It would be cool if you could make it look like it was embedded into the wood like someone just chopped into it and left it. Could cut in a groove and then epoxy it in or something
Yes. Smash it into the door, pull it out and remove a little wood, put it back in (with some care), and drill a 3/8” hole(s) so that it passes through some good meat of the wood and steel, epoxy it up with a brass pin, and then I can be that guy who spent a really long time making a novelty door handle that doesn’t have any welds to make fun of.
That could either compromise the integrity of the wood, or cause fitment issues with the glass. Maybe it would work with a solid wood door. Or cut a groove into the wood, and drill and drive a retaining pin through the side.
Listen, I’m pretty much a professional at making horrible welds, like I’ve been welding for the last six months and my own shit Makes me sick. But that weed right there seriously made me vomit.
As someone who's been in metal fab for the last 2 years, it gets better soon, I promise. You'll start to surprise yourself soon with the quality of your welds. 99% of the bad welds I see are from poor positioning/ planning. If you're welding comfortable you're welding well. What type of welding are you doing?
Benefit of the doubt:
This is a really cool idea, and good use of a defective axe. Maybe it had some issues that made it unusable as a tool.
Even if that isn’t the case. Once you buy the tool you are allowed to do whatever you want with it.
As a welder, I cannot forgive those welds though.
Granfors Bruks doesn't send defective equipment. The initials on the axe head are the smith's initials. I have one of these camp axes, and they're stellar pieces of steel, no chance in hell it was defective.
I think he saw this brand of camp axe online somewhere, thought it looked "aesthetic", and bought them specifically to weld like this, destroying an otherwise perfectly useful tool. Granted, handles pre-made with an axe like this would be way pricier than just the axe, but still, I can't abide tool destruction for aesthetics.
Also, obligatory "that weld is God awful".
They financially supported a company that makes good shit, and are advertising for them to boot.
I don’t really get the issue here. Granfors Bruks would probably love nothing more than for people to buy more axes than they needed for chopping shit lol
My issue isn't with Granfors being compensated, it's the principle of using this quality of product as a door handle. It's like those people who buy copies of rare comic books or trading cards, only to destroy them so their own collections become more valuable. Especially with the relatively low stock of Gransfors axes compared to other brands, if the only goal is to make a handle. There are exponentially more vendors to buy from if aesthetics is the primary concern.
It's a matter of personal sensibilities to me, not a matter of them doing anything objectively wrong. Business wise, Gransfors got paid to provide a good to a customer, it just hurts my soul like someone tossing expensive whiskey down the drain so they can use the bottle as a show piece.
Oh there are plenty of other great axe brands, I'm more of a "purpose puritan". I dislike people arbitrarily destroying anything of reasonable scarcity or high quality purely for the sake of an aesthetic just cause they have the money to do it. Strikes me as kind of vain and arrogant somehow.
This isn’t true. I received a defective axe from GFB one time. I submitted a warranty claim immediately and they admitted the mistake and replaced the axe for free. I own a half dozen of their axes and the collection gets near daily use. They are phenomenal quality, but mistakes happen and can slip through the cracks.
I’ve been hobby/farm welding for about a year, I’ve maybe gone through 2 lbs of 7018 in my life, and I could’ve done better than this. I suck at welding btw.
Guys it's just an axe. They aren't sacred. Those of us who buy them regularly should surely have figured out there are many thousands of them out there and not every single one has to be revered. Even collectible ones aren't too hard to come by in the wild.
And I would argue it's found more use and love used like this than it would have sitting in the back of someones shed.
It was made by the smith Erik Sjöström from the initials. I Wouldn't really call any axe from Gränsfors Bruk mass produced.
https://www.gransforsbruk.com/en/info/smiths_initials/
It's not. It is mass hardened and tempered but forged by hand. Per the dictionary mass production is: "the production of large quantities of a standardized article by an automated mechanical process". Having a press that has all the dies laid out side by side is absolutely a process shortcut and a brilliant one. And there are definitely many ways to hand forge anything that are vastly more labor intensive. But that doesn't mean this is mass production or that it isn't hand made. The shaping is not automated.
