Collins rafting on crack (relapsed and OD'd)

C

CedarEater

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Aug 31, 2012
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So, last weekend I went to the local metal recycler and I brought home what I thought to be a Collins rafting axe with a crack running the length of its eye. Normally I would pass on an axe with a cracked eye but I don't have a rafting axe, the price was right and it seemed like a fun challenge. After hitting it lightly with a fine wire cup brush the makers stamp clearly revealed itself and sure enough this rafting axe is a Collins.




I then soaked it in distilled white vinegar for a couple days while periodically removing it to hit it with the cup brush, lightly sanding it and returning it to the vinegar bath. During this process I noticed something peculiar about this axe head. The vinegar bath revealed no heat treatment lines. I was expecting to see distinct lines across the cheeks and at the poll but there was nothing. In fact, while soaking in the vinegar this head turned quite black and uniform in color almost like the whole axe head was hardened.





Could this be the result of the axe head going through a fire? Then after it was rehafted someone eventually used it as a wedge? When they smacked it with a sledge or whatever it cracked because it was too brittle? My question now is if I get the eye welded up, how do I fix the heat treatment and tempering so that its hard and soft in all the right places?
Is it even worth welding?



I like this axe and hope its worth saving.
 
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I would guess that the crack was caused by the freezing of a soaking wet handle.

It's a pretty straight crack and should weld up just fine. Wrapping both the bit and poll with wet rags during the welding process should preserve the heat treat. If you desire to re-heat treat the axe it will be a little tricky because you would want to harden both ends of a rafting axe. I have some ideas on this that I will add later.
 
Getting back to this, when heat treating both ends you have two options. Try to treat both ends with one heat or use two heats and protect the first end from overheating while you treat the second end.

If I were to try doing this in one heat I'd quench the bit first because the thicker poll would hold it's heat long enough to flip the axe and quench the poll. If I were going to do this in two separate heats I would heat and quench the poll first. It's thicker and will take longer to heat so there will be more heat transfer through the axe during the heating of the poll. Then after quenching the poll I'd polish a strip down the length of the axe so I could watch the colors run as I heated the bit. If I saw purple pass the eye then I'd cool the poll before continuing to heat the bit.

After quenching both ends I'd file test it to verify that it hardened. Then I'd give the axe a 1 hour soak in a 500° oven. Then after cooling I'd file test it again. If it's too hard to file then I'd give it an hour at 525°. If you think your oven might run hot then try an hour at 475° first.
 
Oh yes, a waterlogged and then frozen handle explains things quite nicely. Thanks.

Also, thanks for the heat treating tips. Now, I just need to figure out how I am going to heat it and what kind of oil to quench it in. Will used motor oil work?
 
Used motor oil works fine. Used cooking oil works, too. I've switched to used canola oil.

If you lack a forge you can heat an axe to red heat in your fireplace. The actual point you need to get it to is where it becomes non-magnetic. You can test it with a magnet. When it loses its magnetic attraction then it's hot enough to quench and harden. Typically a dark cherry red glow (seen in a dark room) will suffice for most carbon steels. But the magnet is the sure test.

Forge%204.jpg


Forge%205.jpg
 
You could quench and then temper the whole head at 500 F. Test for hardness on the poll and the head. Then do a differential temper around the eye and cheeks to soften and toughen the steel in those areas. Take the steel around the eye to a grey making sure you do not go beyond dark yellow at the poll or light yellow towards the edge.
 
I would take both the bit and poll to purple in the tempering process. Dark yellow or bronze color is the proper hardness for chisels and other hard tools. That's too hard for an axe bit (un-filable) or a hammer face like a poll - it would chip.
 
When I am quenching the bit do I just dip the bit in the oil where I want it hardened or do I dunk the whole head? How long do I quench it for? I would imagine the poll would need to be submerged a little longer than the bit?
 
