My Vintage Axe Search (yours too)

rjdankert said:
Thanks, I used the handle that came with it for the pattern. Don't know if the old one was original, but it needed replacement.
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Osage orange? is that the same as Osage Hedge? Gets the green balls on them? I've heard them called hedge balls or hedge apples, no one here calls them hedge oranges... cuz they ain't orange :) Around here is is known to be super hard, great for fence posts... but very crooked. Clearly you have a nice straight piece there. great work and a great hatchet.
 
It is the same Osage Orange.
From wikipedia:
"The Osage-orange is commonly used as a tree row windbreak in prairie states, which gives it one of its colloquial names, "hedge apple".

"The heavy, close-grained yellow-orange wood is very dense and is prized for tool handles, treenails, fence posts, electrical insulators, and other applications requiring a strong dimensionally stable wood that withstands rot. Straight-grained osage timber (most is knotty and twisted) makes very good bows."

More at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclura_pomifera
 
rjdankert said:
It is the same Osage Orange.
From wikipedia:
"The Osage-orange is commonly used as a tree row windbreak in prairie states, which gives it one of its colloquial names, "hedge apple".

"The heavy, close-grained yellow-orange wood is very dense and is prized for tool handles, treenails, fence posts, electrical insulators, and other applications requiring a strong dimensionally stable wood that withstands rot. Straight-grained osage timber (most is knotty and twisted) makes very good bows."

More at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maclura_pomifera
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Yep, that is what I was thinking of. The reason guys use them for fence posts, especially corner posts, is they are super strong and real sappy so don't rot. Said to be kinda crazy in the fireplace due to the sap popping and burn really hot. Going to be a superb handle, and again, nice work!
 
I'm not really an axe collector, more of an all around treasure hunter. I dug this up at an old foundation on a dead road in upstate New York a few days ago. I know the foundation was there at least as far back as 1861, due to it being on one of my survey maps for that time-frame, but I'm not sure if the axe is that old. I dug up lots of period nails and a horseshoe in similar states of oxidation, but I also found several pull tab beer cans, and modern beer cans in the area, so people have been around more recently, and I'm not sure how fast oxidation can work. The majority of the beer cans were in the foundation itself, so I'm guessing teenagers, or maybe hunters. The road itself stopped being on the USGS survey maps in the late 1940's, but I have no reference maps other that 1920 and 1947.

It's about 7 inches long(that's what she said). It was about 2-3 inches under the soil, and shows heavier oxidation on the side that was facing up, I think. Or the side facing down, I was pretty exited pulling it out of the ground. It was preceded by @ 20 nails, and it definitely wasn't a nail. If there's a makers mark, it's currently under the oxidation, and there seems to be a big dent/chip in the front. Can anyone give me an idea on how old it might be, a guess on who made it, and if it would be possible or worth restoring, with tips on how to restore without decreasing it's value if it actually has value? I'm thinking of keeping it though.

Here's a pic, and a pic of the foundation it was near. The foundation pic is from my Oregon gps, sorry for the blurriness.

axehead.jpg


bigfoundation1.jpg
 
Digdeeper. First off, clearly you found this with a metal detector, so post some photos of other treasures you have found. There are others more knowledgeable then I am, but I'll take a stab. The style is what I call mid 1800's, but the eye is a more the modern style, meaning teardrop shaped. the mid 1800's seemed to be a trapazoid shape, with squared off corners, and more narrow.

If you soak it in vinegar over night then scrub with a wire brush under running water (outside, but not onto concrete, it will rust stain, but grass don't care.) you can get to clean steel. On these older one the it seems to be easy to leave it in the acid too long and break down some steel you would rather keep. If over night is not enough check it every 4-6 hours. Clean the inside as best you can with an old toothbush & the running water.
 
It's likely pitted beyond identification. But it would still be fun to see it cleaned up. Looks like there might still be some life in her.
 
I mostly find rubbish cckw, but I did find a couple more axeheads on this weeks outing.

axessunny.jpg


The knobby one was near a very old foundation, I'd say late 1700, early 1800. The other hatchet one was in the road not far from that, but the road was in use until modern times, so it may be much newer. The one on the right is my half assed cleaning job on the axe head I had. I left it in the bath too long, and it's rusted up again on the raw parts.