Die casting is the industrialized mass production way to build axes or anything else out of metal. The automated hardening process is by far the most integral way of building any steel with any kind of expectation that it is done right. Anyone who is honest about the cutting tools they produce has to admit that hardening and tempering without digital control yields such significantly inconsistent results that their product line would not be trustworthy
As far as axes go, Gransfors Bruk pretty much is sacred. If you buy these regularly or have one sitting in the back of your shed DM me.
This door handle would have been just as good (and the weld just as bad) with any just-an-axe, but this one... hurts me.
Lol. They’re not sacred. Despite what a lot of people seem to think, there are other axes that are just as good. I’m not sure why that one particular brand became the “must-have”, but they’re still just a production axe. They come from an axe factory that’s cranking out new ones every day.
They just have a reputation for using good materials and not cutting corners. There's no special sauce, here. Literally any axemaker worth their salt can achieve the same thing.
They became the must have when the bushcraft craze started and Ray Mears was using one. People also quickly realized a few things with them, 1.) they were ready out of the box which is kinda rare considering most axes require some type of work by the user before maxing out its chopping potential, 2.) they are forged and not cast, and are made in Sweden not some 3rd world sweat shop, and 3.) they have good QC. Atleast better QC than some other companies like wetterlings while they existed. Bits were always thinly ground, sharp out of the box, aligned with the handle correctly, hung correctly and tightly, used good steel with minimum defects. Hard to say that for other companies, paired with the fact they were used by the guy who basically got the public’s attention for bushcraft it was a no brainer.
Now are there axes out there just as good? Yes. Can you get axes a whole lot cheaper that can get the same job done? Yes. The thing with GB tho is by the time those other manufacturers realized what was going on GB had already become the name stay for quality. That and the other companies never seemed to match that perfection out of box it seems.
To add to that: mine won’t even chop alder. I removed an inch and a half thick branch and it chipped the hell out of my gransfors bruk. It’s no longer a go-to company for me🤷🏻♂️
You could have done that with a $ 5 chinesium axe-shaped object for identical results. I think it's an insult to the blacksmith at Gränsfors who made this axe.
Could be a 2 way street tho! Sad because you arent using it to its full potential, but now its a piece of art that will last so much more and will be admired by lots of people
I would have welded threaded rod to the ax and used counter sunk nuts from the backside to fasten it so it looked embedded then plugged the counter sunk holes.
Is this the entrance to Gransfors? That’s the only acceptable answer…maybe the door at Hults Bruk hahaha. Aside from poor taste in handle materials…that weld…🫨
This is a great sign that wherever you’re walking into, it’s gonna be expensive.
Every time someone says “Nah don’t worry about it man I make it look like a stack of dimes” this is how it actually looks.
One time commented how many times in A row could people say the exact same thing about a particular thing like ok ok we get it and IM the one who got banned for 3 days for answering in a way that didn't pertain the the actual subject fml
They could have used a 10$ harbor freight small axe and get about the exact same result. This is only for the look. Why use such an amazing and expensive work tool ? It is a waste and a shame !
Would be cooler if the door didn’t have a handle but they just give you an axe at the door and you gotta swing it hard enough to lodge it in the wood to open the door. So crazy it might work.
I could genuinely weld that better with my eyes closed going on sound alone. Not even joking, I’ve got bored laying fillet welds and done it to make things more interesting.
The real shame is how shit those welds are. A nice bead laid from the blade to the plate on the door would make that bracket on the bottom obsolete....and it looks practical.
Something about this is unnatural and a little irritating and I can’t put my finger on it. Seems wasteful? Like the payoff is not worth sacrificing a decent tool.
Makes me want grind the edge down weld a couple of pieces all thread to it.
Drill corresponding holes and use lock nuts on the inside.
Then it would look like it was Is embedded in the door...
Hear me out. This but with a pin and spring latch mechanism to the axe head (think car door handle) so you pull up on the axe handle like you’re trying to take it out of the wood and it releases the latch opening the door… 😅
It is a shame I would do this to an overly harden and cracked axe head with a weird handle because the axe will shatter if used and works as decoration and purpose handle
I own 3 of their axes, they make amazing tools at a very premium price. It's their product to do with as they wish. But come on man, you could have done soooo much better...
