Restoring Axe heads and general blades

[treelore]

With all the talk on the new RM GB axe and some very good points about doing it yourself, i thought
well why not have a go...so any tips about on,

Buying (faults to look for etc)

Restoring the axe heads/blades

Restoring shafts

What equipment is needed

so any help and advice will be great,

Treelore

 

[Ian S]

Hi Treelore

I have some old English axes that I've re-handled. Some tips:

1) Makes to look out for - Brades, Elwell, Gilpin, Marples, Morris of Dunsford, Parkes Biped, Spear and Jackson, Spearwell, Staniforth Severquick, Tyzack, Cornelius Whitehouse, and that's for starters. There are probably other good makes, but the only make I'd avoid is Jenks & Cattell. Jenks & Cattell axes are made from a sheet of steel, with the eye bent round and welded.

2) Condition - I try to avoid really rusted or pitted, and really battered polls. Don't worry about sharp/blunt - you hardly ever find a sharp axe - see below!

3) Restoring - sharpening is quicker if you have a bench-mounted belt sander (but take care). You can still sharpen with files, diamond stones and wet & dry - it just takes longer. You can probably guarantee that you will need to give the axe a good sharpening.

4) Handles - quite possibly knackered. Check that it's tight on the head, no splits, cracks, woodworm, rot or other nastiness and you might be OK. Alternatively make or buy a new handle and fit. I personally would err on the side of caution here and fit a new handle sooner rather than later.

It's great fun to refurbish an old tool and give it another, potentially, 50 years' worth of life.

Cheers

 

[Everything Mac]

It can be quite rewarding.

if you are going to buy a whole axe - make sure that there are no defects in the wood, ie no wood worm, cracks. Make sure the handle fits the head well and doesn't wobble. - ideally it will have a good wooden wedge (often with a metal one perpendicular to that) but older axes are often held together with crappy wedges.

also try and find an axe that suits you- no point buying it if it's too heavy/light or doesn't fee right for you.

to re-furbish a handle - give it a good sanding and a coat of linseed oil.


as for heads - look for one which again has no cracks, dents or dings. - pitting from rust is no big deal. - these axes often get a hard life and will have a mushroomed butt where they have been used as a wedge and hit.

obviously they don't have to be sharp from the off.

as for tools - well what do you have already?

a hammer, knife, axe and some sandpaper will get you going but a belt grinder or even a disc grinder will speed things up. a wire brush or wire wheel attachment for your grinder will help get the rust off.

at the very least you need a pack of sand paper and wet/dry in various grades.
watch this video for handles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6XVva3BYVE

you can buy ready made handles but I often find these don't fit the heads all that well.


atb
Andy

 

[Everything Mac]

That reminds me - older axes were made out of a sheet and bent into shape. then they started forging them.
Ian lists the makes worth looking out for though personally I've heard bast things about spear and jackson.

Andy

 

[treelore]

cheers for that guys..how would you go about restoring the head/metal when it has pitting and or rust ?

i have an old Elwell billhook that i have got for headge laying that needs restoring and thought that on old axe would go well too

thanks again

treelore

 

[Ian S]

Hi Treelore

Depends on how badly it's rusted. Wire wool will shift light rust, as will a wire brush, as will the wire brush things you can get for electric drills and angle grinders. Some guys have used electrolysis - see here from the Bodgers' site.

You can't do much about pitting, other than grind past it (if possible) on the cutting edge.

As far as re-handling goes, I think that both Robin Wood and Big Red have posted how to do this?

Cheers

 

[Everything Mac]

What Ian said.

check the video in my first post here.

 

[Sherwood]

On all the heads i've restored (all 3 of them!), i've used a wire wheel attachment on a drill to remove surface rust, then files to get it back into shape before sharpening, and finishing off with a new handle.

One of these days I would like to get around to making my own handles.....:11doh:

I bought a very cheap Kent shaped axe at the car boot for 50p, and got given a much larger axe head for free!!
Once the weather warms up a bit i'm going to have a go at restoring the larger one, is there an easy way to remove the old broken wood from inside the head??

Heres one that started off as a rusty lump-

 

[bb07]

To remove rust,( if you aren't in a hurry) vinegar works very well. I recently soaked an old axe head in vinegar for about ten days and it took all the rust off. I was actually surprised by how well it worked, as this was the first time I tried it. All that was needed was a light brushing after removing it from the vinegar to have it cleaned right up.The resulting finish was a kind of frosted/pickled look for lack of a better description. Here's a before and after pic.

 

[Tengu]

Vinegar can help but I find it leaves a red patina.

I have worked on several hatchets but none artisticaly.

rust often hides a name stamp.

when cleaning up a head, do you get it shiny or just dark and rust free? I see a lot of shiny here, but my SFA is dark and unpolished...

 

[Everything Mac]

mine is relatively dark and rust free Tengu.

 

[Ian S]

I keep mine dark as well - I figure that it's a coating or a patina that helps to prevent rust.

Cheers

 

[Hugo]

I use a wood drill to remove the wood from an axe head, finishing off with a hammer and small chisel.

 

[Devlman]

cheers for that guys..how would you go about restoring the head/metal when it has pitting and or rust ?

i have an old Elwell billhook that i have got for headge laying that needs restoring and thought that on old axe would go well too

thanks again

treelore

Hi Treelore!
I have restored a lot of axes with severe pitting. To get all the pitting out you have to get the grinder out! Sounds very severe but the only way to remove serious pitting is to grind it out until u achieve a flat surface again. Make sure u do it a bit at a time and keep the surface as uniform as u can. Then get the sander disc on the grinder and polish it smooth to get rid of the grinder scuffs. Once it is nice and smooth get out your sander and sand it down starting with maybe 120grade and finish with smooth 120grade. Once it is nice and new looking u can get a very good mirror finish by using a worn out 120grade sander pad and go over the axe until u get the shine u want. Go easy with the grinder though!!! It can be unforgiving if u go too hard at it! There's no rush! I will post some of my axes on the site.....if I can work out how! Let us see when u are finished!! all the best!