Good axe

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I use the Gransfors Bruks Small Forest Axe as well and like it very much. As another poster mentioned, the price really cannot be justified, but it probably is just the thing for someone looking for an heirloomish kind of axe.
 
Spending hundreds of dollars on an axe or hatchet is not something I would ever consider. You get 99% of the way to the exact same thing for 1/10th the price. If you're a guy who likes European cars and Starbucks get the Scandinavian big money axe and spend the rest of your days worrying about the thing. If you're a regular guy who buys tools to use and not oogle over I recommend marbles axes and hatchets. They're made some place in South America and take a little sharpening to get an ideal edge bit they'll serve you for many many years . properly made with good metal and a proper handle . If you want something to show off pick something else.

https://www.amazon.com/Marbles-MR701SB-Camp-Axe/dp/B008PPZO94/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=64508905908&dchild=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAtej9BRAvEiwA0UAWXgFhfapON9y9PqjaHrWlB7Aawo0ABGBVnMmI49F7QBJiVsZVoaTogRoCrLsQAvD_BwE&hvadid=274742917618&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9021459&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=9901711010588437904&hvtargid=kwd-307654630043&hydadcr=17137_9496648&keywords=marbles+hatchet&qid=1606094718&sr=8-1&tag=hydsma-20&th=1&psc=1
(Mine didn't come with a two tone handle, I wouldn't expect many would). I have the smaller version too and it is exceptional for the price.

I have heard bad reviews but the ones I have I bought about 4-5 years ago, maybe somethings changed but they were both south American made. If you want a picture I can add one
 
My last Marbles axe was made in El Salvador, and that indicated Imacasa to me. It has served me well, but I am not a logger. I purchased it in 2013 for $27.

For heavy use, I would probably go with Husqvarna or Stihl.
 
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All overseas now. I wouldn't put any money in current Marbles products except as novelties.
HSO, I respect your opinion very highly and bow to your vast and superior knowledge of edged instruments but I'd have to see a bad marbles to believe it. I know that it's very likely bad ones make it out but as I mentioned earlier , mine have been excellent.
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They both got sanded and sharpened and the smaller one I darkened with a torch some. Both get a wipe down with BLO once a year. Heads have stayed tight, hold an edge well and the geometry seems correct. Maybe I got lucky, maybe things changed in the last couple years or maybe these are crap and I just haven't noticed yet. Either way everyone's mileage may vary .
 
Here's Estwing specialty splitter.
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Funny ! I have the Estwing Splitter hatchet and the Swiss Surplus axe next to my fire place inserts one set in Oregon and one in Calif ! Outside the near to fire place door to the covered deck on which I placed an oak stump that is :)
Indeed the big mauls are near my hydraulic splitter in Oregon since I moved it from Calif when I retired 2017. EVERYTHING gets a roofed area on Oregon or only lasts one season.
 
My latest kindling splitter is a Hudson's Bay pattern hatchet head that I picked up on EBay, cleaned up and reshaped slightly and rehafted.
My splitter is a Kelly patent double bit head that I found in a fieldstone fence around a slave graveyard in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
I cleaned it up and rehafted it, of course.
By the way, I call it my voodoo ax because there was a tobacco pouch under it that held some small bones, feathers and such. I replaced the pouch where I found it and weighed it down with a chunk of plowshare.
I'm just glad that I don't have to rely on fires for heat anymore... .
 
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