SECOND CLASS SCOUT

Sharpening an Ax

Keep your ax sharp with an 8- or 10-inch-long mill bastard file. The lines across the face of a file are its teeth. They angle away from the point, or tang. A sharp file will be drab gray. A silvery shine means a file has broken teeth that won't work very well. Wear leather gloves to protect your hands as you sharpen with a file. Make a knuckle guard by boring a small hole in a 3-inch-square piece of leather, plywood, or an old inner tube, slipping it over the tang of the file, and holding it in place with a file handle. You can buy a handle at a hardware store or make one from a piece of wood or a dry corncob.

Brace the ax head on the ground between a log about 6 inches in diameter and two wooden pegs or tent stakes. Another Scout can help hold the ax steady. Place the file on the edge of the blade and push it into the bit. Use enough pressure so that you feel the file cutting the ax metal.

Lift the file as you draw it back for another stroke. A file sharpens only when you are pushing it away from the tang. Dragging the File across the blade in the wrong direction will break the teeth and ruin the file.

Sharpen with firm, even strokes. After you have filed one side of the hit. turn the ax around md sharpen the other side with about the same number of strokes. A dull edge reflects light; continue to file until the edge seems to disappear.