Axe Sharpening

I have never been very good at sharpening an axe or a knife.  I just can't seem to hold the stone at a consistent angle.  It wasn't until I bought a Lansky precision knife sharpening kit, that I was finally able to put a really sharp edge on my knives.  The Lansky system is basically a jig that holds the stone at a consistent angle while you are sharpening your knife.


I decided to make a jig to do the same thing for an axe.  The first problem was figuring out what angle to go with.  I consulted the websites of two high-end Swedish axe makers:  Gransfors Bruk and Hults Bruk.  The former recommended an angle of 25-30 deg.  The latter recommended 20-25 deg.  I settled on 25 deg.  Keep in mind that I'm going for a carving axe or carpentry axe for rustic woodworking and general camp use.  There are different angles and profiles used for felling and splitting axes that I'm not going to go into.

My Axe Sharpening System

I used a 6x10" scrap of 7/16" OSB for the base of my sharpening jig.  There is a 1x1" cleat screwed to the bottom so you can clamp it into a bench vise.

Side view of axe sharpening jig.

Top view of axe sharpening jig.

The back fence of the jig sits 5-1/4" back from the front of the jig, because my axe (handaxe) has a head that is 5-1/4" long.  The 2 screws sticking up on the top of the fence guide the dowel that is connected to the file or stone.  The 2 small scraps of 1/4" plywood next to the fence keep the axe head from shifting.  The larger scrap of plywood helps keep the axe head level.

1/4" hardwood dowels are zip tied to the file and the sharpening stone.  Because the sharpening stone is 7/8" thick, and the file is only 1/8" thick, a 3/4" strip of plywood is used to make up the difference.  This way, you get the same sharpening angle with both.


The crucial measurement on the jig is the height of the fence, which determines the sharpening angle.  I played around with an online triangle calculator, and figured out that a right triangle that has a height that is exactly half the length of its base, has an angle of 26.565 deg.  That is close enough to my desired sharpening angle of 25 deg.  Since my axe head is 5-1/4" long, half of that is 2-5/8".  However, I have to add 1/2" the width of the axe at the butt and the width of the sharpening stone.  My axe butt is 1" thick.  The sharpening stone (or file/plywood) is 7/8" thick.  So my fence has to be:

1/2 axe thickness + 1/2 axe length + thickness of sharpening stone

1/2" + 2-5/8" + 7/8" = 4/8" + 21/8" + 7/8" = 32/8" = 4"

I know that is confusing, so I made a diagram:


If you try to make this contraption, keep in mind that it must be sized to fit your axe.  If you want a different angle, you can use the triangle calculator to figure it out.

Below is the axe sharpening jig in action.  The jig is clamped into a bench vise and the axe head is clamped to the jig with an Irwin "Quick-Grip" bar clamp.


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My axe is now sharp enough to slice paper!

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