A good while ago, I picked up a tiny Lee Reeves belt axe that had been re-handled and well used
Axe Alone by British Red, on Flickr
I spoke to Lee's lovely wife Charmagne and she sent me over a new helve in Lee's signature fiddle backed maple
It eventually arrived having been mauled by international post
Axe, mask and replacement helve by British Red, on Flickr
I have done nothing with it since...until today
I clamped up the axe in a padded vice
2) Padded vice by British Red, on Flickr
and sawed the old helve off
3) Sawn off Helve by British Red, on Flickr
4) Sawn off Head by British Red, on Flickr
I padded and clamped the head in my pillar drill and removed most of the wood from the eye - being careful to avoid the metal wedge
5) Drilling Out old helve by British Red, on Flickr
Back in to the padded vice to tap out the old wood
6) Tapping Out waste wood by British Red, on Flickr
The new helve was rasp fitted, wood and metal wedged (in the same way as I showed on a recent post)
7) New Helve in place by British Red, on Flickr
Danish oil was used to bring up the grain and the head given a good sharpen and polish
8) Sharpened and Danish oiled by British Red, on Flickr
I used some oil dye and was to refinish the mask
9) Re-finished Mask by British Red, on Flickr
and here we have it - a lovely little belt axe that knocks spots off the Gransfors mini in my view - 1080 high carbon bit in a 1018 mild carbon steel body, hand made by one of the finest axe smiths of our generation. I don't pretend its as neat as when Lee made it - the helve picked up a couple of small bruises in transit (tiny cosmetic marks only) and there is one scratch on the cheek - but its a stunning axe!
10) Completed Axe and Mask by British Red, on Flickr
11) Axe in Mask by British Red, on Flickr
Red
Axe Alone by British Red, on Flickr
I spoke to Lee's lovely wife Charmagne and she sent me over a new helve in Lee's signature fiddle backed maple
It eventually arrived having been mauled by international post
Axe, mask and replacement helve by British Red, on Flickr
I have done nothing with it since...until today
I clamped up the axe in a padded vice
2) Padded vice by British Red, on Flickr
and sawed the old helve off
3) Sawn off Helve by British Red, on Flickr
4) Sawn off Head by British Red, on Flickr
I padded and clamped the head in my pillar drill and removed most of the wood from the eye - being careful to avoid the metal wedge
5) Drilling Out old helve by British Red, on Flickr
Back in to the padded vice to tap out the old wood
6) Tapping Out waste wood by British Red, on Flickr
The new helve was rasp fitted, wood and metal wedged (in the same way as I showed on a recent post)
7) New Helve in place by British Red, on Flickr
Danish oil was used to bring up the grain and the head given a good sharpen and polish
8) Sharpened and Danish oiled by British Red, on Flickr
I used some oil dye and was to refinish the mask
9) Re-finished Mask by British Red, on Flickr
and here we have it - a lovely little belt axe that knocks spots off the Gransfors mini in my view - 1080 high carbon bit in a 1018 mild carbon steel body, hand made by one of the finest axe smiths of our generation. I don't pretend its as neat as when Lee made it - the helve picked up a couple of small bruises in transit (tiny cosmetic marks only) and there is one scratch on the cheek - but its a stunning axe!
10) Completed Axe and Mask by British Red, on Flickr
11) Axe in Mask by British Red, on Flickr
Red
