sharpening an ax can harm human life and he alth. First of all, during splitting, it can slip off the log and cause serious injury to a person. When working with a blunt tool, more force must be applied to achieve the goal than with a sharp one. Sharpening an ax must be carried out in compliance with certain rules.
General information
The ax is a special tool that is used for processing or cutting wooden elements. Such a device consists of three elements: a sharpened blade, a fixing wedge and a handle. The last element is usually made of wood.
The blade is made from various types of steel that contains more than 0.7% carbon. This condition must be fulfilled. As a metal, both special types and ordinary ones are used. These two types of metals differ in the amount of impurities. In the first one, their content is higher. In the production of metal, as a rule, phosphorus, sulfur, oxygen, etc. are added. Stab objects made of ordinary metals have a short service life. Therefore, when choosing an ax, you should pay attention to the markings. The letter A means that the metal is of the highest standard and will last longer.
Before buying a tool, you must also determine its destination.
A properly selected ax helps save time and effort, as well as perform the task with high quality.
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There are such types of axes:
- Multifunctional. This tool combines several functions. As a rule, it is made in small sizes. An example would be a small pick, nail puller, or kitchen hatchet.
- Universal. It is also called carpentry. This is the most common tool that has a straight blade shape. In some cases, a rounded shape is also used. The most popular model is the Fiskars ax used by carpenters and joiners. To perform various types of work, it is necessary to perform a certain sharpening of the tool. A kitchen hatchet can also be attributed to this type, but only some of itmodels.
- Cleaver-axe. This large ax is used to split wooden logs into pieces. The procedure takes place with the help of a special blade, which in its shape resembles a wedge. The handle of the ax-cleaver is made of durable material of a rather large size. This is done to increase the force of impact.
- Lumberjack. This is a large ax designed for cutting branches and trees of various sizes. This tool is characterized by high weight. It can reach more than 2 kg. For pruning branches and small trees, lightweight options are used, the weight of which reaches 1.5 kg. The most popular model is the Fiskars axe.
- Tourist. This tool is characterized by small overall dimensions and weight. It fits easily in a backpack and is used for various purposes. This is the perfect balance between weight and quality.
How to sharpen an ax
As mentioned earlier, it is an important construction tool that is used to perform various types of work with wooden structures.
After purchasing, you need to sharpen it. This procedure will still have to be carried out, regardless of the quality of the factory sharpening of the ax. It's better to spend some time sharpening a blade than to struggle with a dull tool later.
Preparatory work
Before you start sharpening the device, you need to make a template according to the following scheme:
- take a piece of metal of small thickness;
- choose the required sharpening angleaxe;
- cut the corresponding pattern;
- attach the finished fixture to the ax blade;
- find out the required angle of inclination to achieve the desired level of sharpening;
- make appropriate marks on the ax blade with a pencil.
Influencing factors
The ax is sharpened after studying the following factors:
- wood hardness;
- wood species moisture;
- type of work performed;
- characteristic of the metal from which the ax blade is made.
When performing factory sharpening, only the last two factors are taken into account.
Correct sharpening angle
Before performing this operation, it is necessary to determine the desired angle. The final sharpness of the blade is influenced by factors such as the size of the bevel and the angle of sharpening. The last characteristic is selected depending on the type of intended work.
To cut or trim wood, use a sharp corner. This indicator can be no more than 20º. Also study the characteristics of the proposed tree. For harder rocks, use an obtuse angle.
At home, as a rule, sharpen the blade at an angle of 25 to 30º. This is enough to perform small woodworking tasks (such as splitting logs or cutting down small trees). For more precise work, experts advise using an angle of 15 or 20º. Sharpening at these parameters will help to finish the wood. This technique is used in the manufacture of individual pieces of furniture.
Chamfer size
This characteristic affects the sharpness of the ax blade, as well as the life of the tool. However, it is very difficult to change this indicator at home, compared to choosing the sharpening angle. To change the width of the chamfers, you must apply a significant amount of physical strength and spend a lot of time. The procedure is no different from regular sharpening.
Chamfer is the distance from the axis of the blade to the surface of the axe. In some sources, you can find such a name as descents (although this is the same thing). The correctness of the selected sizes can be found in well-known manufacturers or noble craftsmen.
At the same time, such a tool does not need to be redone, and sharpening the blade is quick and easy.
So, to change the size of the descents, it is necessary to remove an excess amount of metal from the ax to a certain size. For this, a method such as a pull blade is used. This is an ancient and still common method, which consists in constant regrinding. The end result is a lighter tool, making the job much easier.
Most blade manufacturers use low-quality metal, so changing the bevel size has become commonplace. In order for the cutting quality to be higher, the dimensions of the sides should be slightly different.
Sharpening with your own hands
In order not to constantly apply to specialworkshops, this procedure is performed at home. Tools for sharpening an ax are bought in a store or made independently. The most common method is sharpening with an abrasive wheel. This device is fixed between two wooden beams. Moreover, the angle of their installation is determined by geometric rules. The abrasive wheel is the hypotenuse, and the bars are the legs. The circle is fixed at a certain angle. The ax blade is held vertically and driven along the horizontal plane of the circle.
Sharpening an ax can be done in another way, however, for this you need to purchase some additional tools:
- hard metal rust remover brush;
- sandpaper of different thicknesses;
- safety glasses;
- fabric;
- device for polishing metal surfaces;
- gloves;
- vice surface;
- metal dust brush;
- file;
- wax and machine oil;
- whetstone;
- construction ruler.
The work is done in the following sequence:
- The ax blade is cleaned of rust. This is done using a special tool and a metal brush.
- The surface is sanded with dense emery in all directions, capturing every corner of the surface.
- Repeat the previous procedure with softer hardness emery.
- Polished with a cloth and a polishing agentsurface.
- The ax is fixed on the edge of the table or in a vise so that the edge of the blade hangs off the table and the handle fits snugly against the surface.
- The ax is sharpened with a file. The angle is chosen independently, depending on the type of proposed work.
- Metal chips are removed with a brush.
- The blade is sharpened with a double-sided stone in a circular motion. Before this procedure, the surface is lubricated with oil or water.
- Sharpening the blade on the other side follows the same method, but uses a less hard stone.
- After the work is completed, an anti-corrosion agent is applied to the surface.
Conclusion
So, we found out how the ax is sharpened. As you can see, this procedure can be done with your own hands.
