Preventing Rust Inside Axe Eye

M

mhutch

Joined
Mar 1, 2015
Messages
88
Good evening fellas,
I have an old Wedgeway Morley Bros. axe head I'm restoring, and I'm having trouble deciding how to tackle the issue of cleaning up and then keeping rust out of the inside of the eye. Since it's an old hand or drop forged axe, it's got that crease at the front of the eye as pictured. When I got it, there was a decent amount of rust and pitting all over the head. Basically, the way the poll looks is how most of the axe head looked. I've cleaned up the inside of the eye as best as I can with a steel brush gun cleaning brush, dremel/wire brush, and sand paper, soaking the whole head in vinegar between cleanings. At this point it's pretty rust-free inside, though the in the pictures I had just taken it out of the vinegar bath so its a bit discolored. My main concern is keeping the crease at the front of the eye from getting rusted again since the handle will not be completely tight against that area.

Thoughts?
Does the inside of the eye look clean enough?

Thanks in advance!
 
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As far as keeping the inside of the eye clean, particularly the crease at the front, my only ideas were:
1) Soak the entire head in linseed oil from time to time
2) Heat up some wax and pour it into the crease before hanging the axe
 
Once you have a handle on there, rust isn't going to be much of an issue. If you leave the axe out in the rain maybe, but beyond that it'll be fine and of course you'll have handle problems long before you have real rust problems. You can rub the inside of the eye with linseed oil before you hang it if you're particularly concerned, but only enough to soak into the pores. That bad boy looks ready for a new stick.
 
Rust (unless the implement has been left outdoors or in a damp environment for long periods of time) is not a structural issue but rather a cosmetic one. Lightly spray or rub the eye with oil before installing a haft and you're done!
Unless of course your plan is to perennially leave the tool exposed outdoors. In which case soaking the axe in light oil every now and again will keep the wood in the eye from drying out and will keep the head from rusting too much. Under those circumstances the lifespan of a haft will be considerably shorter than the life of the axe head anyway.
 
Thanks for the advice guys!

This axe is gonna be babied so it sounds like I oughtta be good to go. I'll post pics when I'm done hanging it.

Matt
 
As the others mentioned, it's not going to be much of an issue. If you really do feel the need for a protective layer, some clear spray lacquer would do it, but why bother? :)
 
mhutch said:
Thanks for the advice guys!

This axe is gonna be babied so it sounds like I oughtta be good to go. I'll post pics when I'm done hanging it.

Matt
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Glad you got the message. Axes may not need to be babied but they also don't need to be pampered. They're age-old tools.
 
Wax. Almost any kind will do it. I have been using a microcrystalline wax of some sort for years in place of bees wax. It has some adhesive quality's.

Its not at all a bad idea to seal the head of your axe around the handle with it to keep out moisture. When wood gets wet it expands and then when it dry's it will shrink to a smaller size than it was before it got wet, leading to a loose axe head. From a loose axe head to a broken one is just around the corner.
I suspect wax rings for toilets have similar quality's, but it has been pointed out they do have some harmful chemical additives these days.

Seal around the head of your axe especially in a damp or wet environment and it will last longer, I seal the end grain on top of the axe head also.
 
garry3 said:
Wax. Almost any kind will do it. I have been using a microcrystalline wax of some sort for years in place of bees wax. It has some adhesive quality's.

Its not at all a bad idea to seal the head of your axe around the handle with it to keep out moisture. When wood gets wet it expands and then when it dry's it will shrink to a smaller size than it was before it got wet, leading to a loose axe head. From a loose axe head to a broken one is just around the corner.
I suspect wax rings for toilets have similar quality's, but it has been pointed out they do have some harmful chemical additives these days.

Seal around the head of your axe especially in a damp or wet environment and it will last longer, I seal the end grain on top of the axe head also.
Click to expand...

Toilet seal aka plumbing putty is only clay mixed with linseed oil, so you got unwanted clay in the mix.

As for the inside of the eye, i like it to be a little rusty, it help finding out which part of the handle need rasping as i hang the head ;) so i dont worry about that.
 
They used to be bees wax! I would use them for string wax for making bow stings.
I think they are a petroleum product now.
 
What about silicon in the axe head between the wood and steel? just got a crazy idea, silicon it right before wedging it with carpenter glue.

I think thats what GBA does but they use epoxy, ive seen some residue on both of my gransfors axe ' eyes.
 