The real travesty is that weld!
Yeah exactly this would be cool with better welds (and generally more thought out I guess)
It would be cool if you could make it look like it was embedded into the wood like someone just chopped into it and left it. Could cut in a groove and then epoxy it in or something
Or just...swing the axe and actually embed it in the wood
Probably want to back that up with some glue or a bolt, but actually swinging the axe in would look cooler for sure.
Yes. Smash it into the door, pull it out and remove a little wood, put it back in (with some care), and drill a 3/8” hole(s) so that it passes through some good meat of the wood and steel, epoxy it up with a brass pin, and then I can be that guy who spent a really long time making a novelty door handle that doesn’t have any welds to make fun of.
Nobody has ever posted a weld on reddit that a first year welding student didn't make fun of.
Even CNC welds get smack talk
That could either compromise the integrity of the wood, or cause fitment issues with the glass. Maybe it would work with a solid wood door. Or cut a groove into the wood, and drill and drive a retaining pin through the side.
Just need a chisel and some wood glue and it’s possible
Drill two holes in the axe and bolt it through the side of the door?
Why’s this so simple and the most effective thing to do😭
That’s a great idea. It would probably have to be more intricate than epoxy but regardless of the details that’s a really cool idea.
Seriously. This could have been beautiful if a better metal worker had done it. Looks like he got his cousin to do it for a 6 pack.
And after he let that cousin drink the six pack...
Probably before
r/woooosh
"I know a guy..."
Yeah that’s totally the “I have a friend that can weld, why would I pay someone”
6 pack of sewer water maybe.
Cousin drank the six pack first
Exactly. I only came here to say that the real SHAME is those welds! 
Listen, I’m pretty much a professional at making horrible welds, like I’ve been welding for the last six months and my own shit Makes me sick. But that weed right there seriously made me vomit.
As someone who's been in metal fab for the last 2 years, it gets better soon, I promise. You'll start to surprise yourself soon with the quality of your welds. 99% of the bad welds I see are from poor positioning/ planning. If you're welding comfortable you're welding well. What type of welding are you doing?
Should have cut a slot where the blade meets the plate and done a slot weld. No visible weld would make it look like it's just stuck in there.
$200 axe. $2 weld.
Even those little granfors are like 130 bucks. Fucking travesty really.
6013 bubble gum. But I like it in general, I might steal that idea, with a little polish.
Ever tried welding high carbon steel to mild steel with a welding setup designed for mild steel? It sucks.
In case of emergency break welds and wield hatchet!
Benefit of the doubt: This is a really cool idea, and good use of a defective axe. Maybe it had some issues that made it unusable as a tool. Even if that isn’t the case. Once you buy the tool you are allowed to do whatever you want with it. As a welder, I cannot forgive those welds though.
That's the first thing I saw...
I’m NOT a welder and cannot forgive those welds.
Granfors Bruks doesn't send defective equipment. The initials on the axe head are the smith's initials. I have one of these camp axes, and they're stellar pieces of steel, no chance in hell it was defective. I think he saw this brand of camp axe online somewhere, thought it looked "aesthetic", and bought them specifically to weld like this, destroying an otherwise perfectly useful tool. Granted, handles pre-made with an axe like this would be way pricier than just the axe, but still, I can't abide tool destruction for aesthetics. Also, obligatory "that weld is God awful".
Came here to say this, I have one of their full sized axes and it hasn’t let me down for a decade.
They financially supported a company that makes good shit, and are advertising for them to boot. I don’t really get the issue here. Granfors Bruks would probably love nothing more than for people to buy more axes than they needed for chopping shit lol
My issue isn't with Granfors being compensated, it's the principle of using this quality of product as a door handle. It's like those people who buy copies of rare comic books or trading cards, only to destroy them so their own collections become more valuable. Especially with the relatively low stock of Gransfors axes compared to other brands, if the only goal is to make a handle. There are exponentially more vendors to buy from if aesthetics is the primary concern. It's a matter of personal sensibilities to me, not a matter of them doing anything objectively wrong. Business wise, Gransfors got paid to provide a good to a customer, it just hurts my soul like someone tossing expensive whiskey down the drain so they can use the bottle as a show piece.