I think I'm going to build an electrolysis bath and get some metal wax before I try to restore these. Should I try to knock some of the knobs off the knobby one?
 
Are those mineral deposits on the knobby one or did the head just rust away more in spots?
 
I'm pretty sure they are mineral deposits. They are hard like rock, but I was chipping away at one, and it flakes off. I'm just worried it could take off some of the metal if hammer at it too hard.
 
in the last couple days I have twice type a long answer to this but it didn't post, I think a squirrel chewed my cable line and causing outages.. So here goes again. I electro some of mine and like it. The thing about vinegar/CLR/etc is that left too long it eats the steel too. I guess that the steel has tiny veins of oxidation started into it, then the acid eats out some surrounding steel. I have cleaned off rust and then decided to put it back in the acid to get that bit of rust off, then have what looks like a layer of silver paint come off, and clearly lost steel I didn't want to loose. This happens with the more deeply rusted heads, like yours. Electro does not do that, so I do like the elctro for these plus lots of other things you might find.

If you have not set up your electro tank, I am happy to share my experiences with it. I have used it alot on cast iron cookware and various tools I gotten at garage sales
 
cckw said:
in the last couple days I have twice type a long answer to this but it didn't post, I think a squirrel chewed my cable line and causing outages.. So here goes again. I electro some of mine and like it. The thing about vinegar/CLR/etc is that left too long it eats the steel too. I guess that the steel has tiny veins of oxidation started into it, then the acid eats out some surrounding steel. I have cleaned off rust and then decided to put it back in the acid to get that bit of rust off, then have what looks like a layer of silver paint come off, and clearly lost steel I didn't want to loose. This happens with the more deeply rusted heads, like yours. Electro does not do that, so I do like the elctro for these plus lots of other things you might find.

If you have not set up your electro tank, I am happy to share my experiences with it. I have used it alot on cast iron cookware and various tools I gotten at garage sales
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Yeah, I'd appreciate any advice. I haven't built my bath yet, but I've planned it out.

electrobath3.png


I wanted to build it so it could be sealed up when not in use, was easy to replace the positive terminal rods, and was easy to ajust and replace the hanging wire. I sketched out a few ideas, and I like this one. Basically a 5 gallon bucket with 4 5/8" eye bolts to hold 1/2" rebar rods. I'll run 16 gauge rebar wire out to the top pair, loop down over the second, and bring them back to the front, where I'll cinch it in a wire clamp. once its good and tight, ill tighten down a second set of nuts on the eye bolts, to lock it all down. The top part is basically a clamp, with rubber pads so the wires don't dent the wood too much. Let me know what you think of the design. I priced it out with the home depot wepsite, and it's relatively cheap to build it. I didn't price out the wood, cus I have wood up the wazoo. I have a 12v 2 amp battery charger I'll be running it with.

This axe might need some prep work before it goes in though. Look at this thing.

lumpaxeback.jpg

lumpaxefront.jpg


I've never seen corrosion or buildup like this. From some other things found at the site that I've got a pretty good timeframe on, it's probably late 1700, early 1800. You can tell it's been in the ground a while.

Should I do anything about the mineral deposits before I do anything with this?
 
For all of you guys going the Electro route, a small word of caution. The electro process produces hydrogen gas. I could not tell you how much or how dangerous the gas is but I would definitely do this outside.
 
There is no danger to the hydrogen gas given off in tiny bubbles. Tons of people are doing electro and no one has been blown up. Also there is info on the web saying that using stainless steel instead of rebar will kill you. However if you care to dig deeper that info is based on industrial size use and blah-blah, and home size operations have been using it for years. Although being health minded, mine is completely outside and I don't stick my face in it and inhale. A good source of stainless steel is old pick-up truck running board and/or mud flaps. rebar will rust up and quit working and require frequent cleaning. Stainless will require occasional cleaning, but it is easy. Perhaps the best source on electro is the cast iron collectors. google "wags forum" and go to the cleaning section

I clip the neg lead directly to the axe head and hang it on parachute cord from a scrap of wood trim
 
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