Carpenter Axe

Best description is it is a very thick bladed ax, and does not want to sink into the wood as a thinner blade likes to do. This gives a great advantage for chopping! You need not use a lot power which is great for the user, and you get into a rhythm and it is laser point cutting. Use sawing strategy for chopping the wood. Meaning don't use a sawing motion but how you plan on cutting with a saw use the same planning with this. It is great for carving a big joint and doing big work. Splitting is easy.

The axe arrived with the eye wedge barely installed. The eye itself was splintered, so the wedge could not be hammered in due to the missing material.

Great little axe. Came relatively sharp, nothing earth shattering, not sharp enough for my tastes is most accurate. But after a quick session on the stones, and a pass on the strop, this is an excellent choice for a carving axe. Bits into the wood nicely, cuts and chisels well, my lone concern is the fit of the handle. The axe does need its wedge pounded in, which is pretty obvious by pictures on the item, but for those of us who are bad at charades or cannot read katakana, it can be confusing. That wasn’t my issue though. The handle feels thin, weak almost. I’m likely just used to heavier Scandinavian and Hudson axes, but it still gives me some pause. But for the price and if you dedicate your time to your craft by maintaining your tools, this is an exceptional axe.

Very nice axe for the price. Holds an excellent edge. I would definatly recommend to anyone who would like a small axe for woodworking or even carving. Shipping was on time.

I bought this thinking I would receive a hatchet with hard steel laminated into soft steel. What I got was a hatchet like what's represented in the image but with the edge painted so it looks like it has a laminated construction. It's what I get for a quick decision.The edge was dull as a froe, so as received, it's good for splitting small pieces of wood. I'll have to work on the edge so it's usable as a chisel headed hatchet with a keen edge, that is, once the bevels of the blade are flattened to the edge, a hatchet like this can be used to shape wood like a chisel. With hand sharpening equipment, I've got a good deal of work left to do.The scabbard is useless. It's made of vinyl fabric. It cannot possibly stand up to use.The handle is made from that wood that you find in so many Japanese tools. I expect it to stand up to splitting and shaping small pieces of wood.I was hoping for a good multi-use hatchet, one that's excellent for splitting and shaping small pieces with a properly sharp edge that meets Japanese standards. What I received, well, maybe it will do.In the photos you'll see my work so far on the edge with the painted portion of the edge abraded away to reveal that no hard steel is laminated into the edge. For comparison, I've included a photo of the single bevel, laminated steel machete. Done properly, steel that's laminated that way will stand up to a lot of use. Also, getting laminated steel doesn't cost that much. I bought the laminated steel machete for about $50.So, I suggest that you shop around carefully out there. Buyer beware!

Very happy with the craftsmanship of this hatchet. I will be recommending to friends and family.

Great blade profile and edge retention! It came almost perfectly sharp out of the box, but wasn’t usable until I hung it. It came with the metal wedge barely tapped into it, so I removed it, added a wooden wedge and then put it back in. It still isn’t the cleanest hanging I’ve ever seen, but it’s usable. I’ve now used it to cut down two 6” diameter trees, and done quite a bit of chopping and planing with it.I didn’t enjoy the removing of the stickers... let me just say that. I also replaced the cotton rope on the handle with paracord. I also don’t know what steel the blade is made of.Despite these little things, I love this thing. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a slightly larger hatchet that is versatile. It’s small enough to be packable for camping or hiking, yet large enough for most chopping tasks around the yard. It’s blade is intended for splitting wood I believe, but it does just about anything that any other axe can do.UPDATE: Two-ish weeks inA piece of the handle broke off inside of the eye while I was swinging it, resulting in the head flying off... Luckily, I noticed it shifting, so it didn't fly off during a full-power swing. I then proceeded to cut the handle down a little and re-hang it, and it is sturdier now. I also stripped all of the varnish off of the handle to make it less dangerous in a gloved hand, which doesn't really matter because I will be changing the handle for something with a palm swell at the end as soon as I find the right piece of wood. Still very happy with the edge retention!