A shot of the Iltis Oxhead from the Lee Valley website (it is the one in the middle) :
The Iltis felling axe has a 35 inch handle with clear straight grain, coated and fairly sticky. The head was straight, no waves nor bows. The head (2.5 lbs) and handle were also perpendicular and the end knob split the bit exactly. However the bottom of the bit swung back so deep the pattern actually resembled a trade axe.
The axe has the traditional hard wood bit pattern of a deep concave grind to enhance penetration and minimize wedging. This hollow smoothly flows into a convex swell which forms the edge. There is a secondary bevel which was 0.035" deep, 35+ degrees per side, and very blunt - unable to do any fine cutting and not suitable NIB for efficient wood working.
For clarification, this isn't a "Felling" axe, the wide sweeping curvature indicates a utility pattern. True felling and notching axes can be seen on page 163 of "The complete guide to sharpening", by Leonard Lee [ref : felling axe, ref : notching axe].
Pictures of the axe can be seen at Lee Valley.
Using a bastard file, the edge was set at at about 25 degrees included which took about an half an hour, it can be done much faster if the axe is viced to allow more pressure on the file. Another fifteen minutes was spent evening out the curvature and the heel and toe which were thick and uneven. The edge was then raised to a fine shaving edge with use of waterstones and leather loaded with a chromium/aluminum oxide buffing compounds. The handle was also sanded and coated with boiled linseed oil.
After a few hours of use, on down both soft and hardwoods trees (less than an inch penetration on the hardwoods), with the sticks from about three to twelve inches in diameter it was immediately obviously that this was a very different axe than the reground Hults.
The lighter head on the Iltis was problematic at first, having been used to a slower and heavier swing with the Hults which is almost twice as heavy. The Iltis worked better with a faster faster, yet lighter swing. The overall pace is quicker with less fatigue. The different swing technique also allows it to cut much smaller wood than the Hults, even three inch saplings are not problem and limbing is much easier. Overall this makes it much more versatile.
The longer handle, an extra six inches, was also a problem initially with accuracy problems coming from having used a shorter handle all last year. The Hults was abandoned after using it to fell a few tress as it was difficult to constantly switch lengths and still be accurate. With the right swing distance the longer handle on the Iltis allowed a closer cut, more distance from the tree, and a faster head on the same speed of swing.
The handle ergonomics were also significantly different. The Hults has a much wider handle than the Iltis. It was uncomfortable at first using the more narrow Iltis handle, too much shock and irritation, a glove had to be used after a couple of hours.
The Iltis has a decent edge profile after some work as noted in the above, but the primary grind is too flat. There is a a pronounced curvature but it starts too far back. The primary grind near the edge is very machete like in that it is almost flat stock for a good distance. More of a hollow relief would promote penetration and reduce wedging.
As noted, this isn't a dedicated felling or wedging axe. The extreme curvature on the edge made it much more productive for many utility applications hence the name of the pattern. The axe is fairly heavy (about twice the weight of a large bowie), but the large arc does give it much more skinning and in general cutting ability than the flatter profile seen on the Hults .
The Iltis edge enough work with an angle grinder to go through 4L of water for cooling. Mainly this grinding increased the shoulder width, providing some relief. Now the the Iltis was more fluid in the wood and got greater penetration. However this was also due to a loss of "rust" having not used an axe for several months, and becoming more familiar with this axe in particular.
However the edge took two small ripples, about 0.015 and 0.025" deep at maximum, after a bad glance through a couple of knots. These dents were easily hammered back into place and then the edge was filed back to remove the worse of the weakened metal. The steel does work significantly easier than the Hults and burrs easily.
Concerned about the durability of the edge profile, the Iltis was used to drop a dozen small trees (4-8") with no problems. The next stick however caused a large chip to break out of the edge. The chip was 0.010" thick at the back and almost a half an inch long (just over 0.4"). The edge folded over a knot on a clean hit. This fracture was roughly in the middle of the bit.
To get the necessary level of durability a secondary bevel was applied to the edge, 17-18 degrees. The bevel is about 0.035" thick at back of the additional bevel. The burr that was formed while creating the secondary bevel approached two millimeters in width. As the edge was further refined with waterstones, wispy remains of the initial large burr would break away, sharpening was continued until the edge was crisp.
With the new heavier secondary edge bevel the Iltis was used to cut down several cords of wood with no problem, including some very hard to cut knots. No problems have been seen and some cuts were made intentionally fairly sloppy. Based on that the durability is actually excessive, an edge angle of 15-16 degrees probably would have been enough.
A shot of some of the wood cut :
A top down shot of the bit :
This axe has a solid profile for hardwoods and overall has no significant problems, but does benefit from a bit of user tuning.
Comments can be sent to : cliffstamp[REMOVE]@cutleryscience.com or by posted in the following thread :
Some comments on another Iltis : user report.
| Last updated : | Fri Jun 13 16:18:02 NDT 2003 |
| Originally writte : | Fri Jun 13 15:37:34 NDT 2003 |
