That's a great yarn Kronkew! Love it.
Thanks for the view of the grind Spiral. Looks like it never has been ground to do anything, the grind looks like how it left the factory. Its close to what you can see on just about any generic axe, works just OK for most things, but its essentially a backyard axe, not a specialist tool.
That convex grind would probably work OK on hardwoods as well as softwoods. The way an axe like this bites into timber is that middle of the cutting edge bites first, after that the convex sides of the grind (like on your axe) push the timber apart as the curved cutting edge opens the penetration wider. So after that first penetration the edge doesn't really touch the timber, the convex sides of the grind separate the wood. This sort of grind protects the edge and an axe ground like this doesn't need to be sharpened every time you use it, which makes it a good general purpose thing to throw in the back of the truck. This convex grind is what we call a "rolled edge", different to the "turned edge" that some call a rolled edge that happens when you hit a nail . I've also heard this edge called an "apple seed edge".
But if it were a specialist tool, the grind would be tuned to the type of timber to be cut, the grind may or may not be rolled in a convex profile to the point, and the face of the blade behind the grind would probably be relieved to a hollow grind, which helps to prevent the axe from binding in the cut.
The grind could be convex, or flat, or combinations and the grind that was used would be perfect for the timber to be cut. When I was a kid a lot of bush workers were still using axes as specialist tools, and my memory is that they used to have different axes for different jobs, and they would normally grind and sharpen their axes themselves.
The big difference between a specialist axe and a generic axe is that your ordinary heavy edge grind splits off the chips, the specialist tool slices off the chips, mostly on a 45 degree angle.
Same with saws:- if you used a saw, or saws, every day to earn your living, you set and sharpened those saws yourself, you didn't send them off to a saw doctor every time they got a bit blunt, you sat down after dinner and got your tools ready for tomorrow.
Seems things are a bit different now.
Here's a pic of three axes.
The top one is my 5 pound Plumb. It has been ground to an edge that will handle green hardwoods. Compare the difference between a professional handle and a hardware store handle, such as is on the other two lower axes. This axe went through a bushfire in 1954 and was heat treated again by a local blacksmith in Nowra.
The middle axe is a Keesteel, 4 ½ pound. This is a good axe and if properly ground would perform as well as the Plumb.
The bottom axe is a Kelly Dandenong pattern. This was a favourite farm axe and general purpose work axe for many years in Australia, this is a 4 pound axe. The design would never permit regrinding to make it a specialist tool, it’s a GP axe and must remain so.
During the 1950's the axe pictured here was used by a bloke working for my uncle to trim out felled trees. It got lost in the bush. Around about 1982 I was kicking around one of my uncle's old work sites in the bush, and I found it again.
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