The shipping was surprizingly fast from England. Hultafors owns Hults Bruk, who makes Hultafors axes for them. The Hults Bruk line is sold here in America, the Hultafors is sold in Europe, and the Husqvarna line is sold all over. The Hults Bruk line is supposed to have the best fit and finish. My Kisa, which has the exact same head as this axe, had a better edge grind so it seems that is the case.
The axe is very nice, but it does have some issues that will bother some buyers. I want to cover them so folks know what they will get with this axe from this company.
First off, the axe was shaving sharp as it came and completely usable. I was surprised how crooked the edge was ground. It was basically a flat grind with a convex secondary bevel. The end of the edge profile was a hard bump that would cause the axe to stick in a deep cut. One end of the grind was closer to one side, and the other end was closer to the other side. Basically the edge was shorter on one side of the toe and shorter on the other side of the heel.
While this would not have have effected chopping much, and most folks would be fine with a razor sharp axe, but I spent an hour straightening out the grind to my liking.
The handle was fine, but a little rougher than I like. I sanded off the warning on the back and the rest of the main part of the handle with 180 grit. Then I soaked the handle down in boiled linseed oil. It took a lot of oil before it stopped sucking it in. I let it soak for about 10 minutes and then wiped it down nice and briskly. It turned out extremely smooth and it feels great! The grain orientation is perfect.
The hang was pretty decent on this one. There is a small gap at the back, but that gap doesn't run too deep. The eye tightens in the middle and it's tight there. I don't expect much trouble from it.
The handle roughness doesn't bother me, but the quality of the grind on the edge was not as good as it could have been. Really, it was not much different than every Gransfors axe I've seen. None of them is ground perfect either. I probably expect too much from a non custom axe. It was very, very sharp from the factory. Now it's stupid sharp and the smooth convex will bite deep and not stick in the wood. Now I am very pleased.