- Joined
- Aug 31, 2012
- Messages
- 390
This 2.25lb Hults Bruk single bit had been in my brother in-laws garage for a few years.
He had no idea where it came from. Funny how I never have Swedish axe heads just appear in my garage out of nowhere. He didn't want it so he sent it home with my wife one day. I am not a huge fan of flat cheeked Swedish axes but it was in good serviceable shape with a little mushrooming on the poll so I cleaned it up a some. I pounded the mushrooming flat and set it aside as a project that I would like to eventually get to. Every once in awhile I would pick it up to contemplate doing something with it and then put it back on the shelf in my garage. Well, seven or so years later I finally got around to doing something with it. I filed the bit and sharpened it. Very nice steel as one would expect from an HB. I had a couple boys axe hafts that I have been holding onto for a few years. One has cool figure to it and I decided to save it for something else. I'm not sure what but I didn't want to hang the HB on it. I decided to use the 28" Tennessee Hickory club of a haft that I bought many years ago because I liked the grain orientation. I fit it to the head and created quite a pile of hickory shavings thinning it out.
At work I have been working with reclaimed lumber for beam and post wraps. Unfortunately, when one cuts reclaimed lumber the cuts look like new wood. I needed a way to make the cuts look old. You can buy chemicals that give wood that old patina look or you can use the old white vinegar with steel wool wood pickling trick. We opted for the pickling approach so I have been playing with that on wood at work to achieve the desired look. To make the solution I soaked one quarter of a pad of shredded steel wool in one quart of white vinegar for about 4 days making sure to poke holes in the top of the mason jar to allow fumes to escape from the jar. This pickling technique reacts with the tannins in the wood. The more tannins the darker the wood will get.
I thought it would be fun to try out this technique on an axe haft. I applied a diluted pickling solution at about 5 parts water to 1 part full strength vinegar solution to the haft 3 times with a light sanding between coats to knock down the raised grain. 10 to 1 works pretty well on fir but the hickory doesn't have as much tannins so I used a stronger solution. I then hung the axe with a white oak wedge and applied some pickling solution to the wedge and end grain of the haft. As you can see it makes the oak turn black. I then put a few coats of BLO on it and called it done.
I am quite pleased with the results. I think this pickling technique goes rather well with old axe heads that retain some of their patina.
I like how this one turned out and am looking forward to using this pickling technique on future axe hafts. This was a fun little project.
He had no idea where it came from. Funny how I never have Swedish axe heads just appear in my garage out of nowhere. He didn't want it so he sent it home with my wife one day. I am not a huge fan of flat cheeked Swedish axes but it was in good serviceable shape with a little mushrooming on the poll so I cleaned it up a some. I pounded the mushrooming flat and set it aside as a project that I would like to eventually get to. Every once in awhile I would pick it up to contemplate doing something with it and then put it back on the shelf in my garage. Well, seven or so years later I finally got around to doing something with it. I filed the bit and sharpened it. Very nice steel as one would expect from an HB. I had a couple boys axe hafts that I have been holding onto for a few years. One has cool figure to it and I decided to save it for something else. I'm not sure what but I didn't want to hang the HB on it. I decided to use the 28" Tennessee Hickory club of a haft that I bought many years ago because I liked the grain orientation. I fit it to the head and created quite a pile of hickory shavings thinning it out.
At work I have been working with reclaimed lumber for beam and post wraps. Unfortunately, when one cuts reclaimed lumber the cuts look like new wood. I needed a way to make the cuts look old. You can buy chemicals that give wood that old patina look or you can use the old white vinegar with steel wool wood pickling trick. We opted for the pickling approach so I have been playing with that on wood at work to achieve the desired look. To make the solution I soaked one quarter of a pad of shredded steel wool in one quart of white vinegar for about 4 days making sure to poke holes in the top of the mason jar to allow fumes to escape from the jar. This pickling technique reacts with the tannins in the wood. The more tannins the darker the wood will get.
I thought it would be fun to try out this technique on an axe haft. I applied a diluted pickling solution at about 5 parts water to 1 part full strength vinegar solution to the haft 3 times with a light sanding between coats to knock down the raised grain. 10 to 1 works pretty well on fir but the hickory doesn't have as much tannins so I used a stronger solution. I then hung the axe with a white oak wedge and applied some pickling solution to the wedge and end grain of the haft. As you can see it makes the oak turn black. I then put a few coats of BLO on it and called it done.
I am quite pleased with the results. I think this pickling technique goes rather well with old axe heads that retain some of their patina.
I like how this one turned out and am looking forward to using this pickling technique on future axe hafts. This was a fun little project.
