Swedish eye candy (a little off-topic)

[Mike Fairleigh]

What must a person have to go with his new Swedish Tormek sharpening system?  A pair of hand-made Swedish axes, of course!

These are the Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe and Wildlife Hatchet.









These come hair-shaving sharp out of the box, however the hatchet had two small nicks in the edge.  I was hesitant to go after them with the Tormek since I'm still working on getting the hang of hand work on the Tormek (I don't have the axe jig and am not sure that's the best way to go anyway).  But, I steeled myself and went for it very gently and slowly on the fine graded wheel, and couldn't be happier with the results after honing.  I'll probably do most future sharpening of these with a hand stone but we'll see.  By the way, my over-oiled honing wheel is really settling down now and working better than it ever has.

Here's an interesting video for anyone not familiar with the brand:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E89nlVmPeeU

[Jimmy Russells]

Very nice!!! I want one of their hatchets but for now I only have this one from Suomi.







Also if anyone wants a Swedish hatchet for around teh cost of a jig theres this.

http://www.husqvarna.com/us/accessories/tools/forest-tools/hatchet/

[Mike Fairleigh]

Absolutely nothing wrong with a Fiskars!  Just two different worlds - old vs. new.  Both incredible tools.

[Ken S]

I found this earlier this week, and thought you might find it interesting.  Peter Follansbee works at Plimouth Plantation and works in the seventeenth century woodworking manner, which includes using hatchets.

http://blog.lostartpress.com/2012/07/23/peter-follansbee-on-hatchets/

Ken

[Mike Fairleigh]

Thank you Ken, yes, Peter is da man where stuff like this is concerned.  I considered Wetterlings, especially since I enjoy supporting Lie-Nielsen (been a customer of theirs since their earliest days).  In the end, I went with GB but Wetterlings would be their equal or very close to it IMO.