Restoring an old axe

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
8,460
8,332
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
Thanks Broch .
They look easy enought that I could manage to make that in my very limited abilities.
I might have a go ...

Also nice old axe that one ! I bet it has some history .
Turn of the 19th century makes it about 100 years old! What's the story behind it ?
Sorry for being nosey

Unfortunately I don't know it's history. I restore old 'English' steel axes when I find them on car boot fairs and antiques fairs - I never pay more than a few quid for them. It started with my father giving me my Grandfather's axe (no jokes :) ) which is still my go-to camp axe. You can't have too many axes :)
 

Leshy

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
2,389
57
Wiltshire
Cool hobby!

Restoring old tools is very rewarding and quite good fun .
I have a few chisels that were given to me by a friend , half of them have handles missing or damaged but the steel is fine , I'll be putting some rough Ash handles on them once I've removed the rust and given them a new edge .
Looking forward to that.

Good shout on the car boot sales too , just never seem to find the time to go on those little treasure hunts...

Cheers
 

Sparky415

Tenderfoot
Feb 10, 2013
99
19
Oxfordshire
PS-
Axe mask ideas for a leather deficient novice very welcome .
And all the discussion here , on or off topic is more than welcome!!


Always nice to see some axe restoration!

You can make one with 4" PVC pipe and a heat gun if you have any scrap bits
sFZLack.jpg
 
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Leshy

Full Member
Jun 14, 2016
2,389
57
Wiltshire
....
Nice job on that axe Leshy! I hope it is of great help to you in the future when it's nice and sharp again!

Tusen takk elskling, kanskje du kan hjelpe meg med litt Kolrosing neste gang du kommer ned.

Kan ikke vente
 
Last edited:

Birch Axe

Member
Apr 28, 2018
41
11
The Woods
Very nice job, I much prefer using older tools. In my eyes it is so wasteful to go out and buy a new axe if you are able to restore an old one.

At the end of the day they are all intended for the same use!
 
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Ascobis

Forager
Nov 3, 2017
146
77
Wisconsin, USA
Exactly how do you do it?
Will set up rig and take some photos later, stay tuned.

Meanwhile, find yourself a source of low DC voltage. Six volts is entirely suitable. Get a pack of alligator clips and some wire at your favorite electronics or hardware store. Lamp cord works great. (The alligator clips are, ultimately, optional.) Find a chunk of iron or mild steel to use as a sacrificial anode. Soup cans are fine for this, but you'll want to tune your atom supply as you get into the topic. Get a non-conductive vessel. A plastic bucket will work. I use a plastic basin. Arrange the sacrificial anode so that it surrounds, as closely as practical, the tool. Do not let the two touch.

Fill the basin with water. Make the water a conductor by adding Calcium carbonate (Washing soda). (Baking Soda (Calcium bicarbonate) is middle, NaCl works but it's your last choice). Chat up your local chemistry teacher for some better salts. Clip the _black_ cathode to your tool. Clip the _red_ anode to your sacrificial anode. Clip the other end of your wires to the battery as appropriate. The electrodes evolve O2 and H2. After a few hours your sacrificial anode is a corroded mess, you have nasty bubbly gunk floating on the water surface, and your tool is covered with a slimy black coating. Disconnect the electrical connections. Brush off your tool with hot soapy water and admire the shiny rust-free surface.

Dry the tool immediately. It has no oxide coating at all and will flash-rust before your eyes.

Pro tips:
- Add a dishwasher anti-calcium product to the electrolyte solution. In the States the product is called "Calgon".
- Add a drop of dishwashing detergent per gallon of electrolyte. It helps aggregate the scummy particles. In the States, "Dawn" is the product of choice.
- Use a sacrificial anode that is made of the same atomic constituents as your tool. For example, you could use a copper penny as an anode and your tool will end up copper-plated. Use an iron anode and you will replace the tool's oxides with iron.
- Have a bottle of alcohol ready as you scrub the tool. Rinse the tool in hot water and then flush with alcohol (or WD-40).
- Use a clever salt. I have a jar of a chromium salt, which I treat with great respect because it is carcinogenic.
- Connect a car battery trickle charger to your 6-volt battery. The charger provides amps, the battery smooths out the current and stops the mains blowing a fuse.
- Your government may have debased your coinage with zinc. This is wonderful. One might, hypothetically, cut up post-1984 US pennies and dissolve them in HCl. The copper doesn't dissolve and one might, hypothetically, be left with a lovely high concentration of ZnCl. With that as the conductive salt one might, hypothetically, electro-galvanize screws, bolts, and nuts for one's 4x4. [It takes _seconds_ per bolt. Hypothetically. Governments are so cross about their coins.] Make some FeCl2 for your steel tools.
- That rubbery mesh sold as non-skid drawer or cupboard liner is useful to prevent your tool and the anode from touching.
- Get creative with large sheets of plastic and sandbags. Fix up that sword you found in Gran's attic.

I learned all this on Usenet many years ago. _That's_ why I use *basic* text markup, semicolon hyphen right-paren.
 
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Ascobis

Forager
Nov 3, 2017
146
77
Wisconsin, USA
Aha, that is a 'mask'!
Sorry, my previous post ( the rawhide one) was how to make a protecting collar for the handle closest to the ax head.

I have a rubber collar on my sledge hammer. I once missed the end of the driftwood plank I was driving under a buried 4x4 wheel and the head went sploosh into the quicksand. I understand the desire to protect the handle. Still, then and now, the correct approach is to develop skill so that one does not need a protective collar.

And that said, a rawhide collar applied wet and dried into a tight collar would look really cool. Pics, please.
 
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