Thread: Wilderness Axes - hand made from the Urals - Siberia

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Watching with interest...which one did you buy?? and how much did it cost you?? maybe someone will want it for fancy paperweight...or novelty factor.

Finnish mini, near the top of the price range at the start of this thread. I wrote up an email summary for Sarvo to send back to the factory, but the whole Russia/Ukraine thing was well underway by then so not much could be done. Here's the summary, I'll see if I can post some photos later.

Short version - the steel is dead soft. Either missed hardening entirely or they had a material mix up and it's unhardenable (low carbon).

Long version:
I purchased my axe in October 2021. Fit and finish were excellent.
The axe has had very little use since then. After using it a few times I suspected the steel might be soft (minor edge damage and surprisingly easy to sharpen with a file), but it didn't cause a problem for the small bit of chopping and splitting I did on soft wood.
Last week I needed to chop a green (live) tree root about 40mm in diameter. I used less than ten one-handed strikes of moderate strength. The edge was severely damaged as per the attached photos. I can confirm I hit no stones or other hard objects; the edge simply rolled over when it hit the wood and I expect the following strikes bent it further. I used a different (much cheaper) hatchet to finish the job without issue.
The damaged area is bent, not cracked as would be expected for hardened steel.
I used a rebound-type (Leeb) hardness tester to measure the axe hardness. Due to the shape it is difficult to get an accurate reading, but it appears to be well below 40 Rockwell C near the edge. Perhaps even much lower.
I tested the metal of the axe edge using two other materials of known hardness. One was a Victorinox kitchen knife I tested at 55 Rockwell C - this easily cut shavings from the axe steel near the edge. The second was a stainless steel butter knife of 46 Rockwell C - this also easily marked the axe steel near the edge. I have not tried even softer materials. These knives did not mark another axe I have from a different manufacturer.

well that sucks..MAYBE one of our knife guys might be able to remove headfrom handle and give it the heat treatment required??

Jeeze, I've eaten icecreams harder than that!

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

well that sucks..MAYBE one of our knife guys might be able to remove headfrom handle and give it the heat treatment required??

Yeah, one day I might try it myself. I'll see if I can test what steel it is first, next time I have access to the gear at work.

For now I use the hatchet I got at Bunnings - less than $10 and (sadly) a much more useful tool. Actually I've realised a really good hatchet is wasted on me - I like good tools but a hatchet is something I want to be able to abuse when needed without worrying. Something I never did with this. A good axe is a different story though.

Tried a spark test on it? That should tell you what it is steel wise and all you need is a grinder. As far as the ding, tap it with a hammer on a block of wood and straighten it back out panel beater style. If it passes the spark test - for heat treating, wrap the handle/head area with a rag and wet it thoroughly. Keep a bottle of water to keep it wet (a heat stop effectively) and with an oxy/acetylene torch or maybe oxy/lpg heat the edge back about 40mm to red and quench in used engine oil. Polish back to clean and reheat to tempering temp and bury in sand to cool it slowly and if it will harden and temper that will do it...

A spark test is a good idea, but reheat-treating will have to wait until I've got my little workshop set up again. I know what steel it's supposed to be (Russian equivalent of 52100 bearing steel) so if it sparks like high carbon then I can assume it's that for temps etc. Thanks for laying out the process - all good info.