Beavercraft AX1 Compact "Crafting" Hatchet
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2023
- Beavercraft AX1 Compact Hatchet beavercrafttools.com/MARKYOUNG
bit.ly/48EubnN
Specifications
Total length 11.81” / 300 mm
Material 1066 carbon steel Zone Hardened 56-58HRC
Head 5.51” / 140 mm (bit to poll)
Weight 21.16oz / 600g (head weight)
Edge 2.95” / 75 mm (heel to toe)
Head thickness 1.2” / 30mm
Handle length 9.49” / 240 mm
Handle material Ash
Sheath material leather
Key Features
hand-forged
made in Ukraine
Thanks for another great comparison, Mark. It would be nice if Beavercraft sold the hatchet head alone for those who prefer a different handle design. This could reduce size and cost for shipping also.
That would work out great for me as I have a Wetterlings handle I could have put it on. Thanks for commenting
Thanks for sharing about this neat little camp axe, it seems half decent with only a few minor imperfections. 👍Take care and Cheers!
It would be a real winner with a better handle. Thanks for commenting
I like this hatchet !
Thanks for commenting
I own the Beaver Craft hatchet and its great. Just as good as a Gransfors Bruk wildlife hatchet in my opinion
Quality is on par. my only complaint is handle design. Thanks for commenting
Great review
Thanks for commenting
Good review Mark, thanks for sharing, God bless !
Thanks, you too!
Very nice
Thanks for commenting
Thanks For Your Demo & Thoughts On This Budget Axe ! Hoping You & Yours Have A Safe & Happy Thanksgiving Mark ! ATB T God Bless
Same to you Terry. Thanks for commenting
Juat found you, glad to learn from you
Thanks for your kind words
Awsome Review, helped me big Times :)
Glad I could help! Thanks for commenting
I gave you like because of the Wetterlings axe. I own Wetterlings large hunting axe I believe it was called. Very good small/medium sized axe, excellent for short term camping.
Thanks for commenting
@@MarkYoungBushcraft You are welcome.
My thoughts where immediately ,looks like a GB axe.
Great review Mark
Similar head but the handle could be better. Thanks for commenting Steve
Terrific, informative video. I have the same Wetterlings hatchet and a GB Mini, #410. The Wetterlings, fat cheeks, is a great splitter. The GB Mini, slim profile, can do bushcraft knife
tasks plus chop effectively. Also works for food prep, if a kitchen knife is absent. At 10+ inches and 13 ounces, it's a very conveniently sized versatile tool. However, the Beavercraft price may well trump all of the others' features. Just wrap or replace the handle as you like. I also have a mini carving hatchet, shipped from Kharkiv Forge, Ukraine, (via Etsy, before the war.) Hand forged, excellent design and quality, about $115, US. Just fyi. Again...great video.
I agree, I am considering replacing the handle as the head is very well made. Thanks for commenting
@ 5:01 - mine just came from Amazon, and its dull as old paint. Going to take some work to get it sharp enough to use.
Thanks for commenting
Looks like a very handy little hatchet… and the price is very reasonable
I is not bad but could use a better haft. Thanks for commenting Alex
I believe buying a hatchet you see experienced users own they use every day helped me make better choices. If you find one style of tool you become accustomed using likely, you will like others as well. The handle length is one thing to think about, short more control long less control. Most carpenter hammers have 11 to 14½ length handles. I drove a ton of nails with a 16-ounce hammer with a 12-inch straight handle. That is a good length to try first in a hatchet too. If you can drive a nail with two swings you can hit what you intend with a hatchet too.
Thin hatchet blades are better than wide ones for chopping soft or green wood. If you try swinging a hammer all day and not let the weight of the hammer, do the work. Your arm will wear out and feel like it wants to fall off.
