Grandpa's Double bit project

Shoot guys. I keep reading about the dangers of using an angle grinder and it's scary. I've never owned one but used them numerous times in the past.
 
jeremy1517 said:
Shoot guys. I keep reading about the dangers of using an angle grinder and it's scary. I've never owned one but used them numerous times in the past.
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That's why you use PPE, keep two hands on the grinder, use common sense and a slow and steady approach. If you do that, you will be absolutely fine and you will love the results.
 
Do I need to dunk the head in water to cool it off every so often? I've read the grinder can mess up the temper. I won't be using the grinder on the edges and I'll be using the wire brush attachment.
 
jeremy1517 said:
Do I need to dunk the head in water to cool it off every so often? I've read the grinder can mess up the temper. I won't be using the grinder on the edges and I'll be using the wire brush attachment.
Click to expand...

The wire brush really won't get it hot enough to worry about. What are you planning to do with the grinder?
 


If I was doing that I'd reach for this instead of my angle grinder. The wire wheels you can chuck into hand drills are cheap and work well for small jobs. I got this one at lowes for $3
 
After lots and lots of sanding, I attached the handle. Screwed up cutting the excess straight at 1/4" above head so I cut it off at head. Had a hard time fitting handle but I'm happy with it.

Should I go ahead and use the metal wedge as well?

ImageUploadedByTapatalk 21372798077.969239.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk 21372798092.076446.jpg
 
I never do. It's usually unnecessary if you seated the wooden wedge well. The only thing it's ever done for me is being a pain in the butt if I ever need to rehang. DB Handles have a lot of their volume in contact with the surface area of the head, so friction will keep that thing solid.

John
 
I do one thing different, but my shop might be equipped differently than yours. I always re-profile and sharpen the edge of my axes before I hang them. And if I'm going to re-finish the haft then that is done before I hang, too. So when I hang it's a finished head joining a finished handle.

The reason I do all my filing before hanging is that I have a big sturdy vise which holds the head at a good height for filing. I can really bear down on it and I have clear access to it. Guys that don't have such a vise prefer to hang first, then clamp the haft to the bench to do their filing. That works fine, too. It just depends on how you're set up.
 
Rusty old axe heads? Wire brush and turpentine, eats the rust,
doesn't hurt or stain the metal, will clean up nice.
 
monger4142 said:


If I was doing that I'd reach for this instead of my angle grinder. The wire wheels you can chuck into hand drills are cheap and work well for small jobs. I got this one at lowes for $3
Click to expand...

Are those wheels for a belt grinder?
 
Something cool I noticed about the vinegar is that it etches the metal in a way that shows temper line. I have an edge to reprofile and I now know that I have plenty of hardened steel behind the new edge.
It also allowed removal of rust with a nylon hand brush. I cleaned with water and then light machine oil.
Bill
 
Not bad. I see that there's a little space left in the eye there. Usually you'd want to use a wedge that is wide enough to fill the entire length of the eye, but since it's already hung, i'd recommend making a wooden peg of some sort to drive into the extra space to prevent any movement or loosening of the handle/head during use.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about the gaps with the wedge, unless they are especially large. The tightening is going on across the short axis of the eye (is that what It's called? I don't know. The short way, eh?)
 
In fact, if the wedge is too wide, it can compromise the side to side tightening action. We've seen a few pictures of axes flying off the head with the wedge stuck across the long axis of the eye.
 
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