How to restore and old hand-axe?

[Eelco]

Hello fellow-bushcrafters,

hand-axe

again I must ask for your advice. On ebay I bought an old (1930-1950) small german hand-axe, which looked very practical to me. As you can see it has an axe head (obviously) as well as a hammerhead in the back, and a screwdriver/crowbar on the other end. It is totally worn out though, it has probably been lying in the mud or something. It's totally steel, so it'll hold out the next 50 years as well i suppose. Anyway there is a piece of the handle missing, the wood part. I once saw a picture of it, but can't seem to find it now. Obviously I'm going to restore it a bit by reattaching the wooden panels. Luckily i've just traced a piece of ash-wood which I'm gonna use for it.

My question Is: Should I treat the wood with something? and if so, what? and where can I get it?

With kind regards,

Eelco

 

[Big John]

Hi Eelco,

I know this has been covered elsewhere, but I just did a quick search and didn't find anything, try searching the forums yourself though as it's often discussed.

Personally I've used Danish Oil on my recent knife handle project, which is mostly Tung Oil with a few extra bits thrown in! I soaked it in the oil for 24hrs to make sure it had properly penetrated the wood.

Tung Oil and Linseed oil are also mentioned by various people. If you search for any of these in the forums here I'm sure you'll find loads of info.

Danish and Linseed oil were both available from my local hardware shop.

 

[JohnC]

Hi there, I have one of these, It still has some original (i think) green paint on it. It has had a lot of use around the house, garden and allotment and is very sturdy for the size.
No wood scales on it, one of those projects I always mean to get round to

 

[Dave Budd]

that's a beautiful little thing! seriously, I do like it.

If somebody brought it to me to refurbish, this is what I would do (though there are many moire ways than mine):

-remove all rust with a wire cup on the angle grinder (and/benchgrinder version)
-wipe over with nice hardening oil, such as Danish to protect the metalwork.
-replace the handle as I would with any knife or other full tanged tool (lots of
tutorials on that about)
-regrind teh edge very carefull with a grinder then hone to as sharp as needed with wet adn dry on a foam backing.
-oil the sheath and take it outside to see what it's like bofore returning it to the customer

the big problem would be deciding what sort of wood to use

 

[Eelco]

Thanks, i liked it too! Got it all the way from Canada Anyway i'm thinking about not touching the metal, since it'll only get thinner. I'm not sure wether it's stainless, or just plain steel. Either way, if it's plain steel the corrosion should provide reasonable protection against further deterioration. On the subject of treating the wood, a friend told me not to treat it at all, but just use it a lot. Then my hand-grease would provide de maintenance, how about that?

 

[george]

Hi Eelco - Dave and the others have pretty much covered the restoration questions but I might know a little bit about your axe.

It's a packing case hatchet that would have been used for making and opening shipping crates.

I used to have one that I was given from an ex dockworker in Glasgow who said they were used all the time to pry open crates or nail down a stray plank etc. Mine was made in Germany too though I can't recall the manufacturers name.

Mine was a bit cheap and nasty and pretty brittle - in actual fact I broke off one of the tines on the prybar pulling out a nail. The edge geometry was hopeless on mine too and it was only useful for breaking up pallets etc. I eventually lost it in a house move.

I believe you can still get them though and sometimes see similar (but not as nice as yours) sold as "survival tools" like this one here: http://a248.e.akamai.net/f/248/5462/2h/bodyarmour.safeshopper.com/images/w0wkhfw.jpg

Hope this helps

George

 

[Angus Og]

Looks like a old style roofing axe to me. Nice old axe.

http://www.estwing.com/hatchet8.htm

 

[Eelco]

Lots of different possible histories, i like it! I was told by the seller that it was an old boy-scout axe, which seemed plausible to me. On the head it says "D.G.M', which is supposedly it's manufacturers name. On the back it says germany. The wooden panels are about done. The problem right now is attaching them. I originally planned to fasten them with those opposing screws (like in doors), but someone suggested I "bolt" or "rivet" them together. Which basically means I put large sawed-off nail through them, and flatten the other side with a hammer. Obviously I need soft-steel nails, which i got from my father, but making them flat in a more or less normal way is not that easy.