sharp pick-head axe?

[krazykarl]

How sharp should the cutting edge of a pick-head axe be kept? Most of the axes that I have come across have a very dull maybe even chipped edge. I understand that most of the time we are just smashing stuff with the axe. But, I suppose that I would find some comfort if my entry tool had atleast a workable edge to do some cutting if I had to chop through some wood of respectable dimension.

[Geinandputitout]

Fire Service Axes are not generally used for lumberjack type work. If you need to cut dimensional lumber get a chain saw.

They are used to force entry on doors (not really a cutting app), open roofs (maybe a cutting app, but due to shingles and tar any edge will be destroyed after the first swing), removing drywall and plaster (not a cutting app).

I take a tool grinder to ours every month or so, and take off any burrs and chips. It is not sharp enough to cut anything without a lot of force.

[Golzy12]

One of my captains showed me this trick:
Sharpen the blade enough so when you scratch your fingernail against (not along) the blade it scrapes off a little bit of the nail. You should see some of the nail that you scraped off left on the blade. Make sure you don't make the blade to narrow, it should be somewhat blunt so it's less likely to chip. Hopefully that made sense, it's hard to describe without being there to show you.

[krazykarl]

One of my captains showed me this trick:
Sharpen the blade enough so when you scratch your fingernail against (not along) the blade it scrapes off a little bit of the nail. You should see some of the nail that you scraped off left on the blade. Make sure you don't make the blade to narrow, it should be somewhat blunt so it's less likely to chip. Hopefully that made sense, it's hard to describe without being there to show you.

Works for me. I need to do more research in our SOP's to see if this procedure is described.

[jbrescue]

Fire Service Axes are not generally used for lumberjack type work. If you need to cut dimensional lumber get a chain saw.

They are used to force entry on doors (not really a cutting app), open roofs (maybe a cutting app, but due to shingles and tar any edge will be destroyed after the first swing), removing drywall and plaster (not a cutting app).

I take a tool grinder to ours every month or so, and take off any burrs and chips. It is not sharp enough to cut anything without a lot of force.

You should not use any sort of power grinder to sharpen fire service axes. They are not axes like you would use for chopping would. The heat from using a grinder will screw up the tempering of the metal. Use only hand files. Look in your IFSTA essentials book in the hand tools section for proper maintenance.

[ChicagoFF]

You should not use any sort of power grinder to sharpen fire service axes. They are not axes like you would use for chopping would. The heat from using a grinder will screw up the tempering of the metal. Use only hand files. Look in your IFSTA essentials book in the hand tools section for proper maintenance.We use wheels here with some kind of red stuff.

[FireFuss]

JB is right, you should only use hand files to "sharpen" axes. They're meant for forcible entry and ventilation of thin to medium thickness wood. They should cut with a kind of nicely smashed open look. If your axehead is sharp as a razor, one little hack and the blade embeds itself into the wood, or chips off. Broken/stuck axes never helped anyone.