If the blade sticks, and you have to force it loose don’t swing so hard, two swings should take out a chunk of wood. The size of the log tells you the size of the cut you need to make. The cut should be no wider than the log is wide. Moreover, narrower is always better than wider. You can be the smartest woodchopper in the woods or the strongest woodchopper in the woods. You get to decide which you want to be. 🤔 Fun video, enjoyed watching.🙂
All good points. Thanks for sharing
With a small amount of modification the beavercraft can be a great little hatchet. Fix the grind, either paracord the handle or just replace it. In fact i was thinking of just getting the beavercraft hatchet and replacing the handle right off the bat. Would still be much cheaper than the granforce bruks and unless you really looked at it you wouldnt tell the difference.
I agree. The forged head is equal to the GB ones. All it needs is a bit or reprofiling and a better handle and it would be near perfect. I like that it is a bit heavier than than the GB as well. Thanks for commenting
Apples and oranges, Mark.
Pretty much. Thanks for commenting
Maybe the handle shape is to accommodate the included holster? EZ entry yet less movement when nesting holstered.
~ I got such a holster for my Hultafors mini hatchet, which has a swell at the end of handle.
It takes a bit of wiggle to set in and deploy at the end of handle. It nests ok with a tad bit of wiggle room..so it is sized proper. (I had options)
~ I like the holstered hatchet, it counter weights the leather hip belt worn Westen Bowie.
~~ Not to AD/name drop for them; If you'd like a nice holster for your hatchet, I got mine from ROG (R.O.G.)..methinks are out of Oregon. ~ Nice stuff. Awesome thick dark dyed leather, with four beauty brass rivets.
Great folks as well. They even modified me a holster which are methinks stock items to choose from.
After a couple emails trying to explain/deciphering my poor grammer what I wanted. They made one with an inch longer belt loop for more Flip Up dangle in case I catch it on a branch clowning around off trails.
...I'll be damned. They didn't charge me extra for the mod.
tips me hat ~
I guess I missed Wt. of the head. And it's not in the specs below.
You could be correct, although I would think they would size the holster to the axe and not the other way around. I missed adding the weight but have updated it (600g head weight). Thanks for picking that up
I am a big fan of hatchets and axes for that matter and this one from Beavercraft looks alright for sure, but it doesn't look that much better than my 9$ Task hatchet that I picked up at my local Home Hardware to justify the cost. Would it be a nice gift? Sure. I just wouldn't be able to justify the price to go ordering one. You know me though, I'm cheap right to my core and I think my experience level may not allow me to appreciate a more expensive/higher quality hatchet. Perhaps someday. For now though ole el cheapo rules for me haha. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this hatchet Mark, I enjoyed watching.
I have used (and still do) cheaper hatchets I bought at hardware store like Kent. They work well enough even if I have to sharpen them a bit more often. What is nice about them is I don't mind modifying them to improve their performance. Thanks for commenting Steve
very few people mention grain run out... which in my opinion is as important as grain orientation (if not more important, depending on the axe tasks) and more important in a small axe (hatchet)... i have the beavercraft hatchet and my grain is almost completely horizontal ... thank you
Yes, I should have talked about run-out as well. This one was not too bad but I have seen better as well. Thanks for commenting
I agree with your critique of the Beavercraft axe...The shape of the handle end severely limits its function. Granted the other issues are fixable but why bother?
At the current price of USD $73. it is les than bargain. Another $50 or $60 should be able to get you into a good Swedish axe that will probably last a lifetime , or maybe two.
Enjoyed your review.
I would go for the Swedish axes as well. For us in Canada, a new GB Wildlife Hatchet goes for over $200.00. Of course, there are other hatchets that are also very good at less cost. Even the basic Council Tool axes are less than $100.00. Thanks for commenting
G'day Mark, yeah .... the handle ; ( ...... otherwise it's quite good I reckon.
I certainly wouldn't call it a budget job though; it'd be around 200 AUD, (with re-handling), i.e. a new good quality handle, timber and metal wedges. Not that's it's difficult, but still, + the effort to do so.
Since Gransfors are going for 230 AUD, if you put a price on ones time, they're pretty much the same moolah, ... here anyway.
Incidentally, how do you feel about the ol' Fiskars X7 ? .... yes far from traditional, ..... but bombproof !!!
I paid 60 knicker AUD, 10+ years ago, .... same store 85 AUD now, but still a bargain IMO and if I remember rightly, they work out even cheaper in the states. Cheers Duke.
