Sharpening kit for axes, hatchets

[mkepke]

Looking for recommendations on field-sharpening kit for axes and hatchets. The twist here is this will be for a Boy Scout Troop so will be put through rough handling by inexperienced hands.

This Sharpal puck sharpener caught my eye. I like that it has integral finger protection of a type and is designed to be run dry (thus avoiding the complications of keeping oil on hand and the mess/rust with water). Also 220 and 600 grit.

Amazon.com

I'm thinking we'll skip including a file since inexperienced hands can really screw up an edge with a file, and the file itself is easily damaged. (If an axe gets bad enough it needs re-profiling, we'll just send it home with someone so equipped).

Open to other ideas and recommendations.

Thanks,
-Mark

 

[Mike Davis]

If the plastic gets warped or heat distorted you should be able to make a good wood substitute.
And it's cheap enough.
Go for it.

 

[tvrgeek]

I shudder at thinking about Boy Scouts loose in the woods with an axe. Yea, we did. Later when I spent a lot of time in the Rockies, I learned how to leave a much lighter footprint. Lighter backpack too. My hatchet moved into my woodshop, never to hit the trail again. Axes, camp-fires etc should be a thing of the past. We should be teaching far less invasive wordsmanship. Now, teaching how to use them and such, all for it in a backyard meeting. Not in the woods.

That puck seems OK, but I sharpen much finer than 600.

 

[mkepke]

Hmm..sounds like you aren’t aware of current Boy Scout policies. Suffice it to say we’re talking chopping and (mostly) splitting deadfall or semi-processed firewood whether rounds,splits, kindling, etc.

Anyways, back to sharpening things…

-Mark

 

[bob vaughan]

That looks to be the perfect accessory for the backpack and a great thing to pass around at the campfire. Probably not as quick as a file, but a file should be used on a clamped down axe and clamps in the woods are hard to come by.

 

[mgreene93]

I shudder at thinking about Boy Scouts loose in the woods with an axe. Yea, we did. Later when I spent a lot of time in the Rockies, I learned how to leave a much lighter footprint. Lighter backpack too. My hatchet moved into my woodshop, never to hit the trail again. Axes, camp-fires etc should be a thing of the past. We should be teaching far less invasive wordsmanship. Now, teaching how to use them and such, all for it in a backyard meeting. Not in the woods.

That puck seems OK, but I sharpen much finer than 600.

Huh? Why should axes and campfires be a thing of the past? Chainsaws are much faster, but axes are more exercise.

 

[HITCH-]

Here is another option.
I use a sharpener like this on kitchen knives.
Looks like the reviews are very positive.

Smith’s 50582 Axe & Machete Sharpener - Axe, Machete, Hatchet, & Mower Tools - Large Handle w/ Finger Guard - Handheld Manual - Replaceable Carbide Blades - Wire-Bristled Cleaning Brush - Durable https://a.co/d/2VFiwTk

 

[tvrgeek]

Here is another option.
I use a sharpener like this on kitchen knives.
Looks like the reviews are very positive.

Smith’s 50582 Axe & Machete Sharpener - Axe, Machete, Hatchet, & Mower Tools - Large Handle w/ Finger Guard - Handheld Manual - Replaceable Carbide Blades - Wire-Bristled Cleaning Brush - Durable Amazon.com

On KITCHEN? You saw your food, not slice it? I sharpen my kitchen knives to less than 200 BESS. 8000 and strop. Keep strait with a Dexter smooth steel. None of those grooved, diamond, ceramic rods that dull the edge and gasp, what damage those V grove things do to a knife. I would not to that to a Wal-Mart bargain bin one. If you think that is sharp, drop by and find out what an actual sharp kitchen knife works like.

 

[Mike Davis]

Here is another option.
I use a sharpener like this on kitchen knives.
Looks like the reviews are very positive.

Smith’s 50582 Axe & Machete Sharpener - Axe, Machete, Hatchet, & Mower Tools - Large Handle w/ Finger Guard - Handheld Manual - Replaceable Carbide Blades - Wire-Bristled Cleaning Brush - Durable https://a.co/d/2VFiwTk

Absolute worst, please learn to use a flat stone or diamond plate.

 

[tvrgeek]

Huh? Why should axes and campfires be a thing of the past? Chainsaws are much faster, but axes are more exercise.

I learned to leave a smaller footprint to protect our woods so Scouts in the next generation will still have them to enjoy and we woodworkers will have wood to work.
Additionally, when hiking around 13,000 feet, your brain makes interesting questions, like how heavy is the sweat in your shoelaces? ( Oxygen debt) Cary a couple pounds of an ax? No way. Make big cooking fires? Too much work. Save the weight for water and gorp, and sausage.

Most important lesson they never taught in BS: COTTON KILLS. Our troop was jinxed. Always rained. We became experts at 33 degree rain camping. In those days, we only had wool and silk. Now affordable synthetics.