Square_peg said:
I would take both the bit and poll to purple in the tempering process. Dark yellow or bronze color is the proper hardness for chisels and other hard tools. That's too hard for an axe bit (un-filable) or a hammer face like a poll - it would chip.
Click to expand...
This would be with a full quench and full oven temper before drawing back the hardness around the eye. Not knowing the steel, I'd test the hardness after softening the steel around the eye. You can always temper the hardness back (soften the steel) if needed.
 
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CedarEater said:
When I am quenching the bit do I just dip the bit in the oil where I want it hardened or do I dunk the whole head? How long do I quench it for? I would imagine the poll would need to be submerged a little longer than the bit?
Click to expand...

Good questions. Quench just 1-1/2" of the bit and the poll short of the eye. Steel will only harden from non-magnetic heat. The hardening happens in the first few seconds of the quench. So once you've held the bit in the oil for 5 or 10 seconds it has dropped below quenching temps. Then you can cool the whole head and there's no chance of accidentally hardening the eye at that point. And yes you're right, the poll will take a few seconds longer than the bit because it's thicker. Oil cools the steel a little slower than water so the hardening doesn't go quite as deep. That's good, especially for the bit. Oil is less likely than water to cause a stress fracture during the quench.
 
I'm guessing that a crack along the eye of an axe is usually a death sentence for that implement. But I admire your persistence. The fact that no temper line is evident suggests, to me, that your idea of the head having barely survived a hot fire trumps the concept of frost cracking from a piece of wood inside the eye. Items that are contained or restrained readily heave through freezing but eyes of an axe are open at both ends and it would have had to be mighty cold and mighty fast in order to split an axe head.
I suppose I could offer to experiment with this over the winter (it gets plenty cold around here) but I have no expendable axes lying around at present.
 
Interesting - a Collins with ridges in the eye.....interesting indeed.

Good/crazy job with the forging and welding pics above. That is some crazy stuff. Well done.
 
Well, it went to my metal artist friend today. He expressed concern that he might "burn through" the eye and/or leave a ridge from the weld on the inside of the eye that might be hard to clean up. I told him to be careful and I could clean up the inside of the eye with a file. After he grinds out a little material from the crack he said he will clamp the poll side to try to squeeze it back into better alignment with the bit side of the crack and then weld it up. I am pretty confident he will do a mighty fine job. We will find out in a week or so.
 
Your friend might be ale to set up some heat sinks on the edge and poll. You might not need to heat treat it. I'm looking foreward to seeing the result.
 
So, yeah. It has been welded and my friend even cleaned up the weld and, well, really cleaned up the whole axe head for me. I am doing work at his neighbors house so when he brought it over to me the thing was still quite warm from working on it. I was pleasantly surprised that he got it done so quick and at how it is looking. Now, I need to bring him a beer since that is all the payment he wanted.

He used stainless rod and must have been very careful not to burn through the eye. In fact, there is no evidence of a weld if you look in the eye, it still looks like a crack in there. I hope it holds. The thing rings like a bell, so that is promising.




I decided to go ahead and profile the bit and file the bevels on the poll before I heat treat it. I thought it would be easier than doing the file work after its hardened. The metal felt quite buttery under the file and material came of quickly.







I am excited with how this little project is coming together. I hope I can figure out this whole hardening and tempering thing. I will try to give it a go tomorrow and report back.
 
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Looks good.

You have color charts for tempering? Of just use the old file test. It's the most sure.
 
I had a tomahawk head welded up and cleaned up with a crack similar to that,my buddy's got it now,never heat treated it after we fixed it,been beat to smithereens,holding up good. nice axe,good luck with her.
 
Square_peg said:
You have color charts for tempering? Of just use the old file test. It's the most sure.
Click to expand...

Nope. I will look into that and maybe use that as a guide. I had just planned on testing the hardness by feel with a file.

As far as heating goes, I was going to get a torch to heat the head but now I am leaning toward a couple bags of charcoal in a fire pit. It seems to me I would get more even heat with the coal fire.
 
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