A Proper Canoeing Axe - Gransfors Bruks, Wetterlings and Snow & Neally - Canoe Camping Gear

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A Proper Canoeing Axe - Gransfors Bruks, Wetterlings and Snow & Neally

(34 posts) (10 voices) Started 5 months ago by James Latest reply from jpj6780

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James
Class V

Last night I was thinking about writing a how to build a fire article for the blog. Yes, I know I'm obsessed. So, I was thinking of going somewhere close like Babler or Castlewood to take photographs. Anyway, to build a proper fire you sort of need an axe. It's real easy the way we usually do it with some sort of fire starter or fluid because you don't need tiny little kindling. Anyway, I was looking around at the Alpine Shop, Lowes and Sports Authority for a nice axe. They didn't have any.

I pulled out the trusty iPhone and searched for "best camp ax" and found a few. They were in order of coolness and cost: Gransfors Bruks, Wetterlings and Snow & Neally. The Gransfors are about $120 and the others between $75-50. Seems sort of ridiculous when you can get a crappy camp chopper from Home Depot for 20 bucks. But heres the rub. These are not crappy camp choppers, rather, they are hand made tools designed to hew lumber and frighten trees.

The Gransfors and Wetterlings are both hand forged by those crazy craftsmen types that wear plaid shirts and leather aprons in their catalog photos. According to axe lore a hand forged axe head is far superior to anything made by a drop forge or other modern method. Browsing the internet confirms this theory. This makes me wonder why I'd ever wield such an pitiful hunk of steel instead of severing trees like a samurai with a real axe.

I read an entire online book entitled An Ax to Grind: A Practical Ax Manual and started searching eBay for the axes it mentioned. It seems you can get some pretty good old hand axes or hatchets from Norlund, Kelly Edge Tools, Plumb and others for about $19.99. I didn't see anything on eBay that came close to being as cool as the Gransfors except someone selling them.

So, now I feel like collecting old axe heads. Hopefully, that will be a passing fancy.

As soon as I get my hands on a proper ax or sharpen the one I have I'll write up a proper fire building post.

We buy our gear at Amazon, NRS, Altrec or Rock Creek. If you're in St. Louis visit the Alpine Shop.

http://twitter.com/AdventureCanoe

Posted 5 months ago #
davyjones
Member

Handforged is far better. I had my own blacksmith shop for nearly 15 years, until my job took me from country into the city. I solely made knives and axes, and any one would outperform factory made by a long shot. For example, before a knife was sold, I would test them for edge geometry by standing a empty shotgun shell up, and chopping it in half without tipping it over. Try that with a factory knife. Hatchets and axes were more subjective, but all were better than factory made. You can expect the same from Gransfors. Their axes are hardened and tempered to 57 Rockwell, which is as good as most knives. The cheap run of the mill hatchets are probably not more than 45 Rockwell. There are a great many blacksmiths still around that may be able to make you a hatchet locally for about the same price as Gransfors. Look up the American Bladesmiths Society. Last I saw they had a listing of members and you should be able to find one near you. Many are in the Ozarks.

The ABS holds all their smiths to very high standards. If you get a knife or axe from one of them, it will be of utmost quality.

For knives I recommend Howard Clark of Morgan Valley Forge in Runnels, Iowa. His knives give unbelievable performance, but he has about a 3 year backlog.

Posted 5 months ago #
MotoMike
Moderator

I looked into GB and Wetterlings, Council tool and Snow and Neally. I settled on a wetterlings hatchet. hand forged fine steel hardened to the same 57-58 Rockwell, but not as highly finished as the GB. Most of the reviews that compare them feel that the Wetterlings needs some work to make it equal to the GB. But for half the price, an hour spent re-contouring the edge is worth it to me.  I got mine from Wisemen Trading. They are a small enough outfit that I could call and ask them to check the hang of the axe and straight grain in the handle. It is a fine tool in camp, even use it for some kitchen duty on occasion. however the sheath is junk. http://www.wisementrading.com/link.htm

My mom's neighbors were digging up their front yard for deck footings and they found an old rusty Collins tool head from I am guessing the mid 60s. I cleaned it up and re-handled it. for the price of a 13 dollar axe handle and about 2 hours of work to fitt the head, sand off the finish and coat it with linseed oil. So I have a fine axe for the money. Much better than the DIY store axes.

As to knives. my favorite is the only one I ever had custom made by Eddie White at Shadow knives. http://www.shadowknives.com/welcome.html

It is always a tough to justify the expense of a custom or hand forged tool.

I know that it is possible to get a superior hand forged axe, but some companies like Snow and Neally or Council tool have been making quality cutting and striking tools for decades.   Council is the axe of choice for many a firemen and they must be able to rely on their axe. Council has an interesting Hudson Bay design that I think would be a good canoe camping axe. http://www.counciltool.com/product.asp?pg=product&item=175HB28&ID=235 It should be noted that the picture does not show the 28 inch handle that it comes with.

What I get from a hand forged axe or hand made knife is an intangible connection to the maker. Don't know why, it just makes me feel good.

Regards,

Mike

Posted 5 months ago #
MotoMike
Moderator

must be fewer gear nerds here than I thought. Expected this one to get some mileage. Oh, and gear nerd is a term of endearment. ;)

Posted 5 months ago #
James
Class V

Mike-
I was thinking the same thing. It will get good soon. I've ordered both the Gransfors and Wetterlings Axes. I really like that Shadow Knife. I may have to get one of those too.

