Afraid to sand the very faint Sager markings

[PhilipWimberly]

I have never tried to restore an axe before. I inherited a Sager and a Bluegrass. On both axes the markings are faint and I'm worried that if I subject them to 60 through1000 grit sanding, I'll lose them. I assume the answer is, "Uhhh...yeah...you can sand away your logos...stop posting dumb questions", but I can't find this addressed in any of the YouTube vids. All of those restorations have deep and defined markings. My plan is to carefully polish around them, but hoping someone has a magic answer...

 

[Steve Danielewicz]

How bad are they? Severe pitting, mushroomed butt? Try soaking it in a rust removing solution if it’s heavily rusted before you sand/polish. A lot of people jump straight to sanding and that can be detrimental and try not to heat the bit too much you’ll ruin the heat treat. Use painters tape or something else to cover the marks if your concerned about it.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Well polishing up an old tool isn't really a restoration because a tool is only new once and most axes didn't come polished so that makes this even less of a restoration.
Why not just wire wheel the rust off instead of taking sandpaper to it and trying to make it look like your assumption of new condition?
Then you don't have to worry about destroying the markings by sanding them away.
Most importantly, I say stop watching the " restoration " videos on YouTube because for 1 thing they destroy a lot of old tools, and they also fake tons of restorations.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

As mentioned, restoration is not the same as polishing. But if dead set on polishing the axe, mask the area with carefully applied vinyl tape and clean the markings using a scratch brush like one of these. You can set the bristle depth to adjust the flexibility.

 

[BigMoney]

 

[PhilipWimberly]

Well polishing up an old tool isn't really a restoration because a tool is only new once and most axes didn't come polished so that makes this even less of a restoration.
Why not just wire wheel the rust off instead of taking sandpaper to it and trying to make it look like your assumption of new condition?
Then you don't have to worry about destroying the markings by sanding them away.
Most importantly, I say stop watching the " restoration " videos on YouTube because for 1 thing they destroy a lot of old tools, and they also fake tons of restorations.

I don't know why this never dawned on me...maybe because I went to YouTube before thinking about it for myself. I don't want the danged things polished. I want to use them. Great forum

 

[Square_peg]

Wire wheel or cup brush is the way to go. Ideal is to use a brass wire cup brush on a 4-1/2" angle grinder. Never bear down hard on wire wheels or cup brushes. This causes them to throw wires. Always wear eye, ear and respiratory protection when de-rusting an old axe.