The Fiskars X7 was my first purchase and still going strong. I went through a number of cheaper hatchets in my early years. I am planning on a show and tell video for them. Thanks for commenting Duke
❤ hello from British Columbia Canada
I am wondering if the handle is quarter sawn on purpose???
Preferred for back and tops of musical instruments mandolin guitar etc. RosaStringworks
I expect not. I think it is a matter of economics. Rather than sorting through all the wood to get the best grain and throwing out the rest. The grain orientation does not bother me on a hatchet anyway. I would be more concerned with how it was fitted to the eye and this one is fine. Thanks for commenting
In the wooden boat building world, quarter sawn refers to quartering the log before sawing the boards, the grain orientation thus varies between 45 degrees and vertical. The full range of quarter sawn is used for most planking and timbers. The selected out vertical grain is used for deck planking as it wears more slowly and evenly.
A log that is sawn from the round, of course, runs the gamut from flat grain to 45 degrees to vertical with less wastage, wider planks and is easier to saw.
Do I understand that luthiers prefer the 45 degree orientation? Is this for reasons of sound or grain beauty? Or is it less prone to split when worked down to very thin stock? I can see that that might well be the case and make a quite noticeable difference. We don't go that thin!
@@ianbruce6515 Jerry Rosa, 40yrs luthier always talks about quarter sawn for instrument building. In many videos.
❤😂 i thrifted a spoon carving tool
Thanks for commenting
👍
Thanks for commenting
Do not like that handle design at all. You would want to use a lanyard just to ensure it did not go flying due to the lack of a pommel. Would much rather it had the handle shape of the GFB Hand/Wildlife Hatchet.
Cheers for the video!
I just modified the handle as I mentioned plus made more of a hook on the knob. It helped a lot but I think a better handle is still needed. Thanks for commenting
I never understood why any axe would cost as much as some do. Having a better profile doesn’t, as far as I know, cost any more. It’s still a piece of fairly average steel and wood. I know there are some that are hand forged with two different steels , for example, and that would cost way more, but for the vast majority? The only difference I can think of is they come from companies that don’t put in the effort to actually know the product, and just make it look good.
I’d be interested to know if you’ve ever come across a well designed axe that didn’t have a bunch of things to fix, and didn’t cost too much.
Hi Jim. I am testing two from a German company right now that work great right out of the box. Not bargain brand but not anywhere the cost of some of the more popular. Thanks for commenting
@@MarkYoungBushcraft I’ll look forward to seeing those reviews. I’m actually thinking of getting a good hatchet this year. As for my question of why expensive axes are expensive, I know they often come from countries with higher salaries and expenses, and also because things often cost what the market will support. In other words charge as much as people will pay. Go look at what it costs in pesos, and more often than not, I’ll be half the price for the same thing in a poorer country.
Oh, the grain mythology again. Yes, he did concede that it doesn't make a difference in a hand ax. But then he contributed to the vertical grain hysteria. We should make a rule that grain orientation may only be addressed by those who can first hold up an unabused, well maintained ax whose half just all the sudden failed on them solely due to grain orientation. (Runout? That's a whole different animal. Every woodworker has experienced failures in wood with severe runout). Grain orientatiion? Viral myth, more or less, perpetuated by people with no personal experience of such a failure. UA-camrs repeating other UA-camrs... But as for Beaver Craft in general, and this ax in particular, I bought one of these as my new hunting companion -- and then enjoyed it so much, I bought a second one to give to my son, for the same reason. Handle still bothers me, but no problem, really. I gave him an explanation that the uniqueness of this ax is because it was created on a lark by a company that doesn't make axes. Sort of gave the middle finger to the Swedes: "Yes, we can do that, too." Good steel. Nice manufacturing. But no understanding of haft features or the ax head geometry they were mimicking. Nevertheless, an interesting one-off from a carving tools manufacturer. It is my hunting ax. Clears shooting lanes okay, and no problems making small campfires; but mainly, it doesn't take up much room in my bag and is just wonderful at splitting deer pelvises during field dressing.
Interesting thought on grain orientation. Thanks for commenting