Pitting removal question

greatscoot

greatscoot

Some other kind of crazy.
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Jul 21, 2012
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New to this sub forum and I have a lot of noob questions but I will start with just one.
I have this old fireman's axe that I found some years ago and was wondering if it is possible to get rid of the pitting. I would like to get this cleaned up and sharpened. I saw in one of the threads about soaking in vinegar. What does that actually do?

Axe.jpg
 
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Don't waste your time with vinegar. Get a body-shop grinder with the pad to back up sandpaper disks and get a really coarse disk to start, 80 grit maybe. The only way to remover a pit is to grind the metal down past it's bottom. You will have to sand/grind this down until you get to the bottom of the pits, or close to it.
 
Because of the fiberglass handle, this 'rust bucket' doesn't elicit much sympathy! Rust hardening will have made this a formidable tool to try to sharpen (and/or clean up) unless you 'go to town' (but carefully) with a belt sander (or some such). When heads are this badly pitted oftentimes it's best just to live with it. A smoothed-off rust-disfigured fire axe with a sound handle will easily be just as useful as a brand new one, if the sole purpose is emergencies.
 
300Six said:
Because of the fiberglass handle, this 'rust bucket' doesn't elicit much sympathy! Rust hardening will have made this a formidable tool to try to sharpen (and/or clean up) unless you 'go to town' (but carefully) with a belt sander (or some such). When heads are this badly pitted oftentimes it's best just to live with it. A smoothed-off rust-disfigured fire axe with a sound handle will easily be just as useful as a brand new one, if the sole purpose is emergencies.
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Maybe wire wheel all the junk off of it and give it a really nice, deep grind. With a new (wood) handle and a good grind on it, it would look like the old tool it is and probably scare anything you want to split/chop.

How much do you figure the spike on those weigh? (apart from the head).
 
300Six said:
Because of the fiberglass handle, this 'rust bucket' doesn't elicit much sympathy!
Click to expand...

In hindsight I see that wasn't the brightest move but I can still rehang it. I was young and foolish.
 
I have to agree, if it were me I'd sharpen it and leave it at that. Not that it can't be a good tool, it's just not worth a ton of your effort.
 
Don't soak it in vinegar, use a brass wire cup in a drill or angle grinder, there's gonna be a nice patina under the rust that shouldn't be removed.
The pitting and patina are character and don't hurt anything.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Don't soak it in vinegar, use a brass wire cup in a drill or angle grinder, there's gonna be a nice patina under the rust that shouldn't be removed.
The pitting and patina are character and don't hurt anything.
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+1
Best way to get an axe in decent shape is to use it! I've got an axe I recently restored (was cracked, soaked it in vinegar, welded it, powder coated it, re-hung it, etc.) and now with the fresh re-hang it looks like something you'd buy at the big box stores. Its going to take many, many years of TLC and use to get back the old, worn patina & haft coloring it had...
 
jblyttle said:
I have to agree, if it were me I'd sharpen it and leave it at that. Not that it can't be a good tool, it's just not worth a ton of your effort.
Click to expand...

This being the case, it does give me something to practice on.
 
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