Which Axe

[British Red]

Weird,

tried to post a link to how its progressing - seems to have got lost

Aah well lets try again

I think the blade is as clean as I can get it now - there remain some forge marks on the cheeks and shoulders, but I don't want to remove the amount of metal it will take to polish them out

So, is that good enough for Jimbo?

Soupy..more flat than large

Stonedog - I was chopping kindling with mine the other night - I reduced about 20 logs to sticks for the pure pleasure of the Roselli - knocks spots off my GBs

Right - back to sanding off varnish....he'd better like this thing
Red

 

[OldJimbo]

Looks good to me. The proof is in splitting a block by gentle tapping with a baton. Does it go much more smoothly than a person would expect, and the block pop apart? Rough or irregular sections of the ramp soon show up if they are present.

 

[British Red]

Looks good to me. The proof is in splitting a block by gentle tapping with a baton. Does it go much more smoothly than a person would expect, and the block pop apart? Rough or irregular sections of the ramp soon show up if they are present.

Didn't want to scank the cheeks so stuck to holding the poll and shaving feather sticks they worked fine!

Seriously though, thanks for the advice, she's slippery smooth now and ground to a finer angle than as sent! The paint is long gone and there a new blade profile. All varnish has left the handle and I've put a soak on to raise the grain. Overnight I'll laquer the blade (yeah I know you hate the idea but the guy its for has a rust phobia). Tomorrow will be second laquer coat and haft finishing - piccs to follow (all masked upright now)

Red

 

[OldJimbo]

I'm sure that your friend will get over rust phobia in time. The important part is that you've created something both good looking and effective. That's certainly something to be proud of, for a long time!

 

[British Red]

I'm sure that your friend will get over rust phobia in time. The important part is that you've created something both good looking and effective. That's certainly something to be proud of, for a long time!

Jimbo mate you are good for my ego!

I wish I could create an axe - I'm capable of "tidying" or in extremes "restoring". It takes a a better man than me to "create"

Red

 

[British Red]

Well, the heads about done, the haft wants a few more coats of oil but that won't change the look much. Here she is:

You can see the line near the bevel left by masking the laquer , still its not for me

For anyone who wants to see the whole job - here it is

I'll keep rubbing oil in till RB works his artistry on a cover for her - then she wends her way down to Devon. Its a strange thing isn't it when you put a lot of yourself into something.... I'll be sad to see her go Happy though cos shes going to a good home

Still after about :tapedshut hours work, she's nearly good enough to knock about in the tray of Hoodoos truck

Still worth the £10 you reckon?

Red

 

[OldJimbo]

It's sure an improvement on what you started from! When you add up the hours of work - don't forget that experience is worth a lot, too.

 

[British Red]

It's sure an improvement on what you started from! When you add up the hours of work - don't forget that experience is worth a lot, too.

Too true mate - Life is a lesson and I'm a fairly poor pupil! Thanks for all your encouragement though. The money doesn't matter - I don't bushcraft for money. I work to pay to spend time on things that cant be bought!

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

Im gonna havta depaint mine and oil the handle now as well, that looks really good

I dont know how to reprofile the edge tho, so i may just leave that alone....

Nice work

 

[British Red]

Im gonna havta depaint mine and oil the handle now as well, that looks really good

I dont know how to reprofile the edge tho, so i may just leave that alone....

Nice work

Spikey,

You got a coarse and fine metal file? If so, I'll talk you through it. You'll need some way of finishing the edge at the end though, water stones are great but B&Q oil stone (around £10) work well too!

The way I saw this one is its a cheap axe worth the work. If it goes wrong, you wont have lost much. Its worth it - go on - jump in - give it a go

Red

 

[scanker]

I'd be interested to hear about reprofiling, Red. I've already started on removing the paint!

 

[jason01]

Nice job Red I'm in the middle of going at mine with an angle grinder

 

[British Red]

Nice job Red I'm in the middle of going at mine with an angle grinder

Skanker,

A few questions then,

Are you going to use hand tools or power?

Are you looking for a major change to the blade profile or just to tidy and improve?

Do you have a use in mind for the axe? The one I've done for tim is profiled as a "splitter" rather than a "cutter". I'll try to get a higher resolution pic of the profile posted to show wht I've done.

BTW, I'd get Jason's advice rather than mine - I have one his steels and its a work of art so if his axe come up like that it'll be beautiful!

Anyway, if you let me know what you are looking to achieve, I'm sure people on here more knowledgeable than me will jump right in too!

