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I did a lot of thinking on it and decided to order a Wetterlings ax. I got it yesterday and it has a crack in it. I don't think it's supposed to be there. Kind of dumb, but I know it's forged and you're going to see imperfections but wouldn't something like this be a weak spot? Would something like this be cosmetic or a problem? You can see it go through to the inside of the metal by the wood. better?
"I didn't get the sophisticated gene in this family. I started the sophisticated gene in this family." Willie Robertson
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Unexceptable flaw in my eyes.
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I'd return it. That's unacceptable, particularly for a quality ax.
Capt Ron
Magnolia Bluff, FL..............Where Heaven is a local call!
~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
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I'd return it. That's unacceptable, particularly for a quality ax. +1, bummer but you need a new one.........dj
Remember this is all supposed to be for fun.......................
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I've attended exactly 2 blacksmithing workshops. I don't know what would make the metal crack. I've seen the video of them making axes and they chop off a billet and run it through dies to shape it. I wonder if pushing the drift through for the eye could do that or maybe it split when it cooled... I'm curious what happened! Really.
"I didn't get the sophisticated gene in this family. I started the sophisticated gene in this family." Willie Robertson
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Is it a new one or a used one???
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Joined: May 2008
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Is it a new one or a used one???
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I would like to know what Wetterlings says when you contact them. I'm considering get their 'hunter's ax'.
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Campfire Kahuna
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Call Wetterlings, and process a return. They shouldn't have let that one leave the factory, and damned well ought to make it right.
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Call Wetterlings, and process a return. They shouldn't have let that one leave the factory, and damned well ought to make it right. +1
"If dogs don't go to heaven, when I die I want to go wherever they went." -Will Rogers
"If you have a lot of self control you don't need a lot of government control" - Thomas Sowell
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Get a refund and then buy a Council axe. My hunting pard has one like in the picture and it cuts like a champ. Made in USA, too. http://www.counciltool.com/product.asp?pg=product&item=175HB28L.W.
"Always go straight forward, and if you meet the devil, cut him in two and go between the pieces." (William Sturgis, clipper ship captain, 1830s.)
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Just going by the picture, the axe appears to be made of cast iron, and it cracked as it cooled. It might also be cast iron that is forged to shape and cracked from shock and cooling.
But, if the axes are forged, then that nulls the above guess.
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The ax is new. I just took it out of the box and saw the crack. My friends think I'm cursed because they are supposed to be so good. I was kind of surprised to see it. I am also kind of perplexed that the manual says the axes are ground for cutting softwoods. They expect you to re profile the edge if you want to cut hardwoods. Hardwood is what we've got!!! There's a lot to this stuff.
"I didn't get the sophisticated gene in this family. I started the sophisticated gene in this family." Willie Robertson
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Can't imagine anyone, let alone Wetterling, making any blade out of cast iron. I have seen older axes made from cast steel but they tend to be roughly finished with obivious casting features.
Steel forgings can have problems and my first guess would be an inclusion in the metal producing a stress riser that lead to the cracking. Or some other flat out loss of process control in the manufacturing process.
Have it replaced.
The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. Albert Einstein
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Campfire Ranger
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Rob, those Wetterlings are the poor man's Gransfor Bruks. The Wetterlings aren't quite finished as well in profile, thinness, etc. but remain a better value.
Both are forged.
I can't tell by your pic, but are you sure those are cracks in the steel, and not just surface scale left over from the forging process; not fully polished off?
Epstein didn't kill himself.
"Play Cinnamon Girl you Sonuvabitch!"
Biden didn't win the election.
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Add, you can see the crack going through to the other side. At the bottom where the handle goes in, you can see it.
"I didn't get the sophisticated gene in this family. I started the sophisticated gene in this family." Willie Robertson
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Campfire Ranger
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Gotcha. If you are happy with the model and balance, I'd do what other's have suggested and just do a return/exchange. Wetterlings have a good rep., doubt you will come across that again. Also, keep an eye out for Husqvarna and prices Vs the Wetterlings-- if I recall, those are just relabeled Wetterlings (same factory, etc)...
Epstein didn't kill himself.
"Play Cinnamon Girl you Sonuvabitch!"
Biden didn't win the election.
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You own some knife making tools.
Grind a trough along the crack on both sides of the blade. Fill with arc weld, or wire weld, whatever you have acces to or what you have.
Dress down weld on grinder. Smooth up entire axe head on grinder, and polish.
Should be better than new, and look much better.
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