This Axe Grind Dummy Rule is Kinda Dumb

A common dummy rule is to file your axe in a fan pattern,. This is an arbitrary recommendation based on a certain pattern of axe head, and not a safe general recommendation as many find out when they try to follow it. More below...

Dudley Cook, "The Axe Book" http://amzn.to/2gLwz3I

An Axe to Grind: PDF- http://www.bchmt.org/documents/educat.... Film version:    • An Ax to Grind - Complete Video  

Woodsmanship, Bernard S. Mason: http://www.robin-wood.co.uk/wood-craf...

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Council Tool Boys Axe: https://amzn.to/3z0muqI
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It is commonly said that axe cheeks should be filed to a half moon or fan shape, or maybe more precisely that the area that should be ground on an axe should be a fan shape reaching back 3 inches from the edge. That recommendation is based solely on one basic style of axe head geometry, which is common in America, where the recommendation originates. This is a classic dummy rule that takes a recommendation with some relevance to a specific context, or in this case axe type, and applies it broadly and without qualification of any kind. The rule is dumb for two reasons. One is that it applies only to a certain type of unground axe out of the factory, and not even all American axes. Secondly, because it often states a dimension (3 inches) referring to how far back the axe is ground, which is pretty much arbitrary and dependent on the original grind of the head, like how high the centerline of the axe is and the depth, width and placement of the mid-blade hollow, assuming there is one of course.

While nearly all axes as they come from the factory must be ground to be highly functional for chopping, recommendations on how to grind them are quite variable and often somewhat vague. Bernard S. Mason's, "Woodcraft" and the USDA pamphlet that draws heavily from the same, "An Axe to Grind" both offer a template to measure the curvature of the axe from the bit inward which is more useful, and can be applied along with the fan grind principal. Dudley Cook in his excellent book "The Axe Book" http://amzn.to/2gLwz3I is the most specific about the geometry of how he preferred an axe to be ground.

Bottom line is that giving the fan recommendation with no caveats about where it is and is not applicable, and adding a dimension for the depth of the fan pattern are confusing to people trying to figure out how to grind axes that may not fit the pattern. Dummy rules are dumb. They try to replace thinking for dogma, attempting to appeal to the most ignorant common denominator rather than educating. They don't work for dummies, they make them. The functional goal is what is important, not what it looks like when finished, even if it is true in many of cases, at least in America. Education should define goals and foster understanding, not try to replace them with the easiest thing to understand as if everyone was too stupid to get it if it were actually explained to them.