Axe restoration thread

[Woodslasher]

Yes, it's still a very good axe with very good steel.

 

[gumneck]

I used to be rough on axe handles as a teenager my dad says.....sadly, I still am. Cracked my old friends axe I got after buying his garage contents after his passing and needed another handle for it. The head is a WATCO 43, its a large headed rascal. Maybe the fourth pic gives a ref to the larger size as the W43 is on the bottom. The painted one in the 5th pic is a True Temper I did last winter.

 

[gumneck]

Maybe these pics are better....

 

[muad]

Nice job!!

Love the Jersey style True Temper heads. I want to snag one at some point, but they seem to fetch a pretty penny.

 

[gumneck]

Just for giggles, I had to put another handle on the bush hook a while back. Original handle on it was an axe handle.....yep, I destroyed it too. Added some fancy red paint so that people and animals can get out of the way cuz apparently I just destroy handles.

 

[svk]

Cool. I have a brush axe just like that but it’s still wearing its original handle. My son reclaimed several hundred yards of old road with it a few years back.

 

[cookies]

Thank you to @Woodslasher for donating a good single bit to save the mint true temper from the hacksaw, I'm putting up a couple pictures of it below. I had to file a new edge then stone it after fedex blunted it then I sanded the haft with 80 grit to remove the grain ridges but I left the use scratches/character then sealed it using boiled linseed oil with pine lampblack mixed in to get rid of the bright new handle look. I think it turned out pretty good and my trick made the handle appear older. thanks again woodslasher!

 

[Esq1997]

Does anyone know what the maker of this axe is? Received it as part of a blind grab bag promotion by well known seller. It’s about 6.5 inches long with a 4 inch bit.

 

[cookies]

looks like a valley axe

 

[Esq1997]

Any idea the pattern? Trying to make out what the sticker says and estimate age.

 

[muad]

Looks like a Kelly "Sunken Blade" sticker:

http://www.yesteryearstools.com/Yesteryears Tools/Kelly Axe Mfg. Co. .html
ETA: Never mind, upon closer inspection it doesn't.

 

[Drptrch]

Original or re-worked ??

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-AN...-/233844779644?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

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[svk]

Lol

 

[svk]

Appears to be your run of the mill 30 dollar Collins axe with some paint on it. A neat gift maybe but that’s quite a markup.

 

[rarefish383]

Nice job!!

Love the Jersey style True Temper heads. I want to snag one at some point, but they seem to fetch a pretty penny.

Must be a regional thing. In MD every other single seems to be a Jersey. When live auctions start back up I'll grab one for you. Now I only keep them if they have nice graphics on them, or are a Plumb or Collins. Only thing is, if it has a nice handle on it, it will cost a little more to ship. I'm not like those ebay sellers that cut every handle off.

 

[rarefish383]

Looks great! Hope my Plumb comes out half as nice.

I have a little boys ax that I found somewhere. It was rusted so bad I was going to throw it in the scrap metal bucket. I'm not real big on polishing axes to use as shaving mirrors. But, as I flipped it around I could still see Plumb on it. So, I got a couple flap disc's for my die grinder and went at it. I ground 8 ounces off it. I dug through my old broken handles and found a contour I liked. Then went out to my firewood pile and found a piece of White Ash with a good tight grain. Ran it through the table saw a couple times to get it square, traced the old handle pattern on it, and took the four in hand rasp to it. Was much easier than I thought it would be. Still not really liking the polished look, and not wanting to blue it, I Browned it. Made a Black Walnut wedge to stand out against the White Ash. It turned out well. It's my throwing ax. SVK took a few throws with it when he was passing through. Another thing that is just ME, I don't like the handle standing real proud (sticking out) of the eye. Old American axes didn't do that. I seems to be an European thing. I always felt it was a way to hang an ax with out putting the effort in it to make it tight. Just leave some sticking out and mushroom it to make it tight. Again, that's just me.

 

[rarefish383]

It's hard to see, but, none of these handles are sitting proud to the eye. When I hang an ax, I like it to look like the original.

 

[Drptrch]

A little rehang and furb

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[rarefish383]

Good news times two.

First I hadn't seen Multifaceted post in a while so I gave him a ring. He's doing fine. Got promoted to production manager and is putting in 12-14 hour days, with about an hour commute.

Second, my cousin called and said he was digging around in his shop and found an old hardware store "Plumb Ax Display" He said it looks like it holds 6 axes. Ill post pics when I get it.

 

[svk]

Glad to hear, always worry about a fellow who goes silent around here.