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Axe puck vs file

Updated: 22 October 2026

You can feel a nick with a fingertip, and you are about to order only a stone from amazon.co.uk. Axe puck vs file is a sequence, not a tie. If the missing piece has depth, the first tool is a file, and the puck comes after the edge is one line again. If the bit is dull, or the mark is only a catch on steel that is still continuous, the puck is the tool. None of the ten listings in the [ax sharpener comparison](/hub/forestry-tools/ax-sharpener) is a file. Peter F. matched these jobs to the captures on 21 October 2026. This is not a laboratory test. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You can feel a nick with a fingertip, and you are about to order only a stone from amazon.co.uk. Axe puck vs file is a sequence, not a tie.

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
DDF iohEF DDF iohEF axe/hatchet sharpening stone 180/320 grit

Rank 2

DDF iohEF DDF iohEF axe/hatchet sharpening stone 180/320 grit
9.0/10about £18.82
View offer
Bacher Bacher axe sharpening stone puck 120/600

Rank 3

Bacher Bacher axe sharpening stone puck 120/600
9.0/10about £15.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Feel the damage before you buy
  2. 2.What the puck is for
  3. 3.What the file is for
  4. 4.What to buy in this comparison

Feel the damage before you buy

Look along the edge, then use a fingernail on the flat of the bevel rather than a thumb dragged down the cutting line. A catch is a small step while the edge still runs as one wire from heel to toe. A hole is different. You can park a fingernail in a notch. Gun Mart describes filing that ding back before any circular work. Gränsfors makes the same split: a file for major nicks, a stone for wear. The stroke, once the profile is honest, is on the how to sharpen an axe page.

What the puck is for

A puck maintains a sound bit and finishes an edge the file has already made continuous. Lansky, about £11.33, does not print a grit number. Bacher prints 120 and 600 at about £15.99. DDF prints 180 and 320 at about £18.82. One DDF reviewer reported a chipped Fiskars improved in 10 to 15 minutes. A remaining crater means you bought the second tool first.
Lansky Lansky Sharpeners The Puck dual grit sharpener

Testsieger

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

What the file is for

A file removes the metal around a large nick until the edge is one line you can hone. Gränsfors describes a fine flat file for larger notches, about 14 cm on the maker’s file page, and a stone for ordinary wear. Survival School listed a Gränsfors diamond axe file at £44.95. That price is not an amazon.co.uk capture, and the file is outside the ten ASINs kept here. The word diamond on the SHARPAL 121N does not make that plate the file for a deep chip.

What to buy in this comparison

Buy a puck if the bit is dull or only lightly nicked. Buy a file first if the chip has depth, then a puck. Inside this set the second step is one of three pucks. Lansky, about £11.33 with 4.6 from 17,585 reviews, is the largest UK sample if you do not need a printed grit or a pouch. Bacher, about £15.99, prints 120/600 and includes a pouch whose press-stud reviewers say has snapped. DDF, about £18.82, prints 180/320 and includes a bag. None of the pocket tools closes a crater. Grit and lubricant, once you know you want a stone, are in the buying guide. Who should skip each listing is on the best axe sharpener UK page.

Common questions

Can a puck take out a chip?
A puck can take out a light nick that still leaves a continuous edge. It is the wrong first tool for a deep missing piece. One DDF reviewer spent 10 to 15 minutes on a chipped Fiskars and reported an improvement. That single account is not proof that 180 grit replaces a file. If the crater remains, file the notch back to one line, then return to the puck.
Which side of the puck comes first?
Use the coarse face first when there is a nick or a rolled edge, then the fine face to raise and clear the burr. On Bacher that means 120 before 600. On DDF it means 180 before 320. Lansky does not print numbers, so coarse and fine are the two faces of that puck. Do not mix a 120 from one brand with a 325 from a diamond plate.
Do I need a file as well as a Lansky?
You need a file as well as a Lansky when the bit has a deep chip or a grind you cannot follow. The Lansky, at about £11.33, is the maintenance stone with the largest review sample here, and it does not claim to be a file. For a dull splitting axe with a sound profile, the puck alone is the purchase. A hatchet that has lost a chunk of edge needs the file first.
Is a diamond plate a file?
A diamond plate is a flat stone that cuts with diamond grit. In this set the SHARPAL 121N is that plate, marked 325/1200, specified dry, at about £19.99. It can refine a bevel you already have. It is not the file Gränsfors describes for larger notches, and it is not the £44.95 diamond axe file Survival School listed. Do not oil it because a puck listing allowed oil.
What if the chip is only a catch, not a hole?
A catch on a continuous edge is a puck job. Mark the bevel, use the coarse face until the catch is gone, then the fine face, with the same work on both sides. You should not see a gap when you sight the edge. If the catch is a small fold of wire, the fine face and a strop away from the edge may be enough. If the catch opens into a visible notch, stop and change tools.
Will the Fiskars Xsharp fix a gouge?
The Fiskars Xsharp will not fix a gouge. Axe & Tool’s account says the slot suits a dull or rolled Fiskars edge and small nicks, and that it does not repair a chip. UK reviewers who met a fully blunt edge sent it back to a stone. A gouge with depth belongs with a file, then a puck. The slot is a quick hone for a flat Fiskars bit that already has an edge to follow.
Where does a file sit in the price bands?
The pucks and guided tools on this amazon.co.uk shelf fall in two bands, about £6 to £12 and about £16 to £22. A file sits above that ceiling in the only current UK price sourced here. Survival School listed a Gränsfors diamond axe file at £44.95, and that product is not one of the kept ASINs. Gränsfors describes its own file as about 14 cm, for larger notches.

Related pages

Fiskars Xsharp

Ax sharpener

Best axe sharpener UK: pick by the job, not the stars

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

How to sharpen an axe: hold the bevel you already have

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)