Axe restoration thread

[rarefish383]

Clarence, a while back you recommended not to lean an ax against the wall, they will bend from gravity. You may remember a few nice ones that sat in Dad's barn for 30 years, and took on a nice warp. You could almost split wood around a corner. Since they were original handles on nice heads, I leaned them against a wall in the basement, with the bow out, and they are almost straight now. Was thinking about making a jig on one of the work benches with pegs and maybe a bottle jack to straighten some of those nice originals when I run across them. What do you think?

 

[rarefish383]

You're talking the weekend of March 2nd-3rd, right? I might be up for that and lunch and a pint afterwards. York Fairgrounds I take it?

Feb. 23-24. I have a couple 1899 Savages I want to find a new home. Steve, James, Lead Farmer, everyone in the PA area come on down. We can have a mini GTG at the bar.

 

[Multifaceted]

Clarence, a while back you recommended not to lean an ax against the wall, they will bend from gravity. You may remember a few nice ones that sat in Dad's barn for 30 years, and took on a nice warp. You could almost split wood around a corner. Since they were original handles on nice heads, I leaned them against a wall in the basement, with the bow out, and they are almost straight now. Was thinking about making a jig on one of the work benches with pegs and maybe a bottle jack to straighten some of those nice originals when I run across them. What do you think?

Feb. 23-24. I have a couple 1899 Savages I want to find a new home. Steve, James, Lead Farmer, everyone in the PA area come on down. We can have a mini GTG at the bar.

Sat, 2/23 I'm booked solid the whole day. Helping a friend move in the AM, then I have my Homebrew Club's Annual Mardi Gras Tasting Party in the evening, which begins at 5pm. Sunday is still a possibility. Which day you plan on making the tip up?

Yeah, leaning against a wall with humidity and temperature fluctuations will cause warping like you describe. For this reason is why I advocate hanging in a rack or upside down on a hook and lanyard.

I think the jig idea would work well, perhaps if you can or had the means to - steam the wood prior to setting them in the jig.

 

[LondonNeil]

Aha! the pick axe handles i ordered arrived to day. the swell is gradual and one will have the width necessary to adapt and hang the hults bruk monster. it would have space front and back at the bottom, but i can probably make little packers for that. they are 36". i'll shorten to 32" so i'll lose the palm swell but could wrap some tape to recreate that. grain not bad either. fairly hopeful i can make this work.

 

[rarefish383]

Neil, I had a handle with a little space front and back. I made a custom Black Walnut wedge for it. It had a bit of a bullet shaped T on each end of the wedge, that fit perfect in the voids. That was on the White Ash handle I made for my throwing ax. The Black Walnut looked really good on the light white of the Ash. Unfortunately, I threw it one time and it hit on the end of the handle and drove the head on another 1/4 inch, and snapped off the little fillers. When I reset it, I didn't feel like taking the time to make a whole new wedge, so I just filled the voids with epoxy.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

How many of you guys use those pucks to maintain your axes? I thought about just using this with the appropriate grit wet/dry carborundum paper. Looks like the block would have more flat surface area.

 

[Multifaceted]

How many of you guys use those pucks to maintain your axes? I thought about just using this with the appropriate grit wet/dry carborundum paper. Looks like the block would have more flat surface area.
View attachment 715890

This isn't a bad idea, though the only downside I can think of is that you'll be changing paper often; however, the upshot is that you'll always have a flat surface to work with. One thing you're always combating with stones is that they wear down with valleys and uneven surfaces due to the convex shape and contour of the bit.

Typically I use a file for the heavy lifting in a vise, and a puck to maintain in the field if I eat some dirt while bucking.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

The previous tenant left this on the back deck. What do you think? Odd splitting maul or railroad spike driver. It's marked L8NRR on top (or bottom) and ALLOY on the other. it's 10.5" long and 1-7/8" tall at the eye.

 

[rarefish383]

Not sure what it is for, but I like it and if I saw one cheap, I'd buy it.

 

[95custmz]

The previous tenant left this on the back deck. What do you think? Odd splitting maul or railroad spike driver. It's marked L8NRR on top (or bottom) and ALLOY on the other. it's 10.5" long and 1-7/8" tall at the eye.

View attachment 716255 View attachment 716256 View attachment 716257

https://www.ebay.com/itm/183683031153 Looks like this RR spike driver.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

That it does. The bevels back at the hammer end match up pretty good. @rarefish383 , it's yours for the cost of flat rate shipping if you want it.

 

[abbott295]

It sure looks like an 8 in there, but if it were an & it could be L&NRR, Louisville and Nashville RailRoad. That is how I would read it if I had found it. I think I have something with double sledge heads that says something RR on it.

 

[kevin j]

It’s not a spike mall. They have a long thin round end so that the handle would never touch the top of the rail. but there’s a lot of other tools used on the railroad so it could very well be something for driving bolts and spikes on bridges and things.
and if it is a railroad logo stamped on it it was custom-made for them and is likely to be very high-quality because they took a lot of abuse and last a long time.

 

[dancan]

Check with mudstopper .

 

[Haywire Haywood]

L&NRR, Louisville and Nashville RailRoad

I'll bet that's what it is and they used an 8 instead of the & symbol. That railroad had a pretty good history going back a long time before being swallowed up in the 80s and eventually became part of CSX.

 

[rarefish383]

I'll bet that's what it is and they used an 8 instead of the & symbol. That railroad had a pretty good history going back a long time before being swallowed up in the 80s and eventually became part of CSX.

I bet you guys are right about the 8-&, stamp.

Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass. I have at least 20 axes downstairs and more in the garage. I think I have more chainsaws than axes too. I have 3 saws on the bench now. I bet if you sent that up to Multifaceted He'd make a show stopper out of it.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Multifaceted, you're up. Need another whatever this is in your stable?

 

[Multifaceted]

Multifaceted, you're up. Need another whatever this is in your stable?

That's not really in my wheelhouse, as I'm mostly into axes, but if you're really, really intent on having me work on it, then I'll consider. The thing is, I've got a little backlog going right now, can't say how long it'll take. It could be months before I get around to it, especially with the spring and summer coming up.

 

[Haywire Haywood]

Ok, I'll just chuck it under the bench. At least it won't rot on the deck any more.

 

[Stonesforbrains]

The previous tenant left this on the back deck. What do you think? Odd splitting maul or railroad spike driver. It's marked L8NRR on top (or bottom) and ALLOY on the other. it's 10.5" long and 1-7/8" tall at the eye.

View attachment 716255 View attachment 716256 View attachment 716257

Haywood I am not sure what that particular tool is used for, I found a spike driver on the side of the road near a railroad crossing a few years ago. Yours looks way better than what I found. It took me quite awhile to get the rust scale off of it. I gave it to my brother in law a few months ago to hang for me. Still haven’t got it back but not a big deal. I just thought it would look cool hanging up in the tool shed next to the old buck saw blade I found at my grandfathers place. You never know with a handle it might be just one of those cool looking pieces that hang on the wall.