Cleaned up an axe from my grandfather's shed (lots of pictures) Now with Painted head

Deoje

Deoje

Craftsman
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
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My Mom found this axe in my grandfather's shed. I don't know anything about it at all. He died in 1999 so it has been sitting in the shed at least that long. It was in pretty bad condition but the head was tight and there was no major damage to the haft or head. I don't see any markings on the head so I'm going to guess that this is just a no name hardware store axe. If anyone happens to know anything about this axe I would appreciate if you would share it.

As you can see there is a wood wedge and a round metal wedge. The head also appears to have been epoxied on. My grandfather may have done that. He was known to use epoxy on everything. I have a Plumb hatchet that was also found in the shed that has nails and epoxy all over the head. That is a story for another thread. The head was also painted black or a really dark navy blue.

Below are a bunch of before and after pictures. I have more but I figured the amount below was sort of overkill.

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First off, nice job! What did you use to remove the rust?

I'd guess that is a factory haft, due to the round metal wedge. Nice grain.

Some axes came with paper label, which would explain the lack of stamp.

That's great you have something to remember your Grandpa by!
 
I have used vinegar in the past on other stuff and I wanted to try something different so I used naval jelly and a wire brush.
 
Great job.

The shape reminds me of a Collins Homestead. And those round wedges weren't used in the old timey axes but I don't know exactly when they came along. I think you're right that it's a hardware store axe - possibly made by Mann Edge Tool who was making Collins axes from 1966 to 2003.
 
Vinegar is easier. The naval jelly took a lot of coats and rinsing. The naval jelly was quicker though. Only took a couple of hours. Maybe not even that long.

It also had paint on it so I stripped that off too. That took a few coats of stripper. So I'm not sure how long it took overall. It was nice not having to leave it sitting for 2 or 3 days. Total project time was just a few hours.

A wire brush in an angle grinder is probably best. I just don't have one. I have an angle grinder and I keep meaning to go buy a brush for it. I just haven't gotten around to it. I have used a wire brush in a drill and a hand held brush. They worked OK but were somewhat slow.

I am debating painting it. What type of paint would work well. I have semi gloss engine enamel spray paint that I have used for other stuff. How do you think that would work ?
 
Engine paint sounds like it would be good unless others know different. Just let it dry well.
 
Since the axe head was originally painted black I thought it would be nice to paint it again. The entire head may have been painted originally. It was hard to tell due to the amount of rust. If it is a Collins axe I think most of them had the entire head painted. I'm not a fan of the way having the entire head painted looks so I only painted part of it. I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I am interested to see how the paint holds up to use.

I only took one picture of the axe taped up and in the process of getting painted. The rest are the finished product. The last photo is of another project I am getting ready to start. It is beside the Estwing hammer for scale. It is pretty rough. I foresee a lot of filing in my future. It wasn't my grandfathers but it will be a fun project nonetheless.

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That looks great, good job! You could get yourself an angle grinder, very handy for many tasks,
and good for cleaning up axes : )
 
I have an angle grinder. I just got a wire brush to attach to it. It definitely takes rust off quickly.

Not sure I want go use grinding discs on any of these axes though.
 
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