numbers on axe heads

Larry, thanks. I'm planning to rehang it soon as I get a suitable handle and have some time.
Generally speaking, should I wait to resharpen it until after I put the handle on?
 
Thats the safest way or tape it good while working on it.
You may wanna give it a vinegar soak first to clean it up too. You can order a handle from House Handle in cassville Mo, call ythem and give the eye measurement and ask for aa grade with no laquer, straight grai and straight saw kerf.

They are good folks.
 
bobs1415 said:
Generally speaking, should I wait to resharpen it until after I put the handle on?
Click to expand...

I prefer to sharpen first, then hang. Keeps the handle out of the way. This works best if you have a sturdy vise to hold the axe while you sharpen it. Without a vise you're probably better off hanging it first and then clamping the handle to your workbench.

And many of us have given up the vinegar for a wire cup brush or wheel. The wire leaves the patina intact. It's a better look than vinegar leaves.
 
I have done both and the vinegar look is fine with me as I like to see how much hardened steel I have to work with and is much less dangerous for someone without power tool experience, I am on the lookout for a leather apron cheap as the cup wheel on a angle grinder is dangerous and throws a lot of wire and either tool can throw the piece being worked on too, if you do use power tools be sure and wear plenty of protective gear goggles, apron leather gloves in my case.

Just my opinion, I could be wrong!

Larry
Square_peg said:
I prefer to sharpen first, then hang. Keeps the handle out of the way. This works best if you have a sturdy vise to hold the axe while you sharpen it. Without a vise you're probably better off hanging it first and then clamping the handle to your workbench.

And many of us have given up the vinegar for a wire cup brush or wheel. The wire leaves the patina intact. It's a better look than vinegar leaves.
Click to expand...
 
Yes, goggles or safety glasses are a must with wire cup brushes. Hearing protection is a good idea, too. But I've noticed that the brass wire cups almost never throw a wire whereas the carbon steel wire cups throw wires easily. Bearing down too hard is the best way to get a lot of wires flying. A knotted wire cup used softly doesn't throw many wires. Crimped steel wire cups throw wires the worst.

If you clamp the axe head in your vise and use a brass wire cup you will get great results very quickly and very easily. Clamp the vise onto the poll/eye region of the axe head and let the heel of the axe lay on top of the vise.
 
Thats good info, my next cupped one will be brass, did not see any at lowes but bet I can find one.
Unless they are pretty rusty I dont do anything but haft them.

Thanks, Larry
 
In vinegar's defense, it's cheap, most of us have it on hand and it requires no special tools. So it's a great suggestion for someone who's just doing one axe.
 
The Kelly axe I'm going to be working on is pretty clean. I vaguely recall that I used a wire wheel to clean it ages ago and then greased it up before wrapping it up in foil, plastic and then duct tape. Wish I had a good vise to work with. I've an old B&D Workmate and had been thinking about how best to secure an unhafted axe head for sharpening. Will get some lumber and see what I can come up with.
 
bobs1415 said:
The Kelly axe I'm going to be working on is pretty clean. I vaguely recall that I used a wire wheel to clean it ages ago and then greased it up before wrapping it up in foil, plastic and then duct tape. Wish I had a good vise to work with. I've an old B&D Workmate and had been thinking about how best to secure an unhafted axe head for sharpening. Will get some lumber and see what I can come up with.
Click to expand...

Workmates can be pretty good vices. If you need thicker jaws just drop some dogs in the holes in the top and throw a couple thick boards down.
I have all kinds of vices, from 2 inch to a hundred pounds and I still find a use for my old workmate:thumbup:.
For sharpening I would just clamp it to the top of the workmate. Thats what I did this winter when it was to cold to use the garage.
 
Square_peg said:
In vinegar's defense, it's cheap, most of us have it on hand and it requires no special tools. So it's a great suggestion for someone who's just doing one axe.
Click to expand...

Also it gets the rust out of the eye which is a tad trickier to do with power tools.

And the stuff is reusable... I have a small cube-shaped bucket that can hold one or two axeheads. I just pour a gallon of vingar in there and let heads soak for a few hours. After I'm done, I'll pull the heads out and clean them off. By the time I'm done with that task, the rust will have settled at the bottom of the container and I just use a funnel to pour the vinegar back into the jug for later use. Eventually it loses the needed acidity to strip heads of rust, but there's no reason you need to go out and buy a thing of vinegar for every time you restore an axe. Probably more practical for someone like me who finds the need to fix one up every month :rolleyes:

The main reason I prefer vinegar though is that it shows you the temper line, as bax mentioned above :thumbup:

bobs1415 said:
The Kelly axe I'm going to be working on is pretty clean. I vaguely recall that I used a wire wheel to clean it ages ago and then greased it up before wrapping it up in foil, plastic and then duct tape. Wish I had a good vise to work with. I've an old B&D Workmate and had been thinking about how best to secure an unhafted axe head for sharpening. Will get some lumber and see what I can come up with.
Click to expand...

Figured I'd snap a picture of how I do it since I'm currently filing up a head to haft. Folded up paper towel in the eye to prevent the clamps from marring the inside of it. Simple, cheap setup and the head is immovable from the desk...
IMG_20130227_212242_zps02fdcf0e.jpg
 
Last edited:
killa_concept said:
Also it gets the rust out of the eye which is a tad trickier to do with power tools.

And the stuff is reusable... I have a small cube-shaped bucket that can hold one or two axeheads. I just pour a gallon of vingar in there and let heads soak for a few hours. After I'm done, I'll pull the heads out and clean them off. By the time I'm done with that task, the rust will have settled at the bottom of the container and I just use a funnel to pour the vinegar back into the jug for later use. Eventually it loses the needed acidity to strip heads of rust, but there's no reason you need to go out and buy a thing of vinegar for every time you restore an axe. Probably more practical for someone like me who finds the need to fix one up every month :rolleyes:

The main reason I prefer vinegar though is that it shows you the temper line, as bax mentioned above :thumbup:



Figured I'd snap a picture of how I do it since I'm currently filing up a head to haft. Folded up paper towel in the eye to prevent the clamps from marring the inside of it. Simple, cheap setup and the head is immovable from the desk...
IMG_20130227_212242_zps02fdcf0e.jpg
Click to expand...

:thumbup: I kind of wonder if clamping like that couldn't be used to take dents out of a eye. I hate it when I come across those DBL bits that have been beat on.
 
Which axe makers stamped 3^2 on the heads? Was it all of them or a handful? I have a couple Axe heads I'm trying to identify and they both have the 32 on them. One has some letters I can see but the other doesn't.
 
I think most axe manufacturers stamped head weights in that way. You probably know that the 3 is the number of pounds and the superscript 2 is the number of quarters of pounds. So 3^2 would be 3 & 2/4 lbs = 3 1/2 lbs. Back in the heyday of axes, many axes would be available in a wide variety of head weights, and I've seen 3, 3^1, 3^2, 3^3, 4, and 4^2 stamps. but later on as chainsaws became widely available and axes less necessary, axe weights and patterns decreased dramatically so that there were only a couple patterns left and most only available in 3 1/2lbs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top