Fiskars axe production details

[Steve Tall]

(From a 2011 report)

Fiskars axe head material:
Steel rods supplied by OVAKO.
Carbon steel, with 0.4-0.6% C.

C 0.42-0.50 %
Si 0.15-0.40 %
Mn 0.50-0.80 %
P max 0.030%
S max 0.035 %

Description of heat treatment:

Heated to 850-1000C for forging.
After forging, head quenched rapidly in liquid.
Then stress relief in 440C furnace for 5 hours.
Resulting hardness at this stage is 43 HRC.
Then bit (edge)portion of head is hardened,
by first heating for about 30 seconds using induction coils,
then quenching the bit with a spray of water/glycol for 10 seconds
(at which point the hardness is about 61 HRC),
then tempering by heating with an induction coil to somewhere between 200-400C
and left to cool at room temperature.
The resulting hardness should be around 55 HRC.


Source:
All of this information comes from a thesis published online from 2011 titled "Induction Quench Hardening of Carbon Steel Axe Blades", by Henrik Lund, Arcada University, Finland.
The full report is available at this site:
http://publications.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/35302/Lund_Henrik.pdf?sequence=1

Details are given for the remaining production steps, the effects of grinding, and adjustments made to the process described above. Also included is information about hardness testing and induction heating.

 

[KingKoma]

Thank you. This should help straighten out some of my question marks regarding the production process.

 

[Ernest DuBois]

My favorite axe is from Billnäs Bruks. Part of the reason I favor it is the quality of the steel laminated blade. It takes a keen edge, holds it long enough, and is not overly burdensome to restore the edge. When Fiskars took over the Billnäs forge they dumped the old forging machines out in the front of the factory where they sat last time I went by there. I think the Fiskar axe is probably an extension of this mentality. Oh, but I'm just a sentimental kind of old wood chopper.

E.DB.

 

[chuxwan]

My favorite axe is from Billnäs Bruks. Part of the reason I favor it is the quality of the steel laminated blade. It takes a keen edge, holds it long enough, and is not overly burdensome to restore the edge. When Fiskars took over the Billnäs forge they dumped the old forging machines out in the front of the factory where they sat last time I went by there. I think the Fiskar axe is probably an extension of this mentality. Oh, but I'm just a sentimental kind of old wood chopper.

E.DB.

Wood chopping should involve a great deal of sentiment, as should tool-making.


I also was curious about the process so thanks for posting.