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.
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.
>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.
>soak it in vinegar
>file out the nicks on the blade and sharpen it
>fit it with a new handle
>oil it
easy peasy
>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.
>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.
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.
Update: After hearty application of some sandpaper and a wire brush, we soakin.
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.
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.)
doh, pic.
That axe head is mounted upside down
the old one was, yeah. my pops did that before i was even born, so i plead innocent
Hey, that's pretty cool, anon!
Oh shit we looking good
Make sure you wash it and oil it, after vinegar soak these things have a tendency to flash rust
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.
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.
Jersey axe? Nice. Tell us how it turns out.
check outdoor boys on youtube. the dudes got a few videos about axe restoration using a variety of techniques.
Pls don't use vinegar, it's far too acidic