Axe &
Hatchet Care
An axe is a simple tool, and a looked-after one lasts for decades. Three habits do most of the work: keep the edge keen, the head tight and the blade covered.
Check the head before every use. If it moves on the handle at all, don't swing it.
Know the Parts
Five words cover everything on this page.
The Head
- Bit: the sharpened cutting edge
- Cheek: the flat side of the head behind the bit
- Poll: the blunt back of the head
The Rest
- Eye: the hole in the head that the handle fits through
- Mask: the cover that goes over the bit, also called a sheath
- A hatchet is a small axe made for one hand
Before You Swing
Thirty seconds of checking, then clear the space around you.
Check the Axe
- Grip the head and try to twist and rock it on the handle. No movement, no gap, no rattle
- Look for cracks in the handle, most of all just below the head
- Screw-together handles: tighten every joint by hand, and check again as you work
- Look along the bit for chips
Clear Your Circle
- Hold the axe out at arm's length and turn a full circle. Nothing and no one inside it, including overhead
- Chop on a wooden block, never on bare ground or rock
- With a hatchet, kneel. A miss then goes into the ground, not your leg
- Mask off only when you are ready to cut
Sharpen the Edge
Keep the shape the axe came with. You are restoring the edge, not grinding a new one.
Hold It Still
- 1 Put on gloves
- 2 Clamp the head, or rest it on a log with the bit facing away from you
- 3 Keep both hands behind the edge the whole time
File First
- 1 Lay a flat file on the bevel, the sloped strip that runs down to the edge
- 2 Push it along the bevel in one direction only, and lift it off on the way back
- 3 Count your strokes and do the same on the other side
Then the Stone
- 1 Hold a round sharpening stone flat on the bevel
- 2 Work in small circles from one end of the bit to the other
- 3 Same count on each side, coarse then fine
- 4 Test on paper or by shaving a curl off soft wood. Never on your thumb
A working axe wants an edge that is keen but sturdy. Don't thin it to a razor, or it will chip.
Rust and the Handle
Wipe it down before it goes away and the rest takes minutes a year.
The Head
- Wipe off sap and moisture, and dry it
- Rub on a thin coat of oil and wipe off the extra
- Light rust comes off with oil and fine steel wool
A Wooden Handle
- Rub in a thin coat of boiled linseed oil a couple of times a year
- Wipe off whatever has not soaked in
- Don't paint or varnish it. You need to see cracks, and a slick handle slips
Steel and Alloy Handles
- Wipe clean and dry, joints and threads included
- A little oil on the threads stops them seizing
- Replace a perished grip before it slides
Oily rags can catch fire on their own.
Cloths soaked in linseed oil heat up as they dry. Never leave one scrunched up. Hang it flat outside until it is dry and stiff, or soak it in water, before you bin it.
Store It Right
Where an axe lives decides how long the handle stays tight.
Do
- Mask on whenever it is not cutting
- Somewhere cool and dry, off a damp floor
- Out of children's reach
- Travelling: mask on and packed with your gear. See Carry and the Law
Don't
- Don't keep it next to a heater or in a hot car for weeks. Heat dries the wood and the head works loose
- Don't put it away wet in its mask
- Don't leave it stuck in a block out in the weather
- Don't hammer steel with the poll unless your axe is made for it
Built to Be Used
Axes, hatchets, shovels and the sharpeners that keep them working.
More From Know Your Gear
This guide is general information only. Always follow the instructions that came with your axe. Laws on carrying bladed tools differ between states and territories, so check the rules where you live. In a life-threatening emergency, call Triple Zero (000).