Our beloved edge tools

Hello!

You are right now visiting the knife blog called Knives - Tools & Art, witch I started back in 2011. Until 2019 this blog was very active. But after that we, Jonas Vildmark Bushcraftcenter, turned to our Facebook page called Edge Tools to publish our stuff focusing on news, info and inspiration on tools like knives, axes and saws.

Jonas Vildmark Bushcraftcenter offer classes on subjects like Bushcraft, Survival, Jägarexamen and Motorsågskörkort

At our website Jonas Vildmark Bushcraftcenter you can find out more about our tools and classes. There you can also find our new blog that can be of interest for you guys that like to know more about our life in the outdoors and the tools we bring.

But Knives - Tools & Art will stay here for now, to be used as an encyclopedia on tools we tested between the years of 2011 and 2019.


Take care

Kind regards

Mr. Jonas Landolsi

Chief Instructor

Jonas Vildmark Bushcraftcenter



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Säteryxan from Säters Yxfabrik - The Sater Axe

We crossed the fantastic history path of The Säter Axe (Säteryxan) when Jonas found an old and rusty axe out by the cabin and started to restore it. The cabin is built back in 1803 for the Village Black Smith in Gottröra and this place have a inspiring history. You can see more about the restoration of the axe by clicking HERE.
Below you'll find some general information about the Säter Axe. Please don't hesitate contacting us if you have any additional information that can help us gather correct information about the Säter Axe and it's history.


Photo: The cover of the Säter Axe catalog from 1935


The Axe Factory
The history of the Säter Axe Factory started in 1894 by Björshyttan 7 kilometers outside the town of Säter. In 1902 the company Säters Yxfabrik AB was founded by the businessman Mr Carl Rundqvist. In 1907 the production moved into a new facility inside Säter. Since the production was put down in 1966 the Säter Axe Factory building still stands on the same spot as a landmark of an fantastic era in axe history. You can see the beautiful building when passing on Road 70 trough Säter. Today it houses a cinema museum. After closing down in Sweden in 1966 the forge was bought by the Norwegian company Mustad who moved production to Norway, carrying on the Säter Banko, Säterpilen and Mustad Banko brands.  In 1971 Mustad was bought by Øyo who continued the Säterpilen and Øyo Mustad Norway brand until 1974. After 1974 they consolidated the brand under the name Øyo Norway and are still offering axes and knives. Read more about Øyo's history starting 1860 by clicking HERE.

Model Denominations 
When studying the Säter Axe product catalogs from the start up until the 60's you notice a number of classic patterns that stuck around. Often the denomination of the axes started with a model number followed by a hint of usage (for-instance Cleaving Axe or Carpenters Axe) finishing of with a geographical denomination (for-instance Umeå Model or Turpentine Model). Some axe model names was some-what exotic, probably to attract both Swedish and foreign customers. This as the Säter Axe also was well appreciated outside Sweden.

Stamps 
The Säter Axe have used a number of variations of stamps in the axe head over history. But generally can be said; until around 1920 the Axe Factory in Säter used a stamp showing a gnome holding a hammer and an axe. The stamped logo; Säter Banco (or Banko) started to be used during the 1920's and continued up until closing in 1966, even though the company also started to use a stamp showing a Moose and the two arrows of Säter. The word BANCO probably don't have any meaning, other than that is sounded good. A number of forges used the denomination BANCO during  this era, for-instance the Igelfors Liesmedja.


Photo: From traditional-tools.com


The Production Technique
The forging of the Säter Axe was very interesting as they kept to the old and special technique of inserting (laminate) a hardened piece of steel at the edge of the axe; hold together by the softer iron of the axe head. A bit like the technique of the knife manufacture Morakniv at the time. Around 1960 the Säter Factory also shifted into full metal axe heads just as the rest of the Swedish axe manufactures had done long before them. One of the reasons for this was the lack of professional black smiths.


Photo: Label description inside the 1935 catalog


Documentation 
The Technical Museum (Tekniska museet) made a thurow documentation of the axe factory the year after closing. And thanks to this we today have a lot of objects and documents preserved at the museum in Stockholm. By using the online service of the museum you can study some of the axes and photos from Säter. Take a look in the digital archive by clicking HERE.




The Swedish Axe
Our curiosity, love for history and old tools made the old Säter Axe that Jonas found out at the cabin the starting point of our life long project called; The Swedish Axe. The project has lead us to inspiring meetings with passionate people and interesting companies, all to gain knowledge of the high quality axes made in Sweden thought history and today. The project has so far produced a number of articles and a chance for us to spread knowledge about our axes to all our course attenders. We are grateful that the project The Swedish Axe has given us good connections at the big manufacturers; Hultafors, Gränsfors and Wetterlings, as well as good friends among the smaller Black Smiths of Sweden also producing beautiful axes but on a smaller scale.

Thanks for all of your Questions
Regarding the Säter Axe; we are humble and grateful for all of your questions that have been sent to us trough the years. There are professional axe collectors out in the world as well as locals just found and old axe that have questions for us regarding their beloved Säter Axes. We must confess that sometimes we get a bad conscious for not being able to answer you all in time. But now we hope to have found a solution in publishing more about the Säter Axe here on the web site for you in the future. So keep coming with your questions and hopefully we'll be able to get back to you sooner, perhaps not with long mails but, with an interesting link to information about the Säter Axe here on the website. So stay tuned.

