first restoration, and a question or two UPDATE

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xtramile

Joined
Dec 15, 2011
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103
Kicking myself for not getting a before picture, but this is the product of 3 days and $13

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The thing was around 20 years old, and had a broken handle for probably half of that. First day was dedicated to rust and paint removal, second clearing the eye and doing a vinegar bath to force a nice patina, and today was spent hanging the axe.

It is not perfect but seeings how the axe is probably older than I am, and this is my first attempt at any kind of restoration I am very proud. :D


So my question is what is your opinion on the small secondary metal wedges?

two small cross grain wedges?
single large with grain wedge?
two round wedges?
no wedge?

Thanks,
XM
 
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nice, im new to all of this aswell. is that a collins? looks like one i recently picked up and am in the process of restoring back to a usable condition. congrats on your first axe resto:thumbup: feels good man:D
 
Memphis - thanks for the link!

thriller100 - to be honest i am not sure what it is. there are no stamps on the whole thing, unless they hid it inside the eye? lol i did not check there i guess. and ya it feels freakin awesome! been awhile since i put my hands to work.
 
it is. only complaint is that it went so fast and now i have the whole weekend to try and stay busy. maybe i will put her to work andnfinish off that pile of wood in the back. . . :)
 
nice work! that looks fantastic... id stay without a wedge for now, but if it seems to get a little lose with use, then you can always pound a wedge home...:D
 
bearhunter said:
nice work! that looks fantastic... id stay without a wedge for now, but if it seems to get a little lose with use, then you can always pound a wedge home...:D
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ya i think that is exactly what i am going to do. thanks! think i might have found a new hobby...... and finally one that is cheap too!
 
I got a question: how did you do your rust removal/restoring of the head? Vinegar bath then sandpaper? I'm getting ready to restore a couple of heads, but I don't know how to bring back their luster and shine like I've seen so much on these forums. What grits do I need? Do I sand only back and forth or in circles?
 
moogoogaidan said:
I got a question: how did you do your rust removal/restoring of the head? Vinegar bath then sandpaper? I'm getting ready to restore a couple of heads, but I don't know how to bring back their luster and shine like I've seen so much on these forums. What grits do I need? Do I sand only back and forth or in circles?
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ok so what i did is this. . .

i had some pretty nasty build up, like i am talking real thick crusty stuff. so i hit that with a small single cut file. afterwards i sanded the whole thing with VERY aggressive sand paper that was left over from refinishing the back deck (if i had to guess 60 grit). then used some left over 100 grit strips (this was the long process, probably took about 6 hours or so). then some steel wool to shine it up a tiny bit. and finally gave it the a bath in a 2/1 vinegar to water ratio.

most likely the vinegar bath before hand would have helped out considerably, but i was worried about an uneven patina where the paint was. also it would have made life easier to have more variety grit sandpaper, but i wanted to do this on the cheap.

as far as direction i did all parallel strokes lengthwise. only other method i know is doing perpendicular 45 degree strokes which gives a different look.

hope this helps!

(guess who just found an old roughneck axe in the garage! :D)
 
Had a bit of snowfall and decided to put my new toy in its element.

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However after splitting for a half hour or so i noticed my wedge had raised roughly 1/8".

HPIM0602.jpg


So what do you think I should do? Re-drive the wedge and insert some metal wedges, pull the wedge and insert it again with a strong wood glue?

Thanks again,

XM
 
Personally, I would drive that back down then soak the head in BLO for like two days. Then try it again. The BLO should swell up the wood within the eye. Just stick it in a container with like 3/4" of BLO to soak up from the top of the eye.

If that doesn't work, I'd put a steel wedge in.
 
M3mphis said:
Personally, I would drive that back down then soak the head in BLO for like two days. Then try it again. The BLO should swell up the wood within the eye. Just stick it in a container with like 3/4" of BLO to soak up from the top of the eye.

If that doesn't work, I'd put a steel wedge in.
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Thanks again M3mphis, that sounds like a pretty good idea. Any thoughts on why this happened?
 
Tap it flush, then I would use a flat peen hammer or something to push the wedge in a bit further. The oil soak will help too. I avoid glue and swell lock. I don't think its necessary and the glue makes it nigh on impossible if you need to change anything in the future.
 
xtramile said:
Thanks again M3mphis, that sounds like a pretty good idea. Any thoughts on why this happened?
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From swinging and hitting things...:D

Seriously, it's probably just not quite tight enough. The wood may have dried out some since you hung it and shrunk a bit. If the wood is not treated, it is pretty susceptible to changes in humidity - particularly at the ends where the wood is more porous.
 
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