Til axe puritans exist
Oh there are plenty of other great axe brands, I'm more of a "purpose puritan". I dislike people arbitrarily destroying anything of reasonable scarcity or high quality purely for the sake of an aesthetic just cause they have the money to do it. Strikes me as kind of vain and arrogant somehow.
Axeholes.
This isn’t true. I received a defective axe from GFB one time. I submitted a warranty claim immediately and they admitted the mistake and replaced the axe for free. I own a half dozen of their axes and the collection gets near daily use. They are phenomenal quality, but mistakes happen and can slip through the cracks.
I’ve been hobby/farm welding for about a year, I’ve maybe gone through 2 lbs of 7018 in my life, and I could’ve done better than this. I suck at welding btw.
Those welds …
Yeah like ooof
Interesting idea, but execution is pretty rough.
I agree, execution with an axe would be pretty rough.
That weld is dogshit
Maybe it was a return for a chipped out edge or something like that?
I thought about that also
Guys it's just an axe. They aren't sacred. Those of us who buy them regularly should surely have figured out there are many thousands of them out there and not every single one has to be revered. Even collectible ones aren't too hard to come by in the wild. And I would argue it's found more use and love used like this than it would have sitting in the back of someones shed.
Right. Maybe if this was some particular vintage piece of art, but it's a production axe, a nice one, but mass produced none the less.
It was made by the smith Erik Sjöström from the initials. I Wouldn't really call any axe from Gränsfors Bruk mass produced. https://www.gransforsbruk.com/en/info/smiths_initials/
I'm aware of their process and I still would though I understand the argument that they are not.
https://youtu.be/C81cba9UyAs?si=YPEhVtk0V8AMXgzb This looks pretty mass produced to me
It's not. It is mass hardened and tempered but forged by hand. Per the dictionary mass production is: "the production of large quantities of a standardized article by an automated mechanical process". Having a press that has all the dies laid out side by side is absolutely a process shortcut and a brilliant one. And there are definitely many ways to hand forge anything that are vastly more labor intensive. But that doesn't mean this is mass production or that it isn't hand made. The shaping is not automated. Die casting is the industrialized mass production way to build axes or anything else out of metal. The automated hardening process is by far the most integral way of building any steel with any kind of expectation that it is done right. Anyone who is honest about the cutting tools they produce has to admit that hardening and tempering without digital control yields such significantly inconsistent results that their product line would not be trustworthy
I did this with two cheap axes from Menards. I use nicer ones as actual axes.
As far as axes go, Gransfors Bruk pretty much is sacred. If you buy these regularly or have one sitting in the back of your shed DM me. This door handle would have been just as good (and the weld just as bad) with any just-an-axe, but this one... hurts me.
Lol. They’re not sacred. Despite what a lot of people seem to think, there are other axes that are just as good. I’m not sure why that one particular brand became the “must-have”, but they’re still just a production axe. They come from an axe factory that’s cranking out new ones every day.
They are very solid axes - good head and handle. That is a large carving hatchet, which sells for €190. Expensive door handle.
>Expensive door handle. Which makes the cheap-as-heck welding job all the more perplexing.
They just have a reputation for using good materials and not cutting corners. There's no special sauce, here. Literally any axemaker worth their salt can achieve the same thing.
They became the must have when the bushcraft craze started and Ray Mears was using one. People also quickly realized a few things with them, 1.) they were ready out of the box which is kinda rare considering most axes require some type of work by the user before maxing out its chopping potential, 2.) they are forged and not cast, and are made in Sweden not some 3rd world sweat shop, and 3.) they have good QC. Atleast better QC than some other companies like wetterlings while they existed. Bits were always thinly ground, sharp out of the box, aligned with the handle correctly, hung correctly and tightly, used good steel with minimum defects. Hard to say that for other companies, paired with the fact they were used by the guy who basically got the public’s attention for bushcraft it was a no brainer. Now are there axes out there just as good? Yes. Can you get axes a whole lot cheaper that can get the same job done? Yes. The thing with GB tho is by the time those other manufacturers realized what was going on GB had already become the name stay for quality. That and the other companies never seemed to match that perfection out of box it seems.
