Found a cool old axe head in the woods behind the house. Any tips on restoring/refurbishing it?

Found a cool old axe head in the woods behind the house. Any tips on restoring/refurbishing it?
Also post cool gear you've found or fixed up.

250 Piece Survival Gear First Aid Kit

LifeStraw Water Filter for Hiking and Preparedness

250 Piece Survival Gear First Aid Kit

  1. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    >Any tips on restoring
    Great score, Anon. I wouldn't use any power tools on it, other than maybe a brass wire brush to get the initial rust off.
    >Also post cool gear
    I found an old spanner wrench once while hiking out near an abandoned mine.

  2. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    >soak it in vinegar
    >file out the nicks on the blade and sharpen it
    >fit it with a new handle
    >oil it

    easy peasy

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >oil it
      Just the handle or the handle and the blade? I've been wondering if I should try to put some kind of finish on the head.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        >blade
        I mean head. I don't know why I said blade.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        >blade
        I mean head. I don't know why I said blade.

        vaseline is a good coating for the head. similar to tung/linseed oil, it polymerizes and fills in the tiny cracks/holes in the steel and keeps it from rusting.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          Or you can paint it, or you can use a hair dryer to heat the head up and apply mineral oil, carnauba wax, or ren wax.

  3. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Update: After hearty application of some sandpaper and a wire brush, we soakin.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      https://i.imgur.com/RmKdvg8.jpg

      Oh shit we looking good

      https://i.imgur.com/fpkfV8K.jpg

      This things still got a pretty decent edge on it. I've taken off most of the surface rust, going to let it soak a little longer to see if I can work some more out of the pits.

      Do a search for "black oxide" in your area. There's probably a shop not too far away that does it for industrial applications and you can get the axe head done for minimal costs.

      NOTE: do this before mounting on a handle, as the steel axe head will be dipped in boiling hot chemicals to get the finish.

  4. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Took an old axe that my dad gave me (probably 40 years old at this point) and restored it for my kid. Obviously not a metal worker, so go easy on me.

    I got a flap sanding wheel for my drill (220grit) and got it down to a fairly smooth finish (not polished, who has time for that, plus it's an axe)
    then with some vinyl tape and a cricut knife, i made the design inlay, and acid etched it (2 9v batteries in parallel, with a vinegar/salt solution)
    for the handle it was just a basic hardware store hickory handle with a few coats of tung oil.

    (ignore the kid's gloves in the last frame, he's 8, no idea.)

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      doh, pic.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        That axe head is mounted upside down

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          the old one was, yeah. my pops did that before i was even born, so i plead innocent

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      https://i.imgur.com/iMKP8z2.jpg

      doh, pic.

      Hey, that's pretty cool, anon!

  5. 2 years ago
    Anonymous
  6. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Oh shit we looking good

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Make sure you wash it and oil it, after vinegar soak these things have a tendency to flash rust

  7. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    This things still got a pretty decent edge on it. I've taken off most of the surface rust, going to let it soak a little longer to see if I can work some more out of the pits.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      No need to grind down the pitting. Pits don't take any functionality away from the ax and you'll just take off good material.

      Put an edge on it, rehang it (you can buy GOOD quality handles from househandle dotcom), and oil everything.

  8. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Jersey axe? Nice. Tell us how it turns out.

  9. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    check outdoor boys on youtube. the dudes got a few videos about axe restoration using a variety of techniques.

  10. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Pls don't use vinegar, it's far too acidic

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