Axe restoration thread

[rarefish383]

Poppycock !!!

Of course you need multiples !

Do you use a piece of rope for a belt and just thread it through all those holes to keep them close? Joe,
.

 

[Multifaceted]

Poppycock !!

Of course you need multiples !

Ahhh... I feel better already!

Did I show you guys these ?

A find in September , 10$ each .

Excellent finds, is that one a Hults Bruk?

 

[dancan]

Yup, Hults Bruks .
Every September a series of local yardsales start , last year I spotted that same axe at one residence that we stopped at , I had bought a hatchet and a couple of tools there but left it behind thinking I had multiples in that size .
A few weeks after I started to thing about that axe because it had a nice old school handle , thin and original to the axe .
It haunted me for a year , you always remember the deal that you missed or didn't jump on the opportunity .
This September on the right day I made a bee-line right to that house to see if it was still there to be had .
It's mine now
I know for sure it was a factory handle because it had the "Sealed forever" epoxy that many Scandi's used back then .

I fabbed up a metal guard on one of my splitters .

 

[Multifaceted]

Nice! I wish I could find old Swedish axes like that around here. The yard sale circuit for me has been weak, I've had better luck on Craigslist and online trading.

 

[dancan]

It'll be slack up here till next summer when the yardsales start up again .
I've been known to send some duplicates away , why just the other day I packaged up a 700g head and sent it across the pond
I'll keep my eyes open , what size would you want ?

 

[dancan]

Here's a 3 1/2lbs Hults Bruks Agdor new double bit that I scored for 25$ a couple of years ago

It's an awesome kindling splitter .

 

[dancan]

Here's a 1 1/4lb Scandi , polly Gransfors Bruks , hafted with the first handle I made .

 

[dancan]

Here's an Agdor hewing hatchet , 6lb Chinese wedge on a stick and a Black King

25$ for the 3 of them .

 

[Multifaceted]

It'll be slack up here till next summer when the yardsales start up again .
I've been known to send some duplicates away , why just the other day I packaged up a 700g head and sent it across the pond
I'll keep my eyes open , what size would you want ?

Wow, I really don't know what to say.... I mean, sure! I love Swedish axes and could use something in the 700-800g range. Let me know if there's something youre interested i and we can trade, I don't want to simply take without giving back. I recently did a trade with a fellow in Motala, Sweden. Got the old Hults 'Wira' pattern that I posted earlier. Traded him a Collins 4 lb Legitimus double for it. Pound for pound, not an even trade, but I can't find vintage Swede axes down here as easily as I can old American doubles. Shipping was about even anyway, so even enough for me.

Here's a 3 1/2lbs Hults Bruks Agdor new double bit that I scored for 25$ a couple of years ago

It's an awesome kindling splitter .

Awesome! I love it, love it! What a score to get that brand spanking new. If new, what was wrong with the handle?

Here's a 1 1/4lb Scandi , polly Gransfors Bruks , hafted with the first handle I made .

Nice work, do you have a close-up of the makers mark on that?

 

[Multifaceted]

As promised here are some pictures of one of the three hangs I did last weekend. First up is a vintage Hults Bruk 'Wira' pattern, 1kg/2.25 lb on a 28" curved haft.

Here is what it looked like when I got it from my contact in Sweden:

Here it is after the the rust was removed and brightened up with a die grinder:

And after the forced patina "Rust Blueing":

And finished:

 

[Multifaceted]

Here is a True Temper Kelly Perfect 3.5 lb Jersey on a 36" straight shaft. I've been meaning to get this done for months now. Had to find a handle that would fit the eye and was also straight and not curved. Found one through House Handle Co. and arrived with very good grain orientation, but the eye and shoulders were not properly aligned to the center of the shaft. They always come too thick with beefy shoulders anyway, so I often thin the handles out prior to hanging. This gave me an opportunity to correct the alignment as well.

Here she is:

 

[LondonNeil]

It'll be slack up here till next summer when the yardsales start up again .
I've been known to send some duplicates away , why just the other day I packaged up a 700g head and sent it across the pond
I'll keep my eyes open , what size would you want ?

Oooooooo. Santa I've been a good boy, I promise......

 

[svk]

Here is a True Temper Kelly Perfect 3.5 lb Jersey on a 36" straight shaft. I've been meaning to get this done for months now. Had to find a handle that would fit the eye and was also straight and not curved. Found one through House Handle Co. and arrived with very good grain orientation, but the eye and shoulders were not properly aligned to the center of the shaft. They always come too thick with beefy shoulders anyway, so I often thin the handles out prior to hanging. This gave me an opportunity to correct the alignment as well.

Here she is:

Fantastic as usual.

Bluing looks great!

You mentioned that you wanted a straight handle for the second one. Is that the correct handle for that head style or just the setup that you wanted in this case?

 

[Multifaceted]

Fantastic as usual.

Bluing looks great!

You mentioned that you wanted a straight handle for the second one. Is that the correct handle for that head style or just the setup that you wanted in this case?

Hey, thanks! I was very happy with the uniform of the rust blueing this go around. I commissioned a dedicated 2 gallon stock pot for this purpose and tried suspending it in the peroxide/salt solution. Not touching the bottom made for a more even rusting.