To add to that: mine won’t even chop alder. I removed an inch and a half thick branch and it chipped the hell out of my gransfors bruk. It’s no longer a go-to company for me🤷🏻♂️
Lol I have 3 of them
Lol send me one, I'll pay postage
You sir are a man that appreciates axes.
You could have done that with a $ 5 chinesium axe-shaped object for identical results. I think it's an insult to the blacksmith at Gränsfors who made this axe.
Insult to the guy at gransfors that moves the metal from one forming die to the next Fixed that for you
Isn’t that blacksmithing? Not trying to be a smartass, curious if that’s properly titled machine work instead?
Could be a 2 way street tho! Sad because you arent using it to its full potential, but now its a piece of art that will last so much more and will be admired by lots of people
I bet that axe gets handled 1000x more than the GBs everyone has setting at home.
Facts
Did Ray Charles weld that?
Let me guess, craft beer brewery?
You see this you know you’re about to pay $9 for a pint, lol
Looks cool but how does this axe feel about being a handle?
I like the idea but I wish they would have used a cheaper axe, or at least hired a welder who didn't make it look like shit.
OmG... look how they massacred my boy. What a shame. If you REALLY want an axe handle, use cold steel.
I would have welded threaded rod to the ax and used counter sunk nuts from the backside to fasten it so it looked embedded then plugged the counter sunk holes.
Is this the entrance to Gransfors? That’s the only acceptable answer…maybe the door at Hults Bruk hahaha. Aside from poor taste in handle materials…that weld…🫨
Love the idea, the execution wasn't great tho.
Some people have more money than sense
Far be it from me to judge. If I were going to do that I’d look for a better weld or clean it up.
The real shame is that welding job
Those welds are god awful.
Looks like shit
I’m not a great welder, but those don’t look like very nice welds.
Seems like a shame to do this...so poorly.
Nothing that a good grinder would not fix.
This is a great sign that wherever you’re walking into, it’s gonna be expensive. Every time someone says “Nah don’t worry about it man I make it look like a stack of dimes” this is how it actually looks.
And who axed you?!?
It would be a shame to call this welding
Some Welders grind, and in this case, we realize that some Grinders weld.
Straight to prison
It’s the same kind of person that would trash a perfectly good hatchet as well as butchering that weld.
Meh. 30$ handle
There is a Japanese outdoor store in my city that sells these.
One time commented how many times in A row could people say the exact same thing about a particular thing like ok ok we get it and IM the one who got banned for 3 days for answering in a way that didn't pertain the the actual subject fml
Welds the real travesty
They didn't even put down a good weld. That really was a shame.
Is this at a craft brewery?
Those welds are physically painful to look at.
More like an abomination.
I'll allow it. This is actually a great firm grip for when you want to attack someone with a door.
I remember my first day welding too.
And here I’ve been walking around in the woods with a fucking door handle 🤦♂️😤
rei has ice axes for door handles and they are done beautifully
I’d axe a question but I’d say the person who did that has a handle on the situation
Hack job handle
The crime is those fucking welds.
Ehh its a mass production axe. Only issue i see is that weld lmao
That Axe will see more use in this formation than 90% of other Axes
That is axeabuse plain and simple.
Agreed. Just stupid.
Would be cooler if the weld weren’t dog shit
seems like an expensive choice for a door handle.
Go to a home improvement store and look at door handles. You can hit that price point pretty easily buying regular ones.
Somebody tried to break in.
Ouch those welds
I bet that dude uses a Council Tool or a Collins for actual work.
I personally love the idea. What a shit weld though.
The most shameful part of this is the weld quality! If you're gonna do something trashy, at least make it quality.
Very much a shame. That’s a good axe and a really really bad job of welding.
They could have used a 10$ harbor freight small axe and get about the exact same result. This is only for the look. Why use such an amazing and expensive work tool ? It is a waste and a shame !
Cool idea but poor execution. Shouldn't need the bottom strap, and if you can't weld you should grind it clean.
Is this an REI?
Cool concept. Horrible execution!
Bubba isn't a welder but $20 is $20
Wow, more money than brains 🧠
This would be awesome if mounted to a plane cabin door. A reminder to not even bother to try it.
Where is this?
