Paint?

[Shotgun]

Any of you guys paint the heads on your axes/hawks? I'm thinking about painting the area around the eye on my trail hawk and leaving the blade polished. It would be for rust prevention and also I'm thinking about doing it in fire engine red for visibility if it gets dropped. Any tips for painting steel with Krylon? Should I paint the inside of the eye?

 

[Operator1975]

Holy sweet baby jesus whatever you do - dont mention anything about paint on the handle. Trust me.

 

[Shotgun]

Holy sweet baby jesus whatever you do - dont mention anything about paint on the handle. Trust me.

LOL...no joke.

 

[M3mphis]

Holy sweet baby jesus whatever you do - dont mention anything about paint on the handle. Trust me.

Oooohhh, that was hilarious. Still crackin up.

Edit: Never painted a head, I'm always stripping the paint off. If I was going to paint one, I'd paint inside the eye for sure! It can only help prevent rust, even if some of it gets rubbed off when hafting. Most factory painted axes have paint inside the eye in my experience. To make the paint hold, I would clean the steel with rubbing alcohol, buff with steel wool, clean with alcohol again, then paint. And then pics are in order, of course!

 

[foxx]

At the paint and body shop I worked at, we used something called Bulldog. It's a primer/paint that sticks to anything, it's clear. We used it on rocker panels sometimes, cause they were textured and difficult to get clean/smooth/prepared for painting. That stuff will stick around from what I understand, and it comes in a spray paint can, a bit pricy but you'll get lots of use from the one can.
You could even leave it clear, maybe?

 

[Operator1975]

I see lots of old timers paint the heads of axes, basically cause they dont want to have to deal with the upkeep of the axe. If you think about it, it makes sense, especially if it, to them, is not a commonly used tool.

I myself frown upon using any paint/clear coat/etc on axes, hatchets, etc. Just keep em oiled and repeat when needed.

However, with tomahawks, the paint thing might get into a realm I know nothing about.

 

[Shotgun]

I see lots of old timers paint the heads of axes, basically cause they dont want to have to deal with the upkeep of the axe. If you think about it, it makes sense, especially if it, to them, is not a commonly used tool.

I myself frown upon using any paint/clear coat/etc on axes, hatchets, etc. Just keep em oiled and repeat when needed.

However, with tomahawks, the paint thing might get into a realm I know nothing about.

I agree with you generally but I've noticed that the way I use the hawk the eye area hardly ever touches wood when splitting so i'm not losing any functionality. I'm also looking for the added benefit of being hi viz so if it gets dropped on the trail it will be easy to find. Plus it may look keen.