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How to sharpen an axe

Updated: 22 October 2026

You have a sound hatchet and a puck on the bench, and you want the edge to bite kindling without grinding the bit into a new shape. How to sharpen an axe, here, means matching the bevel that is already there, working both sides equally, and stopping when the damage needs a file. The Fiskars slot stays on the [Fiskars Xsharp](/hub/forestry-tools/ax-sharpener/sub/ax-sharpener-fiskars-xsharp) page. The [ax sharpener comparison](/hub/forestry-tools/ax-sharpener) is where the listings sit. Peter F. drew this from public guides on 21 October 2026. This is not a laboratory test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have a sound hatchet and a puck on the bench, and you want the edge to bite kindling without grinding the bit into a new shape.

Our top picks

Lansky Lansky Sharpeners The Puck dual grit sharpener

Best overall

Lansky Lansky Sharpeners The Puck dual grit sharpener
9.2/10about £11.33
View offer
Bacher Bacher axe sharpening stone puck 120/600

Rank 2

Bacher Bacher axe sharpening stone puck 120/600
9.0/10about £15.99
View offer
Fiskars Fiskars Axe and Knife Sharpener

Best value

Fiskars Fiskars Axe and Knife Sharpener
8.4/10about £9.07
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Check the head before you cut steel
  2. 2.Hold the angle you already have
  3. 3.Small circles, coarse then fine
  4. 4.Raise the burr, then stop

Check the head before you cut steel

Look at the haft and the eye before you take steel off. A loose head, a crack in the handle, or a wedge that has walked out is a reason to stop. Sharpening will not make that axe safe to swing. Sheath the bit when you set the tool down. Lansky’s puck guide tells you to keep your fingers behind the face of the stone, and the glove belongs on the stone hand. Conservation Handbooks keeps major sharpening for the workshop and leaves the wood for a touch-up. If the axe is work equipment, HSE expects a trained user. That does not apply to a Sunday garden hatchet.

Hold the angle you already have

Mark the bevel with a felt-tip. If the ink disappears only at the shoulder, you are lifting the spine. If it disappears only in a hairline at the edge, you are steepening the bit, which Conservation Handbooks names as a way to hurry and ruin the geometry. You want the ink to clear across the bevel you started with, on both sides. Do not adopt one published number as the angle of every axe. Gränsfors draws carving tools at about 25–30 degrees and says keep the original shape. Knivesandtools.co.uk teaches about 30 degrees a side. Published Fiskars figures disagree, and a South Africa page is not the UK listing. A flat cheek should leave flat. A convex bit should leave convex. If you cannot see a bevel to follow, stop.
Lansky Lansky Sharpeners The Puck dual grit sharpener

Testsieger

Lansky Lansky Sharpeners The Puck dual grit sharpener
9.2/10about £11.33
View offer

Small circles, coarse then fine

Move the puck in small circles along the bevel. Conservation Handbooks describes that habit and tells you to follow the taper already there. Long strokes on a palm puck tend to rock the wrist and cut a new facet. Count roughly the same work on each side. Coarse comes first only when there is a nick. Lansky’s guide uses the coarse face for nicks. A merely dull edge stays on the fine face. Bacher allows a water soak of about five minutes, honing oil, or dry use. The SHARPAL 121N and the Deruilong stone are dry. Wipe slurry off before you switch grit. One DDF reviewer reported 10 to 15 minutes on a chipped Fiskars.

Raise the burr, then stop

A wire edge is the thin flap of steel that folds to one side when you have cut through. Raise that burr from both sides with the fine face, then strop it away from the edge, as Gränsfors describes. If you use a bench grinder, cool the steel. Blue colour on the edge means the temper has been drawn. Sight the edge, or cut a dry shaving from scrap. Stop and pick up a file when a chip remains as a missing piece. That hand-off is axe puck vs file. Choosing the stone is the buying guide.

Common questions

What angle do I use?
Use the bevel already on the axe. Mark it, and keep the stone on that ink until both sides clear the same way. Gränsfors talks about 25–30 degrees for carving and says keep the original shape. Knivesandtools.co.uk teaches about 30 degrees a side. Fiskars sources have said 30 degrees, 42.6 degrees included, and a 20/40 pair. None of those is a universal axe angle.
Circles or long strokes?
Use small circles with a palm puck, and keep the same count on both sides. Conservation Handbooks describes circles that follow the existing taper. Long strokes suit a flat plate better, where the wrist is less likely to rock a new facet into a curved bit. If the marker vanishes in a stripe narrower than the old bevel, reset.
Water, oil, or dry?
Follow the listing you are holding. Bacher allows a water soak of about five minutes, honing oil, or dry use. Lansky allows dry work and treats oil as a way to clear swarf. SHARPAL’s 121N plate and the Deruilong stone are dry. The Fiskars listing does not print a lubricant. Wipe the face when you change grit.
How do I know it is sharp without a thumb test?
Sight the edge, or cut a shaving. A bright flat that remains in the light is steel you have not reached. A dry shaving from a scrap shows the edge is taking wood. Gränsfors points at a feather of wire as the sign you have cut through, which you then strop away from the edge. Keep the glove on the stone hand while you are still working.
Can I sharpen in the wood or only at home?
A light touch-up can happen in the wood if the head is sound and the edge points away from you. Conservation Handbooks keeps major sharpening, the sort that changes a chip or a bad grind, for the workshop. A vice at home holds the head still once you are on the coarse face. Sheath the bit before you walk back to the pile.
What is a wire edge?
A wire edge is the thin flap of steel that stands up when the stone has cut through the edge. Strop away from the edge so the flap leaves, rather than pushing it back onto the bevel. If you skip that step, the first knot can fold the wire over and the axe feels dull again. The fine face raises it. A careful dry pass takes it off.
When do I stop and get a file?
Stop the puck when a chip is still a gap after even work on both sides. A faint catch on a continuous edge can be the coarse face. A missing piece with depth is a file, then a return to the stone, which is how Gränsfors and Gun Mart divide the job. Also stop if the steel turns blue, or if the head is loose.

Related pages

Best axe sharpener UK

Ax sharpener

How to choose an axe sharpener: damage first, then the bit

Fiskars Xsharp review: flat bit, dull edge, not a chip

Axe puck vs file: a catch is a stone, a hole is not

Sources

Public UK and maker sources from the research digest, used for this page in October 2026. Prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures in the display file for these ten listings. This desk did not sharpen an axe. No British Standard for these pucks was found. A browse rank is not a test.

  1. HSE PUWER overview (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. HSE treework hand tools (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. GOV.UK product safety for businesses (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. GOV.UK Northern Ireland product safety note (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. Consumer Rights Act 2015 s.19 (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. Gränsfors axe resharpening (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. Gun Mart sharpening axes (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  8. Conservation Handbooks tool maintenance (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  9. amazon.co.uk Fiskars Xsharp listing (retrieved 22 October 2026)