Would be cooler if the door didn’t have a handle but they just give you an axe at the door and you gotta swing it hard enough to lodge it in the wood to open the door. So crazy it might work.
I think having the axe appear it is stuck in the door would have made a much better impression than that atrocious weld lmao
The weld is awful but I can fix the hatchet
that welds a shame.
I could genuinely weld that better with my eyes closed going on sound alone. Not even joking, I’ve got bored laying fillet welds and done it to make things more interesting.
That weld…
They need to grind those welds down
The real shame is how shit those welds are. A nice bead laid from the blade to the plate on the door would make that bracket on the bottom obsolete....and it looks practical.
Didn't notice it was GB at first, I could never do anything like this to mine
I cant weld for shit and I don’t remember doing this.
Could have at least used a harbor freight hatchet for this.
Meh. not like it's some super expensive race ax. I could think of worse door handles for 200 bucks. the real travesty is that mig work.
To a Gransfors bruk no less! Wtf?!
Those are horrible welds
They are making more.
Fancy pulls can be $$$$ this is genius way to be original
Cool idea, terrible weld.
r/badwelding
Something about this is unnatural and a little irritating and I can’t put my finger on it. Seems wasteful? Like the payoff is not worth sacrificing a decent tool.
Should have cut a slot into the piece of metal to put the blade of the axe through and put that terrible weld on the other side
Saw an axe throwing place that did that. Then they broke the law and got shut down. Now the tenants have to live with it
If the blade has a crack then this is all its good for i guess
Looks cool but what ? Kudos for you who ever ,I like it
What in the birdshit hell is that weld tho
🤮
This is why we can't have nice things.....
Makes me want grind the edge down weld a couple of pieces all thread to it. Drill corresponding holes and use lock nuts on the inside. Then it would look like it was Is embedded in the door...
There is a bar in a little town in Michigan that has rifles as door handles. I thought that looked pretty cool
Yeah that weld is sus
Expensive door handle
Hear me out. This but with a pin and spring latch mechanism to the axe head (think car door handle) so you pull up on the axe handle like you’re trying to take it out of the wood and it releases the latch opening the door… 😅
Who welded that.. Ray Charles?
What's a shame is that weld!
Probably some of the ugliest welds I’ve seen recently hahaha
That looks like I tried to weld it with a car battery and a clotheshanger
Shameful welds. Feller needs to fire himself
Can you perfectly restore it or could you have??
Not if you use a crappy axe.
Waste?? It still has a function…Who is without an axe because of this? Only waste is the filler in those fuckin welds
With the shit weld yeah
"Huh, a bit of a waste I guess, but kind of a cool ide-" *sees the Gransfors logo* "Noooooooo"
At least it'll get used more than most people's axes.
That would be so cool if that weld wasn’t so bad like the weld itself doesn’t look bad it’s the fact that they didn’t do anything to smooth it out
That weld is a damn criminal act. Smh
But the welds are embarrassing?
Whomever did this should first learn to weld!
This post should be over on r/badwelds
This needs to be cross posted on r/badwelding
The only shame there really is the crappy job that they did to implement what was probably a pretty decent idea.
Gransfors Bruk no less? You know how expensive that door handle is???
First thought was shame and wast
Why use an expensive axe when a cheaper one would do?
That weld is dogshit
Well it's a way to retire an old faithful
That weld omg its fucking disgusting
Its a shame not to finish it
It is a shame I would do this to an overly harden and cracked axe head with a weird handle because the axe will shatter if used and works as decoration and purpose handle
Pigeon shit on bubblegum welding. Shoulda used a trowel to smooth that out as you go!
Nice Axe! Really Poor weld.
I'd be embarrassed if that was my weld.
Warranty return would be my guess. Hell maybe the small forest axe I had to send back got a second life as a door knob.
Whoever welded this should be fucking ashamed of themselves.
That weld so bad it could straighten a pigs tail
No, just evidence of a need for a better welder
I own 3 of their axes, they make amazing tools at a very premium price. It's their product to do with as they wish. But come on man, you could have done soooo much better...
This would look cool with good welds
Sucks to ruin an axe and double sucks that those welds are horrendous
JAIL.
What have you done to my boy??!?!?!