Raw Axe Handles / Heads?

aermotor · Dec 3, 2009

Hi everyone, first post here, been lurking for a bit.

I'm wondering of a high quality resource for raw axe handles and heads. By raw handle I mean not finished but pretty much shaped and ready to be finished. As far as the heads go, anything that's ready to be attached to a handle.

Best Made ( http://www.bestmadeco.com/ ) have some really nice looking handles / heads, that's prolly what I'd like to emulate, sans the painting... I love how the heads look worn.

I'm definitely new to this all, so thanks in advance for any help. Trying to make a few custom axes for myself / friends for the holidays. Thanks!

Pipeman · Dec 3, 2009

aermotor said:
Hi everyone, first post here, been lurking for a bit.

I'm wondering of a high quality resource for raw axe handles and heads. By raw handle I mean not finished but pretty much shaped and ready to be finished. As far as the heads go, anything that's ready to be attached to a handle.

Best Made ( http://www.bestmadeco.com/ ) have some really nice looking handles / heads, that's prolly what I'd like to emulate, sans the painting... I love how the heads look worn.

I'm definitely new to this all, so thanks in advance for any help. Trying to make a few custom axes for myself / friends for the holidays. Thanks!

Hi there, interesting company. Are you in Canada? I live just south of Algonquin park, there are some folks here who make handles for pretty much anything. To be honest, I think I'd be looking for something custom made for that kind of money.

Regards

Robin

kvaughn · Dec 3, 2009

Ive recently gotten into restoring old axes and hatchets and have had great luck finding old high quality heads at flea mkts and tag sales. I was recently offered a ridiculous amount of money for an old double bit Collins that I cleaned up,sharpened and re-handled. Like about 150 times what I had into it. There's some really good steel in some of those older heads.--KV

Pipeman · Dec 3, 2009

kvaughn said:
Ive recently gotten into restoring old axes and hatchets and have had great luck finding old high quality heads at flea mkts and tag sales. I was recently offered a ridiculous amount of money for an old double bit Collins that I cleaned up,sharpened and re-handled. Like about 150 times what I had into it. There's some really good steel in some of those older heads.--KV

Yes, I bought 5 really good axes of varying sizes for 3 to 5 bucks each this summer. I'd have a hard time bringing myself to pay $400.00 for an ax. I'd get Steve Liley to make me a damascus ax for that kinda money ;-)))

Regards

Robin

aermotor · Dec 3, 2009

Hi guys. I'm from Los Angeles actually. Kvaughn, yea that's a good idea and what I started thinking last night after searching for hours and not really being able to find anything like what I'm talking about. Kvaughn, have you anything to show?

Any tips on refinishing etc? I've seen some old blades that I imagine can be made to look great. What sort of things do you use to clean/polish them? I'd imaging a bench grinder with maybe a wirebrush type thing at first, and then maybe something soft that can sort of buff it... I'm not really sure. As far as handles go, I've seen some old ones that look like they have some great potential; figure I'd sand them down lightly then either lightly stain and oil or something like that.

Do you guys just buy handles from hardware stores or what? I'm not really sure if there's are good brands and bad ones or if it doesn't matter.

One last thing, what's your method of sharpening? I've heard so many conflicting things and of course there are a lot of ways to go about it...

Any tips would be great, thanks guy!

Pipeman · Dec 3, 2009

aermotor said:
Hi guys. I'm from Los Angeles actually. Kvaughn, yea that's a good idea and what I started thinking last night after searching for hours and not really being able to find anything like what I'm talking about.

Any tips on refinishing etc? I've seen some old blades that I imagine can be made to look great. What sort of things do you use to clean/polish them? I'd imaging a bench grinder with maybe a wirebrush type thing at first, and then maybe something soft that can sort of buff it... I'm not really sure. As far as handles go, I've seen some old ones that look like they have some great potential; figure I'd sand them down lightly then either lightly stain and oil or something like that.

Do you guys just buy handles from hardware stores or what? I'm not really sure if there's are good brands and bad ones or if it doesn't matter.

One last thing, what's your method of sharpening? I've heard so many conflicting things and of course there are a lot of ways to go about it...

Any tips would be great, thanks guy!

The first thing I would tell you is, IF you find a good old name brand like Collins in good shape you may want to do nothing to it until you find out it's value. I use a table sander with coarse belts first (to get that annoying black finish off CS hawks)) then work up to totally worn out belts for finishing. How much you finish depends on how upset you're going to get if you use it and it gets all marked up ;-)))
Have fun and no matter how big it is, throw the thing ;-))

Best regards

Robin

aermotor · Dec 3, 2009

Where would you find the value of said axes?

What grit are your coarse belts and what would you say they roughly go up to?

Pipeman · Dec 3, 2009

aermotor said:
Where would you find the value of said axes?

What grit are your coarse belts and what would you say they roughly go up to?

I'd start by asking right here, there are lots of very knowledgeable folks here.

I think my coarse belt is 80 grit but I use that for nasty removal of metal or Cold Steel blackstuff. Most axes are pretty smooth to start with so judge for yourself. I would say the bely I use for finishing is about 1000 grit maybe even finer, it's a really worn out belt. I personally like old patina on my hawks and axes, the only thing I grind fairly heavily are the cold steel hawks and ax backs that have been rolled over. Just grab something cheap and go for it, you'll be hooked. ;-) Also, if you haven't already, look at Shappas thread on finishing his hawk head.

Regards

Robin

aermotor · Dec 3, 2009

I ended up grabbing a few handles today from a local hardware store, 19" and 28" – They had a slight clear coat on them so I sanded it off on both.

As I test, on the smaller one I got some Danish Oil in a Golden finish and applied that tonight; it looks really nice so far. I need to find some Raw Linseed Oil now so I can try soaking the big one in that and maybe try the smaller one too even though it has a coat on it.

What would the correct weight heads be for these 2 sizes? I figure around 2.5 and 3.5 respectively, not sure. All I need are some heads to work on to keep me going.

One other question, what type of heavy duty paint do they use when painting axe heads and handles? It seems like it has extremely durable.