After seeing some good reviews, I bought the new Council Tools Wood-Craft Pack Axe, which came with a 23-inch haft and a pronounced and beautiful grind. It is a premium axe that Council says is designed for extreme work and play in the woods. Perfect. I live, work and play in the woods.
Mine came with a sharp, 40-degree inclusive grind to the bit. The head is made from 5160 steel hardened at both ends. Normally, that steel alloy is pretty tough stuff.
To be honest, I wasnt too impressed with the axe when I cut it out of the box. First, the bit, which is very sharp, had cut through the leather mask, as well as the vinyl protective cover. Im lucky it didnt cut its way right out of the box during transit. Council really needs a middle rivet, not just a welt, to protect the threads, but otherwise the mask is gorgeous. It's made of soft, very high quality leather and hardware.
I was also worried about the grain runout on the haft, even though the grain orientation at both the butt and head ends of the haft is vertical.
The phantom bevel had a wicked burr on the top of the phantom grind. This burr doesnt have any effect on the performance of the axe, but it seems an oversight on a premium axe.
This morning, I took my aging malamute up river. Hes having trouble making the daily 3-mile walk to the ocean, so Im cutting a nice easy trail to walk him through the woods. But first, I have to clear out the salmonberry, elderberry, downed trees, etc., from the new path. Its mostly machete work, but the downed trees and thicker branches were perfect for the new Wood-Craft axe, especially because the new trail is too far to carry my chainsaw. The morning broke under a soft, overcast sky. The rain forest, as usual, smelled sweet and wet, and I was excited to take the new axe out for its first drive and see how she's run.
Not too well.
The 23-inch handle (24 inches in the ads, but it gets cut down during hanging) is a little short. Another two inches would be much better. It didnt cut all that well, compared to my usual, heavier axes, but a light, compact axe is easier to carry.
The real problem was the edge. It both chipped and rolled pretty bad.
If you look closely, you might be able to see the burr on the top of the head in the photo below. Its big.
Im not sure where to go with this axe from here. Maybe I can put on a new 26-inch haft and grind the bit down a bit. Maybe with hand files, I can get down to good metal in short order. A copper rivet through the mask will fix that problem in a hurry.
Still, while there are a lot of nice details and some good thought put into the design, out of the box it didnt perform all that well. It would see nothing but the taillights of my vintage or Gransfors Bruks axes.
Mine came with a sharp, 40-degree inclusive grind to the bit. The head is made from 5160 steel hardened at both ends. Normally, that steel alloy is pretty tough stuff.
To be honest, I wasnt too impressed with the axe when I cut it out of the box. First, the bit, which is very sharp, had cut through the leather mask, as well as the vinyl protective cover. Im lucky it didnt cut its way right out of the box during transit. Council really needs a middle rivet, not just a welt, to protect the threads, but otherwise the mask is gorgeous. It's made of soft, very high quality leather and hardware.
I was also worried about the grain runout on the haft, even though the grain orientation at both the butt and head ends of the haft is vertical.
The phantom bevel had a wicked burr on the top of the phantom grind. This burr doesnt have any effect on the performance of the axe, but it seems an oversight on a premium axe.
This morning, I took my aging malamute up river. Hes having trouble making the daily 3-mile walk to the ocean, so Im cutting a nice easy trail to walk him through the woods. But first, I have to clear out the salmonberry, elderberry, downed trees, etc., from the new path. Its mostly machete work, but the downed trees and thicker branches were perfect for the new Wood-Craft axe, especially because the new trail is too far to carry my chainsaw. The morning broke under a soft, overcast sky. The rain forest, as usual, smelled sweet and wet, and I was excited to take the new axe out for its first drive and see how she's run.
Not too well.
The 23-inch handle (24 inches in the ads, but it gets cut down during hanging) is a little short. Another two inches would be much better. It didnt cut all that well, compared to my usual, heavier axes, but a light, compact axe is easier to carry.
The real problem was the edge. It both chipped and rolled pretty bad.
If you look closely, you might be able to see the burr on the top of the head in the photo below. Its big.
Im not sure where to go with this axe from here. Maybe I can put on a new 26-inch haft and grind the bit down a bit. Maybe with hand files, I can get down to good metal in short order. A copper rivet through the mask will fix that problem in a hurry.
Still, while there are a lot of nice details and some good thought put into the design, out of the box it didnt perform all that well. It would see nothing but the taillights of my vintage or Gransfors Bruks axes.
). He's blind now and gets like a fistful of pills and supplements to make sure his old bones are not suffering, so he maintains decent mobility but wouldn't dream to take him anywhere out of the yard. He's just as stubborn as he used to be, refusing to roll over and die. He's also a cancer survivor. I will sorely miss this old boy one day, hopefully not too soon...
