no idea why some of ya are buying machine cast mystery steel axes and hatchets.........I'll take hot hammer forged carbon steel axes and hatchets any day ........ not hating AT ALL on the Players here.....just on the cheap cast mystery pot metal axes........ .....
Hey, c'mon now, Fiskars hatchets are awesome, especially for the money. My GB Wildlife is still my favorite though.
I never liked the plastic handle but the blade seemed okay. Never really used one only played with them in the store. Many people talk highly about them though. Might be good to add a video to the thread to show it in action.
I haven't made a video myself, but there are plenty of good ones out there. Here's a destruction test of one of the larger models.
Hahaha. I hear you. You raise a very important point, especially for those of us who are mea culpa. I'll get back to you soon -- next week, hopefully -- about my motivation for purchasing a "machine cast mystery steel hatchet" instead of a top flight carving hatchet from GB. There are multiple reasons based in both experience and research. But no time today -- trying to finish up a huge video project that's going to open the door to my future -- but I'll get back to you with a thorough response. Suffice for now: I have the highest respect possible (for me) for hot hammer forged tools, especially GB. Remind me to post a link downstream to a videod speech by the man who purchased and saved GB from bankruptcy a couple of decades ago. I was deeply inspired by his story and the story of GB, and their philosophy of business and production. Still am. It motivated part of the business model for a company that I hope to start next year. And if I was a "landed" person with some money and a house of my own and not about to move across an ocean, I'd own several: WH, Kubbin, SFA and one of their carving axes. But alas, I'm not. And it just turns out that right now, that little machine cast $25 special is exactly what I need for the tasks at hand for me. But I'll get back to you later on those. Off to work.
Modern casting practices can actually turn out a quality axe, unlike in days past, but almost all axes of any price point are made by forging because it's the most cost effective method for volume production. All but the most high-end axes are made using closed-die forgings (drop forging) which is a low skill process but capable of churning out quality forgings at an astounding rate with a high degree of uniformity.
I hear ya, but i have had many hatchets and axes around job job sites and home. The cheapos ones chunked out, cracked, were hell to sharpen, the handles broke constantly. In the end after buying constant replacements, one could have bought 2 or 3 high end axes and had them for life. hatchet wise, i sold it off years ago, but i had the wee little GB micro axe, did a fantastic job of carving, fire prep, and even splitting 3" and under rounds. Ol Jimbo does a great review http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/tinyhatchets.html
I finally found me a Fiskars X5. I wanted to have a set of the Fiskars. The X15 axe, the X7 hatchet, and now the X5 small hatchet which I will use for whittling and small little tasks. It’s coming from Norway so should take a couple weeks to get here. Can’t wait.
....that is the three I have I believe (never kept up with the model numbers). The axe has done lot of work and lives behind the seat in my truck. Swings and cuts well so I can't at all complain.
Highly debatable, unless you're talking the absolute bottom of the barrel you only find off the beaten path. Most hardware store axes are tempered on the soft side, so the problem isn't that they'll chunk out, crack, or be difficult to sharpen. Rather, you're more likely to ding and roll the edge if you take it very thin, and you'll have to touch it up more often. Bad handles are something you can find just about anywhere, and when one breaks, you put a new hickory handle with good continuous grain in it with a tight fit, wedge it up good, and now you've got a good handle on it. If that handle breaks, it was you, not the tool. If anything, I see more reports of people chipping their GB's than any other kind of axe combined because of the hardness they run their bits at, and I think they may occasionally have them slip through without being quite tempered back far enough. The steel they use isn't anything spectacular or special. Just normal axe-grade steel similar to 1055, despite the mysticism they try to spin around it. They're really good axes, for sure, but they're not THAT much better performing, realistically, and hardware store-grade axes from any of the major tool companies, while not wonderful, are fully capable of being made into really pretty decent tools for the most part. They usually need the geometry tweaked and thinned out a lot, and the handle might need replacing with something better, though the factory stick usually suffices for quite a long time, but the only fault you can't fix easily is them being on the soft side. If you really wanted to you could re-heat-treat the thing harder. I like nice axes, and like to say that the wise spendthrift knows not to buy the cheapest brand of sausages, but it's important to bear in mind that cheap axes are often all most people need and will often suffice for more exacting users with the right application of elbow grease.
well, i know what i know from using the cheap ones on job sites. They simply don't hold up. They are cast garbage mystery metals with cheap fiberglass or plastic or cheap wood handles. Fiskars, rona brand, home depot brand, canadian tire brand, or wherever else we bought them from as we needed them.
Here's an interesting guide to steels that illustrates why the term "mystery steel" seems to apply. My Scaxe 10 -- arriving now on Tuesday (can't wait to get my hands on it) -- is ... 3CR13: A Chinese Stainless steel that is similar in quality to 420J2 (AUS 4) stainless steel. The following formula is a break down in the steel: Around 13% chromium and 3% carbon. It has a HRC of 52-55 making it relatively soft.
I was just curious, but what made you decide the Fiskars X7 wasn’t right for you? I thought you loved it.
420j's primary positive characteristic is that its very easy to machine and is very stainless. It's not chosen because its good. Personally I think you're better off re-handling an old head with a nice thin straight handle. but the x-7 is well designed with a nice straight, not pointlessly curvy handle that is nearly invincible, and has an ironclad warrently. The steel is soft, but easy to sharpen and repair nicks in 1/10th the time it takes to fix a GB/Wetterlings. Downsides are the fiberglass handles aren't great for shock absorption, but if you're doing a big task with a hatchet you're an idiot. And most wooden hatchet handles come twice as thick as they should be and also have vibration issues. I have always loved my wetterlings, but from a cost/performance stance it's hard to justify if you're after value.