For now check out my latest eBay find.

It's a Kelly Wood Slasher

Not to collectable because it's to new...but it has a cool name and a new handle. I can't wait to slash some wood.

We buy our gear at Amazon, NRS, Altrec or Rock Creek. If you're in St. Louis visit the Alpine Shop.

http://twitter.com/AdventureCanoe

Posted 5 months ago #
James
Class V

Cate and I found an old wood pile that the city dumps wood from storm damaged trees in. There was a guy up there hacking away, so we ran home and got my latest eBay finds. The new handle on the Wood Slasher worked flawlessly. The little Norland needed a bit more love tightening it's vintage handle but I think I have it sorted out now.

The Kelly Wood Slasher on top with a Norlund Hudson Bay kindling hatchet below.

I am still waiting for my packages from Sweden to arrive.

We buy our gear at Amazon, NRS, Altrec or Rock Creek. If you're in St. Louis visit the Alpine Shop.

http://twitter.com/AdventureCanoe

Posted 5 months ago #
risingsun
Member

James, there is nothing wrong with collecting axes. It makes you a more interesting person.

I am an avid antique tool collector, as is my father. Together, we scour garage sales, antique stores, eBay, and even antique tool shows to find the next great addition to our collections. It's fun and has helped to strengthen our already close relationship as we have a common interest. My wife supports/tolerates it as well, which is always a plus.

You may wish to consider a suggestion that you look for a nice Keen Kutter axe or hatchet for your growing collection. Keen Kutter tools were the top end tools of a company of the name E.C. Simmons which marketed tools in the US during the late 1800's and early 1900's. Some history can be seen at http://www.roseantiquetools.com/id42.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keen_Kutter.

The Keen Kutter motto was a good one: "The Recollection of Quality Remains Long After The Price is Forgotten." These were high quality but still mass produced tools, rather than hand-made masterpieces, but I recommend one as they were a product of the Heartland and they are likely easier to find in your neck of the woods. There are collectors out there that collect nothing but KK items. eBay should list many of them. A nice KK axe head in need of a new handle should not run you much, as many collectors would desire an axe with its original handle. My main advice - buy what you like, and buy in the nicest condition you can afford (avoid rusty, severly pitted heads, for example). It will hold its value and provide years of service.

If you really get interested in the history of the axe, I might also suggest two more things. First, I really recommend you consider joining the Mid-West Tool Collectors Association. They regularly have meetings that often include wonderful swap meet/parking lot sales where I guarantee you can find oodles of axes to covet and buy. It might even force you to branch out, which isn't a bad thing. This organization is one of the best in the world as far as expertise and sheer number of members. They are also a very personable group and happy to talk tools if you are looking for advice. Their website is http://www.mwtca.org/ I see the semi-annual national meeting is at the end of October in Indy. If I were closer, I'd go. Make sure you take a pocket full of cash. You'll thank me. The organization also has other more regular meetings and swaps that may be closer to home for you.

Second, if you are truly interested in history and the axe, consider buying a book: http://www.tooltimer.com/klenman.htm You can learn a lot from these sorts of compendiums. I would expect that there are other similar publications as well.

Sorry to drone on, but I can see you have a serious interest and I wanted to encourage that. I have been collecting tools for 17+ years. I have a large collection that I am proud of, but I also like to watch others get into that area of interest.

Posted 5 months ago #
MotoMike
Moderator

It is hard to beat the "Kelly Wood Slasher" monicker, but Keen Kutter aint bad either. Keen Kutter made knives and straight razors as well and I know the straights were good shavers and are sought after.

Posted 5 months ago #
risingsun
Member

There was one company that tried to ride on the successful coat tails of Keen Kutter and stamped "Knot Klipper" on their edge tools (got a double-bitted axe of theirs). Not the same panache. And I have also seen many pairs of cheapo scissors brandishing the name "Kleencut", (Keen Kutter made a huge variety of scissors). I think they fell far short of the real thing as well. In today's world, corporate lawyers would be all over that in a heartbeat.

Posted 5 months ago #
James
Class V

Keen Kutter you say? One arrived in the mail Saturday while I was headed to the river... I'll write some more about the Keen Kutter after I sharpen it to a keen edge and cut something...

We buy our gear at Amazon, NRS, Altrec or Rock Creek. If you're in St. Louis visit the Alpine Shop.

http://twitter.com/AdventureCanoe

Posted 5 months ago #
risingsun
Member

Well, it looks like you're well on your way, collector! Looks like a nice, original handle as well! (at least what we can see of it)

Posted 5 months ago #
MotoMike
Moderator

Nice looking Keen Kutter. Is it a hatchet?

Posted 5 months ago #
James
Class V

It's a classic boy scout hatchet shape, weight and size.

We buy our gear at Amazon, NRS, Altrec or Rock Creek. If you're in St. Louis visit the Alpine Shop.

http://twitter.com/AdventureCanoe

Posted 5 months ago #
James
Class V

I got a couple of packages from Sweden today... I apologize for the iPhone photo, I didn't have a camera handy. I'll post a review of these little gems as soon as I find some hapless tree.

My initial impression is that both of these axes will provide me and my children and my childrens children with many years of happy chopping.

We buy our gear at Amazon, NRS, Altrec or Rock Creek. If you're in St. Louis visit the Alpine Shop.

http://twitter.com/AdventureCanoe

Posted 3 months ago #
natecanoes
Member

Those are some beautiful choppers there James. I'm jealous.

Posted 3 months ago #

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