My first axe restoration!

On the Sentry that's got to be the most irregular temper line I've ever seen! I don't know how you'd deliberately (or accidentally) achieve something like this. Unless this is an example of long ago (ie 100 years+) steel insert or overcoat forging on wrought iron.
 
Got the head as clean as i wanted to, not going to get too crazy with it. Been working on the haft tonight. After a lot of file, sander, and knifework and a bunch of test fits I have it pretty even. You'd laugh if you knew how long this took me. Not bad for my first one though. This is how it seated with a few blows from a rubber mallet.


 
Thundermtn said:
Got the head as clean as i wanted to, not going to get too crazy with it. Been working on the haft tonight. After a lot of file, sander, and knifework and a bunch of test fits I have it pretty even. You'd laugh if you knew how long this took me. Not bad for my first one though. This is how it seated with a few blows from a rubber mallet.


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Looking good. Think you will sharpen it before or after wedging, assuming you haven't already?
 
Hickory n steel said:
Don't use vinegar !!! Use a wire cup on a drill or angle grinder ( vinegar will leave a dull gray finish and remove the natural patina:barf::barf: ). Just wire all of the rust off to reveal the natural patina hiding under the rust:thumbup:
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the wire wheel is the best way to clean up these old axe heads. won't remove any patina. the patina is what the old timers called "blue steel" and it is somewhat rust proof, so you do not, repeat do not want to use vinegar.
 
Too late on the vinegar. Would have wired it all but the partially remaining paint had it looking like a dalmatian with bright and dark patches as I worked. I'll probably sharpen it afterwards. I sanded the varnish off the haft with 120 grit to start and finished with 220. Probably will seat the wedge and start swelling it later tonight.
 


Glued up my wood wedge and sunk it as deep as i could with a rubber mallet. Looked like it wouldn't hold in the edges. So i drove both of my steel wedges to fill the top of the eye. Shouldn't have used both zamak wedges. Hopefully this isn't a problem later. I'm using mineral oil to swell it, seems to be going pretty quick. It's swelling nicely and probably didn't even need one steel wedge. I'll know better next time.
 
Nah, you're good. As long as the wedge is tight and the head is seated, you should be good. The metal wedges will be fine...they just make it harder to re-hang later is all. Looks great so far...nice job!
 
Good, and thanks! It is on there really tight and still has a few days to swell. I'm probably going to leave it sticking up that high so if there's a problem I can saw the top partially and free up enough of the zamack wedges that I can grab them with pliers or a vice and get them out relatively easy.

I'm swelling it with food grade mineral oil and it's going fast. My dad said they used to swell theirs with used motor oil. DO I need to use something else in case I ever have it out below freezing? Saw a thread on here with a blown out eye. I would think that the only thing that could do that is a really tight haft that expands with the extra force and volume expansion of ice. Motor oil or anti-freeze would solve that problem?

I'm going to stain the handle like a two tone baseball bat tonight. Think mahogany and maple Sam Bat.
 
Just noticed something from the pic above.

Is the little 'M' under the Y in SENTRY indicative of the Mann Tools stamp I've saw in other threads? When I was cleaning the head up I just assumed it was a miss-stamped trademark TM. I think I read that Mann bought out Collins and the pattern looks like the doubles I've saw labeled as Collins on the auction site.
 
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Dang diabolical varnish, just when you think you got it all off there's a grain that runs 1mm deeper than the whole rest of the haft. Anyway, it's looking decent now.
 
Thundermtn said:
Dang diabolical varnish, just when you think you got it all off there's a grain that runs 1mm deeper than the whole rest of the haft.
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Haha, I know the feeling. The whole hang looks great (wedge and fit) so I wouldn't sweat having it out in cold weather. Looks like a job well done.
 
The mineral oil will eventually evaporate, so as long as you keep maintaining it, it should be fine. BLO is used a lot because it's a dryoing oil that creates a bit of a barrier, but it still needs to be cared for as well. I think it'll do great.
 
Well if there's one thing I'm good with it's a mill file. There's a couple stages of sharp above this, but it will do. This was about 2 minutes with a file and a few passes on leather. Steel didn't seem incredibly hard though, harder than my machete's but not by a lot.
 
SC T100 said:
The mineral oil will eventually evaporate, so as long as you keep maintaining it, it should be fine. BLO is used a lot because it's a dryoing oil that creates a bit of a barrier, but it still needs to be cared for as well. I think it'll do great.
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Mineral oil doesn't evaporate at room temperature.
 
Putting the final touches on it tonight. Only sharpening one side, leaving the other as it was last used by my dad. I'm going to paint over the stain line with the company colors to clean up the look of the haft. Most surveyors will mark all of the property corners they accept with flagging and our two colors are red and white. Should look pretty good.
 
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