polaski sharpen

[abs111999]

what makes for a good sharpening on a pulaski?? it cant be razor or it will chip. but it has to have an edge,no?

 

[Ax-man]

If you have an angle grinder with one of those thin 1/8 th to 1/16 th cut off wheels will do a nice job. I have been using those to sharpen mower blades with good results . It doesn't remove metal as fast as a regular grinding wheel and you have more control and a nicer more even finish. Sometimes I use the regular wheel first then finish with the cut off wheel.

A true axe enthusiast will do it old fashion way with a pedal powered grinding stone some good files and special made axe stones to put on a final edge and an ax gauge for the correct angle for the axe part or just use a protractor like I do. The axe head should be sharper than the grub tool . About any good edge will do for the grub end. I sharpen all my tools that only need one side sharpened about 30 degrees . An axe head of course has two angles which is why there are axe sharpening gauges out there . I don't have one but there is a knack to get a good edge on an axe that won't chip or put an ding in the edge until you hit something other than wood.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

A cut off wheel is not to be used as a grinding wheel.

 

[Ax-man]

That is what I thought but gave it a try one day just to see if it could done and it surprised me how well it worked putting an edge on a mower blade . I wouldn't use it to grind a weld or clean up rusty metal or any of the other things you would use a regular grinding wheel for.

 

[NSEric]

Cut off wheels blow up pretty easy when used as grinding wheels, they work good until they fly apart lol.
I use surface prep wheels for sharpening axes, they do a even better job than cut off wheels. They come in different grits, start with a coarse one and end with a fine one and you will get a pretty good edge with very little effort, it also doesn't get the axe hot enough to hurt the temper like a grinding wheel does.

 

[Ax-man]

Are those surface prep wheels the same thing as what I would call a flap wheel sanding disc . Haven't tried those yet for sharpening anything only polishing metal and smoothing welds .

 

[NSEric]

They look like this. You can get them for grinders or drills, I have both.

 

[Ax-man]

Very similar but not quite the same as what I was thinking of. The ones I am referring have a bit more abrasive grit from 40 to 120 grit for either wood or metal with the most common being in the 60 to 80 grit depending on availability. Those look like they are for doing a final finish after you use the abrasive stuff. I use basically the same thing . The bigger ones for the angle grinder and the smaller ones for a die grinder.

 

[ATH]

You can get a pulaski pretty darn sharp with a good file. Touch it up as you go. You want the ax side pretty sharp. Not razor sharp...if you need an ax, you need an ax, not a pulaski. The digging side, just keep it "not blunt" - I don't aim to sharpen that to the point I'd call it "sharp".

"Down time" on the fire line was always a good time to pull out the file and fix the edge.