Thanks for constantly supporting us in spreading the heritage of the Säter Axe by caring for your tools and stay safe when chopping wood. And if you have any stories, axes or documents you would like to share with us; you are more than welcome.

We want to send a special Thanks to Mr Chris Hinchcliffe at the Tekniska museet in Stockholm for his input to the text above.

See one of the articles about The Swedish Axe.

Follow the Swedish Axe project via Instagram and the hashtag #theswedishaxe.

Welcome to Jonas Vildmark Bushcraftcenter we offer classes on Bushcraft and Survival,




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Casström Lars Fält Knife

Jonas Vildmark have conducted at field test with the Casström Lars Fält Knife. This is a very nice and capable knife able to handle also rougher tasks. Read Jonas magazine article on the knife inside Vapentidningen nr.2 - 2019. Also stay tuned for an update below.






Welcome to Jonas Vildmark Bushcraftcenter, we offer classes on Bushcraft and Survival,

Fixed Blades under 50 Swedish Krona

Right now I'm conducting an quite interesting test; I'm doing a knife review on 11 different fixed blade knives with a price tag under 50 SEK (5 Euro). The work is planned to boil down into an article inside an upcoming issue of the Swedish magazine Vapentidningen. With this test I want to explore examples of what the first hand market here in Sweden have to offer me in the scenario of buying a fixed blade knife on a really tight budget.




The knife models included in this review are:

Lindbloms Knives 5101, Hard Head 122005 (9,90 SEK)
Lindbloms Knives, Hard Head 2633 (19,90 SEK)
Cocraft, Clas Ohlson 41-1074 (19,90 SEK)
Lindbloms Knives, Biltema 19-761 (34,90 SEK)
Lindbloms Knives 5000, ÖoB (36,90 SEK)
Morakniv Basic 511, Jula 121528 (39,90 SEK)
Fladen Outdoor Fishing Knife 17-13, ÖoB 1001130 (49 SEK)
Stark 651 (49 SEK)
Cocraft, Clas Ohlson 41-1081 (49,90 SEK)
Morakniv Basic 546, Jula 121529 (49,90 SEK)
Hultafors HVK, Bolist 700110618 (49,90 SEK)


There are of-course more low priced knife models out there than these 11 I've chosen to look closer at. And of-course you can make very nice finds on the second hand market. These 11 knife models are easy asses-sable and offered widely at big chains like; Biltema, Jula, Clas Ohlson and ÖoB here in Sweden.

I test these knives in the roll of a Bushcrafter; camp building, sloyding, hunting and fishing.

Please revisit this post soon to see the progress. And please contact me if you have any special experiences of these 11 knife models mentioned above.
See you soon again.

Welcome to Jonas Vildmark Bushcraftcenter, we offer classes on Bushcraft and Survival,


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Cold Steel Ultimate Hunter Orange

Cold Steel Ultimate Hunter Orange






Welcome to Jonas Vildmark Bushcraftcenter, we offer classes on Bushcraft and Survival,

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Spyderco C122 Tenacious Black Blade

Efter en tids nyttjande av knivmodellen C136 Persistence blev jag mycket nyfiken på storasyskonet Spyderco C122 Tenacious Black Blade. Denna knivserie som består av fyra modeller: C148 Ambitious, C136 Persistence, C122 Tenacious och C142 Resilience, är en mycket trevlig kvartett för dig som söker prisvärda bruksfällknivar.




Modellen Tenacious lanserades 2009 och blev snabbt en stor favorit bland publiken. Kniven finns i dag i ett antal varianter, med eller utan, helt eller delvist, sågtandat blad. Det jag sökte i just denna kniv, Tenacious Black Blade, var en tålig och diskret arbetshäst. Det faktum att hela kniven är svart gör att den inte drar så mycket blickar till sig då den sitter på byxfickan eller västen.

Näst störst i syskonskaran av fyra gör denna kniv till en allrounder, tillräckligt stor för lite grövre sysslor, samtidigt som den fortfarande är smidig att bära. Ett av de stora plusen med dessa knivar är att du kan montera bältesclipet på fyra olika sätt, beroende på hur du vill bära din kniv: höger- eller vänsterhänt, tipup eller tipdown. Personligen föredrar jag högerhänt tipdown.




Specifikationer
Tillverkare: Spyderco, Inc. Amerikanskt företag med tillverkning i USA, Kina, Japan, Taiwan och Italien
Modell: C122GBBK Tenacious Black Blade
Bladmaterial: Rostfritt stål 8Cr13MoV
Bladlängd: 86 mm
Bladtjocklek: 3,1 mm
Bladbredd: xxx mm
Knivlängd (stängd/öppen): xxx mm/197 mm
Handtagsmaterial: Svart G-10
Handtagstjocklek: xxx mm
Bärsystem: Bältesclip
Knivvikt: 120 g
Cirkapris: 749 kr (Sverige 2017)

Observera att alla mått är uppmätta av artikelförfattaren och kan skilja från tillverkarens uppgifter.

För att se mina övriga artiklar om Spydercos produkter; klicka HÄR.


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Hultafors Hultån Hatchet

The so popular little hatchet called Hultån is one of the models included in the Hultafors Premium Axes series. This is a nice little friend to bring when "the big axe" feels overkill or to heavy and bulky. The Hultån is also actually a pretty nice little carving axe.




To see more of my articles on Hultafors products; click HERE.

Welcome to Jonas Vildmark Bushcraftcenter, we offer classes on Bushcraft and Survival,