Ax 'Speed Bump' Myth Debunked and Why You Want Yours Back (full vers.)

Have you been told you need to remove your ax's "speed bump"? DON'T DO THAT! It's not just bad advice. It's a mistake you cannot easily undo.

Watch this video. Then please, help the online ax community by getting out the word. There is no advantage whatsoever in removing what a Timber Sports professional calls the bevel's "bust" a serendipitous benefit that comes with flat-ground bevels. I wondered if they were using bust as an anatomical analogue, you know, like it's "chest" (not any weirder than having a toe and heel on your face, right?). Or do they call it the bust in reference to the action verb (bust as in "to break") -- because that's exactly what it does! It's a great performance enhancer.

For EastCoastLumberJack's discussion start at about 4 min. 25 sec. in this video I discovered he had posted about a month before I did mine:    • How to sharpen an axe  

It's why removing the bust is bad advice, because rounding it out or worse yet, flattening it, increases drag. Increasing drag

1. Decreases ax penetration, AND
2. Makes the ax "stickier," harder to retrieve.

You heard right: Leave the bust ON to increase depth of cut AND more effortlessly retrieve the ax from the cut.

I made this video to document an eye-popping demonstration of just how great the difference is. (Skip ahead to 19:47 if you're just interested in the demo).

Otherwise, watch carefully from beginning to end:

1. 0:12 What is the "speed bump" (better referred to as the "bust")?
2. 0:58 How does the bust improve performance in principle and theory?
3. 3:54 What does a chopping expert have to say? (Timber sports coach and competitor)
4. 6:36 "Cheesy analogy."
5. 19:47 Comprehensively comparative demonstration.

If you took the bust off your ax, you'll wish you had it back. More importantly, after watching this video you will never, ever advise someone to "get rid of their speed bump." Advice like that is a huge disservice to burgeoning ax hobbyists and the ax community as a whole.

See Buckin' Billy Ray's 6/21/2025 post on The China Axe? -- He repeatedly calls it a "bust" and makes several references to Rod Cumberland. The world we axmen/women live in... ain't it wonderful!

EDITING NOTE: Embarrassing. Screen titles include one captioned "Anaology." (What the heck is one of those?) HAhahaha.... Written American English expert here. LOL. And then another one using "testimonial" incorrectly. Word should have been testimony . If you can't be right 100% of the time, embrace your errors with humility and laughter. :)

#axes, #sharpening, #speedbump, #woodchopping, #primarybevel, #bushcraftaxe