Quote:
Originally Posted by x SF med
Bill... We've had this discussion before, but just to let everybody know, "How sharp should and Axe be?" "What angles should the edges be?" "How polished should the edges be?"
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Sharpness:
As sharp as the steel will allow. When finished a good high performance racing axe (like for competition) can take a shaving off the surface of a piece of dry newspaper without going through the other side. I've done this many times, it's not myth.
The single exception I've seen is a slightly coarser edge that seems to be fsater in some pine wood.
In harder the angle is determined by what will hold up or not. In Australia the common chopping woods are very hard.
The relief and shape of the axe body is for both ability to cut deep and also very important, to release from the cut.
Angles are very acute, from 17 degrees included angle down to 12 on the edge of the bit. There are many types of "grinds" depending on the type of wood it's being used in.
Polish of the cutting edge, usually stoned to around 2000 grit but never buffed.
The old loggers who hand felled timber would use shaving sharp edges. If axes were not maintained very sharp they couldn't produce what was expected to keep their jobs and a dull axe would fatigue the user very fast.