Red

 

[SMARTY]

it arrived on tuesday. 24" Hudson Bay Camping Axe by Snow & Neally. I couldn't find a UK distributor so ordered it from th US. www.forestry-suppliers.com. I ordered it in December so it took a while. Including postage total cost $65.i have used the SFA, handles a touch short for me. I plan to thrash the new axe next week end. Will report then on its performance.

 

[British Red]

Smarty,

Before you do, could bung a few pictures on please? I'd love to see a close up of the face and one from the top showing the blade profile if you could manage it! Always like to get to know a new axe!

Red

 

[soup_monger]

I second that request for photos of the Snow & Nealley Hudson Bay Camping axe.
Close ups would be great.

 

[scanker]

Red: Just a general tidy up really. I don't have an angle grinder, so it would have to be with a file.

I'll probably use it more for splitting, but I don't suppose I'll be able to change the profile much with just a file. TBH I might not be able to do much more than remove the paint and varnish and give it a good sharpen, but I'd be interested to know what could be achieved.

 

[jason01]

Skanker,

A few questions then,

Are you going to use hand tools or power?

Are you looking for a major change to the blade profile or just to tidy and improve?

Do you have a use in mind for the axe? The one I've done for tim is profiled as a "splitter" rather than a "cutter". I'll try to get a higher resolution pic of the profile posted to show wht I've done.

BTW, I'd get Jason's advice rather than mine - I have one his steels and its a work of art so if his axe come up like that it'll be beautiful!

Anyway, if you let me know what you are looking to achieve, I'm sure people on here more knowledgeable than me will jump right in too!

Red

Cheers mate firesteels are one thing but axes I dont know much about! I can tell you theres a lot of rubbing involved in working on an axe , without power tools it could be quite a soul destroying task! The paint will come off easily enough with a wire disk but mine was quite unevenly ground underneath the paint and didnt look very good stripped. Ive taken off quite a bit of metal to get to this stage and theres plenty more hand rubbing left to do.

Red, did you use something to stain your handle before oiling? It looks great!

 

[British Red]

Cheers mate firesteels are one thing but axes I dont know much about! I can tell you theres a lot of rubbing involved in working on an axe , without power tools it could be quite a soul destroying task! The paint will come off easily enough with a wire disk but mine was quite unevenly ground underneath the paint and didnt look very good stripped. Ive taken off quite a bit of metal to get to this stage and theres plenty more hand rubbing left to do.

Red, did you use something to stain your handle before oiling? It looks great!

Jason, no mate I didn't stain it. It a bit embarassing. A while back when re-finishing a handle I ran out of oil. All I had was olive or....sesame oil! I thought "give it a go". It smells fantatstic (the sesame oil) and really lifts the colours of wood up. Plus its cheap and available in Sainsburys. I have been using it ever since. I even oil blades with it. I have the nicest smelling axes in the woods!

Red

 

[British Red]

Red: Just a general tidy up really. I don't have an angle grinder, so it would have to be with a file.

I'll probably use it more for splitting, but I don't suppose I'll be able to change the profile much with just a file. TBH I might not be able to do much more than remove the paint and varnish and give it a good sharpen, but I'd be interested to know what could be achieved.

Scanker,

No problem mate. I did mine by hand (I have an angle grinder but I'm better with hand tools - did mine with a file and water stones).

So, what you want to achieve is a blade that is perfectly in line with the handle and completely straight. I clamp the ace head in a vice (between two soft pieces of wood to save marking the blade) with the cutting edge uppermost. now you need to do this so you can "sight" along the edge. Also have the haft pointing away from you (or you will keep jabbing it in your chest or gut when working). Look along the blade and see if it is straight and in line. If not (and it isn't I bet), take up your file. Hold the end in your left hand and the handle in your right. Use lonf sweeping strokes on the area of the blade you want to modify. Just imagine you are gently "pushing" metal in the direction you want it to go, If the edge is shoved out right in a spot, file from that side and "push" (remove) the metal. Be sure to also check the centre of the blade edge you are creating is in line with the haft. On my splitting edge I like a convex grind so whilst filing I relax the top hand in a rolling motion.

When all this is done and you are going to finish it, get an old bit of carbon paper and put it on a piece of plain white paper. One clean "rock" forward of the axe edge should draw a straight line. If it doesn't (and it wont), it shows a dip in the blade. If you have no carbon paper, put ink on the blade edge - that works too. Its not like you are going to make things worse - go slow and easy and finish up with an oil or water stone

Did I miss anything Jason?

Red