When making your choice, it is important to decide what the axe will be used for. Will it be used for chopping wood, in the forest, or to make a log house? The axe is one of mankind’s oldest tools and therefore comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes.
Gränsfors Bruk’s current line of axes and tools can be grouped into three main categories: Forest, Splitting, and Log-building + Carpentry
Gränsfors Forestry Axes are made to be used in the forest for everything from felling large trees to limbing small logs. The distinguishing feature of Forestry Axes is a long, rounded edge, with a flat elongated axe head.
Forestry Axes are specially designed to cut across the grain of the wood fibers, for example when felling and limbing, in contrast to log splitting, where the axe goes along the grain of the wood fibers.
The various Forestry Axes are designed to suit a specific function, and many of the models have been developed in collaboration with specialists and professionals. Hunters, forest workers, fishermen, hikers and survival experts have all had their input into the product development of these axes.
Gränsfors Forestry Axes come in different sizes, with a range of axe heads and handle. The smallest, the Gränsfors Mini Hatchet, is only 26 cm long and weighs 0.3 kg. This axe can almost be used as a filleting knife, as it has an extremely thin edge.
The largest, the American Felling axe, is 90 cm long and weighs in at 2.2 kg. This is used to fell really big trees. The choice of Forestry Axe depends entirely on what you want to use it for.
- Long, rounded cutting edge
- Flat, elongated head – This design ensures a multifunctional tool ideal for various tasks such as limbing, chopping kindling, and felling trees.
- Poll/Butt NOT designed for striking/hammering
- Designed to chop wood across the grain (Felling a tree, limbing branches)
Gränsfors Splitting Axes are specially crafted to split wood. The axes have a large and heavy head that is forged and ground into a concave shape with a relatively thin edge. The axes are made to chop along the grain of the wood fibers, in contrast to Forestry Axes, which are made to cut across the grain of the wood fibers.
The concave shape of the Splitting Axes ensures that the edge goes quickly and easily into the wood and then effectively splits it as the broader section pushes apart the wood. Its unique design also means that the axe head does not stick as easily in the wood, as would happen with a slimmer axe head.
When splitting wood, the handle is put under great strain at the axe head, as the handle can easily hit the log being split. All Gränsfors Splitting Axes come with a metal collar to protect the handle. The handle is also grooved towards the end for an extra firm grip.
The Gränsfors Splitting Axes come in four sizes: the Splitting Hatchet, the Small Splitting Axe, the Large Splitting Axe and the Splitting Maul. There is also a Splitting Wedge for use with the Splitting Maul. The three smaller axes are all similar in design, differing only in the weight of the head and the length of the handle. The head of the Splitting Maul has a different shape, with a rather longer and heavier poll with beveled corners.
- Large, heavy, pronouced wedge-shaped head
- Forged and ground into a concave shape with a relatively thin edge -This design allows the axe to easily penetrate and effectively split the log as the broader section of axe head pushes apart the wood.
- Poll/Butt NOT designed for striking/hammering – Exception to this is the Splitting Maul that has a tempered poll designed for hammering a steel wedge
- Designed to split along the grain, parallel to the wood fibers (splitting small pieces to large rounds for firewood)
Log Building & Carpentry Tools
Gränsfors Log Building and Carpentry Tools have been specially developed for use in log house building, carpentry and wood sculpting. These axes and tools have been designed in collaboration with expert woodsmen and carpenters.
Traditional tools have provided a template for the models that Gränsfors Bruk now produces, but they have been modified and developed in partnership with specialists and professionals to meet the demands of today’s users.
Each type of axe is designed for a specific function, hence the considerable variation in axe head design, grind and handles.
- Used for more refined wood splitting such as creating shingles for a home.
- Primarily used for debarking and shaping logs.
Small and Large Carving Hatchet, Large Carving Axe
- Used for a variety of carving projects including crafting something as small as a spoon or as large as a chair.
- Designed for hewing sills and notches in joints.
- With 9 different configurations, the 1900 model broad axes have a traditional design suitable for squaring logs and planks.
- Used in traditional woodwork, joinery, and log home building. Our design allows a comfortable grip for more the more detailed work and has a poll designed for use as a hammer.