Rust occupies (if I remember correctly) about 5x the volume of the iron it was formed from, so rust in the eye would actually improve the mechanical bond. :D
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Rust occupies (if I remember correctly) about 5x the volume of the iron it was formed from, so rust in the eye would actually improve the mechanical bond. :D
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This is why so many bridges and piers in the rust belt have failed; salt infuses the structural steel rebar which then rusts and expands to split/spall the concrete. I don't know if I'd want to go out of my way to try this with any of my favourite axes.
 
300Six said:
This is why so many bridges and piers in the rust belt have failed; salt infuses the structural steel rebar which then rusts and expands to split/spall the concrete. I don't know if I'd want to go out of my way to try this with any of my favourite axes.
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Fortunately axe heads are neither made out of concrete nor spend much time in salt water. :D The principle is actually used to advantage in Japanese swords, with light natural rusting of the tang improving the bond with the tsuka (handle) core. People are actually cautioned not to clean/rust-proof the tangs of their swords for this reason.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Fortunately axe heads are neither made out of concrete nor spend much time in salt water. :D The principle is actually used to advantage in Japanese swords, with light natural rusting of the tang improving the bond with the tsuka (handle) core. People are actually cautioned not to clean/rust-proof the tangs of their swords for this reason.
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Heheh well technically, its more to preserve the signature and help knowing the age of the sword, as the sword is secured inside the handle by an entirely different system than friction alone. But thats another subject!
 
Remzy said:
Heheh well technically, its more to preserve the signature and help knowing the age of the sword, as the sword is secured inside the handle by an entirely different system than friction alone. But thats another subject!
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The core is carefully carved to fit the tang and pinned, yes, but the presence of light rust does aid in the bond. I've seen the practice advised for modern production swords that didn't have signatures and were being used for tameshigiri purposes and that was the reason given. Could be wrong, of course, but it's the same reason why nuts seize up on the bolt when they rust. A tight-fitting space with the formation of rust expanding within locks things in place pretty dang tight! :D
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
The principle is actually used to advantage in Japanese swords, with light natural rusting of the tang improving the bond with the tsuka (handle) core. People are actually cautioned not to clean/rust-proof the tangs of their swords for this reason.
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Sounds pretty fanciful to me. Cautioning discerning 'people' not to fuss over their investments (custom Japanese swords, no matter what the quality, don't appear on the shelves at Walmart) for the sake of encouraging 'rust-bonding' is entirely a new one on me.
No offence intended but you might gently want to start weaning yourself off from worshipping the various nebulous 'reference' sites that you get this 'fantastic' information from.
 
300Six said:
Sounds pretty fanciful to me. Cautioning discerning 'people' not to fuss over their investments (custom Japanese swords, no matter what the quality, don't appear on the shelves at Walmart) for the sake of encouraging 'rust-bonding' is entirely a new one on me.
No offence intended but you might gently want to start weaning yourself off from worshipping the various nebulous 'reference' sites that you get this 'fantastic' information from.
Click to expand...

As previously stated the sources I saw recommending it were for modern production (non-custom) and it wasn't so much "encouraging" rust bonding as much as "not discouraging" it. As in, it's better from a user standpoint (not collector) to not treat the tang with oil etc. when doing routine maintenance. The "nebulous sources" were practitioners of JSA but it's entirely possible that they were making something out of nothing, and I stated in my further commentary that it's entirely possible that it wasn't correct information. However, it doesn't negate my original point that if anything mild surface rusting on the interior of the eye after hafting is, if anything, going to improve the tightness of the fit.

No one is "worshipping" anything here. If I'm wrong I actively encourage being corrected--ego only gets in the way of learning. Condescension, contrastingly, interferes with teaching. ;)

Edit to add: Citation 1, citation 2 ...lots of anecdotal references out there but these individuals seem to have credentials.
 
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I only speak from the nihonto collector point of view and not from a user of modern "katana" but te reason you do not put oil on the nakago is to make sure you do not get grim and rust flake onto the blade with your oiled cloth so not to scratch the finish on the actual blade. I am a little sceptical about rust being used as a bounding agent, again. the nakago already has file marks on it from the maker and a nakagoana to insert the pin inside, furthermore, modern "katana" makers usualy put TWO nakagoanas in their nakagos, which makes it less historicaly correct but overly secure to begin with, hence i dont see why it would be "encouraged" to promote rust on your nakago... seems a bit cheesy. to conclude, when i handle my nihontos, i can assure you that the patina on their nakagos is waaaay slicker and not gripping compared to a modern made nakago without rust and with fresh file marks.

Off topic, sorry, but just laying it out there.
 
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