Axe head heating question

H

heimatau0131

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Sep 10, 2007
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So I have a generic axe head with part of the handle and a wedge still quite firm. I am going
camping next week and plan on putting it in the fire. I have heard or read that I don't need to worry about it losing it's temper because a campfire just won't get it hot enough. Can anyone confirm? Also there will be plenty of snow around so once the handle is burned I am planning on throwing it in the snow. Is this ok?

Please help
 
That is most definitely false. Don't do it. The steel will begin undergoing changes at as little as 300 degrees or less. Camp fires can be well over 1000.
 
M3mphis pretty well covered it. You will absolutely ruin the temper of that axe if you throw it in the fire. Drill it out.
 
I would recommend on not doing this. The easiest way is to cut the handle at the base of the axe head. Flip the axe over so the top eye is on the bottom. Prop it up on 2X 4s or something similar. and use a big screw or similar metal to hammer the wedge out. Either that or drill it out.
 
As the others have said, don't heat your tempered steel.. if its too hot to hold it in your hand it can affect your heat treat
 
This claim has been perpetuated in several survival books I have read, one showed a diagram of burying the axe edge down first to protect the temper, then build a small fire over it. Which may work but I would never try that unless I was in a survival situation and had exhausted all other methods of removing the broken handle. But still, even then a sharp axe with no handle is better than a dull one with one.
 
If the hole you buried the bit in was sufficiently wet you could get away with burning the eye out. Now you'd still be softening the eye and the poll. The axe would be more prone to mushrooming and eye deformation but the bit would be as hard as ever.
 
Now if it is a real cheap ax head you could read up on and practice annealing, quenching, and tempering metal. Your generic head could have between 40 and 60 points carbon and your campfire can get the simple steels hot enough to harden. Warning-you could ruin the head.
 
Well thanks everyone. I guess I'll just keep drilling. I was hoping to do the fire method because this head is on way tight.
 
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