As to the Jersey, I wanted to try a straight shaft on a single bit. Double bits feel good, probably because they are better balanced, but it's not uncommon for single bits to get hung on straight shafts. Council Tool sells their Jersey axes with both curved and straight hafts:

http://counciltool.com/axes-hatchets-mauls-wedges/#jerseyrail

I've watched a lot of videos from the Forest Service and some of the workers use straight shafted single bits, that's where I got the idea.

 

[GVS]

Here is a True Temper Kelly Perfect 3.5 lb Jersey on a 36" straight shaft. I've been meaning to get this done for months now. Had to find a handle that would fit the eye and was also straight and not curved. Found one through House Handle Co. and arrived with very good grain orientation, but the eye and shoulders were not properly aligned to the center of the shaft. They always come too thick with beefy shoulders anyway, so I often thin the handles out prior to hanging. This gave me an opportunity to correct the alignment as well.

Here she is:

You do nice work!

 

[Multifaceted]

You do nice work!

Thank you!

 

[LondonNeil]

I agree, your axes are beautifully restored. Can you tell us more about the process for bluing the heads?

 

[Multifaceted]

I agree, your axes are beautifully restored. Can you tell us more about the process for bluing the heads?

I would be happy to, have done this a number of times now. It gives an ax a natural looking patina or 'straight from the forge' look to it when the original patina has been removed during restoration. Because it is also a passive oxidation layer, it acts as a barrier for further oxidation and protects the metal. Plus, it looks great... I don't really like the look of a bright steel ax head and they always seem to be prone to surface rust if not kept up on.

Anyway, here is a run down. First, the steel is brightened up with a wire brush cup wheel and sandpaper or grinder (I use a pneumatic die grinder, just be careful not to heat up the bit and draw the temper). You want to remove any deep pitted rust, old paint, or detritus. After that, I put on Nitrile gloves and de-grease the steel with acetone. Keep the gloves on because the oil from your skin will cause an uneven finish with the rust.

Once the steel is de-greased it is ready to put in the salt bath solution made up of 3% hydrogen peroxide table salt. In the past, I've used cheap non-stick baking pans for the salt bath, but this time I used a 2 gallon stock pot that I was OK with ruining. The peroxide is then heated up near boiling (it is mostly water, so the typical ~212/100 C/F temps) - when it starts to look like it's about to roll, start adding the salt. I'll add a lot, enough to where it starts to accumulate on the bottom, but do stir it in to dissolve. Once the solution is again near boiling, I'll remove it from the heat and add the ax. This time I also used a wire coat hanger (sorry, Mommy dearest) to suspend the steel and keep it from touching the bottom of the pot. In the past, having it touch the bottom resulted in an uneven rust coating. Here is what it looked like during a dry-fit:

When the steel is immersed into the solution, the rusting happens very rapidly and the solution will start to bubble. The vapors emitted during the process are corrosive, so I prefer to do this outside on a propane burner. After about 5-10 minutes, the reaction will start to slow down. From here I will then remove the steel from the solution, dunk it in a bucket of water and then use an old toothbrush to scrub the rust to even out the coating. Then dry and return to the salt bath. Make sure you keep your gloves on! I'll do this 2-3 times or until I'm satisfied with the rust layer.

During this process I'll have another stainless pot with rocks or a brick on the bottom, then fill it with distilled water, enough so that it will fully submerge the ax head. This water is heated up to boiling. The rocks or brick is to keep the steel from coming in contact with the bottom of the pot, because this will be kept boiling and that will get the steel hot enough to draw the temper and ruin it. Obviously, the bottom of the pot will be much closer to the heat source and will thus be much more hot than the surrounding boiling water. After your rust layer is established, rinse off and then put the ax into the boiling distilled water. If not already, the rust layer will start to turn from a horrible brown color to a black. Be careful when placing the steel onto the rocks or bricks so not to scratch the new coating you've put on.

After about 5-10 minutes of boiling in the distilled water, you can remove it, it will be hot enough to dry itself at this point, then return it into the salt solution. Try to keep it warm if you can. I'll repeat this 2-3 more times and build layer upon layer of oxidation until I'm satisfied with the coating. Once you are satisfied, let cool to touch, then lightly scrub with some extra fine 0000 steel wool to remove the dust. At this point I also like to add a thin coating of BLO, the polymerization of the drying oil further protects the finish making it that much more durable. That's it!

This is a process that has been kicked around for the past 10-15 years, but to give credit where credit is due, I first came across the process in a thread on Bushcraft USA forum:
https://bushcraftusa.com/forum/threads/rust-bluing-a-tutorial.16456/

 

[LondonNeil]

Thank you. Very clear instructions. It certainly gives a stunning finish.

 

[Multifaceted]

If you're wondering about the materials, for the above Hults Bruk finish, I needed a gallon of hydrogen peroxied (0.89 USD per 32oz bottle x 4 = 3.56 USD), and standard 26 oz canister of salt (1.25 USD), and then 1-2 gallons of distilled water (0.89 USD per gallon x 2 = 1.78 USD). So it costs me about 6-7 USD to do this effectively, not including sales tax or propane. I'm sure someone could get buy with just what they have around the house, but it's such a small cost for me so I don't mind paying for enough materials to get right the first time.