just as a side note,you don't see as much info in the camping "how too do it" books on the ax and it's care and sharping as you once did.i have some older books that have not only the use of the hockey puck shaped stone but how to drive in stakes to hold the ax against a log so you can file with both hands,more control i guess. and some more detailed stuff on how to bury the head in such a way that a busted handle can be burned out without killing the temper of the edge.i have said this before,my Gransfors small hatchet is the only thing i ever cut myself on.i was carrying it a short way without the sheath and just brushed a finger on the back edge and got a surgical style cut,i pitched it shut and it stopped bleeding in a couple minutes..that's sharp.i would think when an axe was a tool used every day at work that they did not come with a sharp edge because every logger had his own way of doing that and getting it just right was a matter of personal pride.