Ressurecting an old axe

[doghouse]

Hi folks, decided to dig my Grandads old axe of the shed the other day and give it a clean up with the intention of using it as a small camping axe. It's sat in the shed for a few years and had a bad case of caked on rust and oxidisation, so I set too with my mouse sander and some fine sanding pads to remove the rust deposits.
After a couple of hours alternating between the sander and polishing out the dust particles with an old cloth and some WD40, it's come up quite shiny and it seems that it was only surface corrosion on the axe head. I also found a makers mark under the rust - it says Gilpin with a pussers arrow stamped next to it and the date of 1956. I'm guessing it dates back to when my Grandad was in the RAF as a mechanic and might have been "liberated" when he left (hence the pussers mark). I think it is a firefighting axe due to the straight haft, tomahawk style blade and long pick/backspike on the reverse. This would also fit with my Grandads time in the RAF as I'm pretty sure mechanics and groundcrew doubled up for firefighting duties too.
I would like to replace the haft of the axe as it appears to have suffered more in the damp than the head has, and is also missing a large chunk of wood just where your fingers would wrap around the palm swell. The problem is, the head is pinned to the haft through the langets and I'm not sure how to remove them. Would they drill out well (I'm guessing they are probably steel pins going through) or would I be better off seeking out a local metal worker who would have the tools to do the job?

Cheers,
Dan

 

[Draven]

Howdy!
First of all, you have more patience than me - I clean rust by soaking in vinegar then hitting with a steel brush in a power drill

Regarding the pins, are they rivets that stand proud or are they countersunk and/or flush? If they stand proud, a file might be enough to remove the head so you can tap it out. If not, a drill would be the way to go - use a punch to mark the dead centre and drill away. Naturally, you'll have to make sure you don't drill the langets themselves but rivet heads aren't usually a big bother in my experience.

I don't know how it works for UK military but here in the states all vehicles have a basic set of tools that includes an axe - so it could well have been 'acquired' from there!

Post pics

Pete

 

[doghouse]

I did start off with a wire hand brush - but that was taking too long
The mouse sander (along with a dremel) made short work of the rust without damaging the surface. Theres still some work to do in order to get the surface completely clean, but I might pick up some metal polish/compound like autosol to get it 100%
The pins/rivets are completely flush - you can barely see the outline of them against the langets.
Not sure if I can post pics - might have to upgrade to a full member for that

 

[Draven]

It might be worth a shot just tapping the pins with a punch and hammer - you never know, maybe they're not rivets and they've been held on by hopes and dreams all these years! Unlikely, but I'd try it. Barring that, drill sounds like the way forward!

You should be able to get a photobucket account and use it to post pics!

 

[tombear]

By any chance does it resemble these boarding axes which Gilpin made a private version into the 1930s according to the text

http://www.boardingaxe.com/british.html

atb

Tom

 

[doghouse]

This is it after half an hour with the mouse sander and some WD40 (which I had sprayed out into a tub while I was cleaning it)

(Ignore my finger - it got in the way )

Alongside another of my Grandads axes (which I also intend to renovate at some point) - this was about 2 hours work with the sander and dremel. I also took some coarser sandpaper to the haft to better see how good the wood was. It seems a little rotten around the edges of the langets - definitely needs replacing as I don't fancy it snapping on me during use

 

[Draven]

Looking good - I probably wouldn't sand it much more though or no one will believe you when you say it's 60 years young

That kent pattern it's sitting next to is also lovely - I had a little kent pattern with a stubby handle I used for wood carving. It was ugly as sin, the roughest axe I've ever owned, but it worked beautifully. I've had a fondness for the pattern after that one!

 

[doghouse]

The kent pattern (learn something new every day ) is a bit loose around the head and has a split running up from the butt of the haft, but it should be an easier job to fix this one. I might have a piece of hardwood in the shed in order to make a wedge for the top to secure the head to the haft.
The firemans axe, I'll give a final polish too once I've fitted it to a new haft.

 

[Sparky415]

The handle doesn’t look too bad to me Doghouse
I would just feed it a few coats of linseed oil, you would be might be surprised how good it looks

 

[malley]

That is identical to the firefighting axes that used to be carried on the appliances when I first joined. Used until late 1990s up here.

 

[doghouse]

The handle doesn’t look too bad to me Doghouse
I would just feed it a few coats of linseed oil, you would be might be surprised how good it looks

I've got some teak oil in the shed - would that work?

 

[Sparky415]

I've got some teak oil in the shed - would that work?

Yes Mate that would work

 

[doghouse]

Awesome - I'll rub a few coats of that in
The Kent axe is currently soaking in vinegar to try and clean it up. I've got a leather offcut the right size and shape to make a cover for it which I intend to stain black using vinegaroon.
The fireman's axe, I'm going to need a lot more leather for in order to make a pouch similar to those used by firemen in the 50s.

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

 

[richardhomer]

Looking good.
Can you keep us updated please on how you get on with the "Kent Patten" One too.

 

[doghouse]

Looking good.
Can you keep us updated please on how you get on with the "Kent Patten" One too.

No problem - I can do that

It's had a soak in vinegar overnight and a gentle scrub with some wire wool and it revealed the markings on the axe head. It's another pussers issue axe (looks like my Grandad was a little light fingered ) but dating from 1969. I did a bit of research on the makers mark and found it's an Elwell/Spear & Jackson make.
It's currently on an 18 inch haft, which has several splits running through it. I can't find anywhere locally that sells replacement axe hafts that short, and don't have the tools to make one from scratch, so I'm considering getting a slightly longer haft of maybe 24 inches as that can still fit in a pack and be easily used on camp with the scouts.

 

[doghouse]

Finally got the Kent pattern finished after hunting down a haft for it. I went slightly longer than the original 18" haft, with a 24" haft instead as I couldn't find a replacement haft of the same size locally and the longer haft will make it a bit more versatile for use round camp.
I also dyed some leather today with vinegaroon to make a cover for it. It'll be a bit basic and functional, but won't be winning any awards in the looks department

 

[Harvestman]

I love what you have done to the Kent pattern axe. It looks great with the longer haft. That looks like a really useful tool.