Rehabing old axe heads

J

jpr9954

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Oct 1, 2007
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I see a lot of older axe heads for sale on Ebay in sizes and shapes that you don't see much anymore. Sometimes you can pick them up for $5 plus another $5-10 or so for shipping. Most seem to be in OK shape but will need a good sharpening and some burnishing to remove the crud. I have my Gerber camp axe and a small Vaughn sounding axe and they are OK but they don't have much "soul."

Was the old forged steel better than what we are seeing new nowadays?

I kinda like the idea of rehabing something that has a history and may have been by a long out-of-business US company. Other than the work involved, is there a downside? Will the steel have become brittle over all these years?

I know I'll have to rehandle all of these and I have seen www.househandle.com mentioned on the Axe & Hawks forum a lot. Has anyone ever used www.tennesseehickoryproducts.com? Does your average Home Depot or Lowe's even carry decent wood replacement handles? If I don't buy online, would I do well to find an old fashioned hardware store in a small town that just may have something stuck away in a back corner?

Thanks for any and all suggestions or comments.

John

PS: I have cross-posted this on the Axe & Hawks forum. However, the Wilderness and Survival community always seems more active.
 
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i have picked up a few hatchet and axe heads at the local antique place for cheap, good projects if the edges aren't in too bad shape and they aren't too rusted.

it is good to give them a good scrubbing with some steel wool or something to get past any surface rust. i like to polish up the edges nice and sharp.

i can get axe and hatchet handles at the local hardware store (ACE) but its hard to find a really nice one, most have bad grain or if they have good grain they aren't straight or...you get the idea.

its alot of fun fixing up and using an old axe, and i have a collins axe that was made a hundred years ago 2 miles down the road in the original collins axe factory. really neat to think about...
 
One trick that's worth knowing about is using electrolysis to remove rust. Check elsewhere on the 'net for details, but it involves making a "bath" of washing soda (sodium carbonate) and water in a non-conductive tub, then hooking the to-be-de-rusted steel or iron thing up to the negative end of a car-battery charger, and the positive end to a piece of iron or steel that you don't mind rusting, and putting both into the bath, making sure they don't touch. Someone more familiar with things electric and chemical may need to tell you about risks, etc., but I've done this with old, rusty things and had the rust turn into a scrubbable-away black paste within hours. (The iron thing attached to the positive end winds up rusting ferociously, be advised.) The great thing about this method is that it selectively attacks rust, and doesn't scrub away unrusted steel like abrasion would. Any pits will remain, of course, but the remaining metal is clean. It can work pretty fast, too.
 
Return of the J.D. said:
One trick that's worth knowing about is using electrolysis to remove rust. Check elsewhere on the 'net for details, but it involves making a "bath" of washing soda (sodium carbonate) and water in a non-conductive tub, then hooking the to-be-de-rusted steel or iron thing up to the negative end of a car-battery charger, and the positive end to a piece of iron or steel that you don't mind rusting, and putting both into the bath, making sure they don't touch. Someone more familiar with things electric and chemical may need to tell you about risks, etc., but I've done this with old, rusty things and had the rust turn into a scrubbable-away black paste within hours. (The iron thing attached to the positive end winds up rusting ferociously, be advised.) The great thing about this method is that it selectively attacks rust, and doesn't scrub away unrusted steel like abrasion would. Any pits will remain, of course, but the remaining metal is clean. It can work pretty fast, too.
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That sounds really interesting. I've heard about doing something similar to remove copper and leading from a gun barrel.

John
 
I.m with JD on the electronic rust removal, I made one about 4 years ago and it's great for old tools, parts etc. and costs next to nothing too! I built it for an old BMW motorcycle I was restoring.

I've picked up quite a few hatchet and axe heads at garage sales and flea markets over the years, cleaned them up and put on handles from the hardware store, you can find decent handles if you pick through them. I always strip the handles of all varnish, sand them super smooth and then coat them with boiled linseed oil. Varnished handles cause blisters, oiled handles don't. Have fun.
 
Using old axe heads is a great idea. I've re-handled a few of them now. The old heads may have been gifts, or something I found in a shed somewhere or picked up at a garage sale for a couple of bucks.

I made most of the handles I needed. There is no rule saying that you have to buy a handle or that a handle has to be shaped exactly like a commercial handle for the axe to be effective. Some of my handles are fairly, err, crude.... but there is no question as to their effectiveness. I don't recall ever having one of my home-made handles break.

The trickiest part of re-handling seems to be fitting the head snugly. I take my time over this - tapping the handle into the head gently and seeing where the tight spots are.... then removing the excess wood with a sharp knife, scraper, file or sandpaper.

I don't know the qualities of the various types of wood in your area, but if you chose something renowned for its toughness you'd probably be getting off to a good start. By selecting a nice trunk of wood, then splitting a 'plank' from it, you can be fairly sure that the grain will be flowing nicely down the handle if there are no knots, rot or other imperfections. I have used our native 'kanuka' wood (Kunzea) which has proven to be excellent.

I rough-shape the handles using a sharp hatchet.... and maybe a drawknife sometimes, although a hatchet is all you need if you are careful. One thing to be aware of is that it is easy to split away your intended wide portion at the bottom of the handle if you get too enthusiastic with your hatchet.

A wood rasp or a coarse electric sanding disk could be useful, but neither of these things are absolutely necessary. You can do all your shaping with a knife if you have the time and energy.

I use a thin saw to make a slot in the top of the handle that the wedge gets driven into. And I make the wedges from the handle material.

I might often spend a bit of time with a round file cleaning up the inside of the socket on the axe head. Sometimes the edges are burred, or there are other little dags sticking out preventing a good fit for the handle.

When making a handle I think it is best to avoid sudden changes of size... this is particularly important up near the head where there should not be a 'step' in the wood where it is cut down to fit the head socket. Nature prefers curves (me too).

One thing I like to do is to fit a longer-than-normal handle to a nice hatchet head. This gives me greater reach and greater chopping ability without having to carry a heavier axe.

I reckon most old hatchet heads are good enough to re-use if they aren't ground back too far or haven't been through a fire. Sometimes the odd head may be too hard and likely to chip or crack if it hasn't done it already.... but generally anything is good, and a heck of a lot better than a lump of flint or glass.

Below is one of my favorite hatchets. I fitted the handle to a really old head that a friend gave me. The steel is probably a bit soft, but I've done an awful lot of cutting with it. I have made a hunting bow or two using a hatchet alone. Very satisfying, even if the bows were somewhat rough-looking compared to a store-bought weapon.

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I have cleaned up a few or more old axes and hatchets and if you have scotch brite after soaking the rust with a penetrtatng oil it will come off pretty good but leave the old patina of the head, I saw someone post about taking the burrs out of the eye where the handle goes before putting in a new handle and that helps alot and I think some kind of sander is the way to make the handle fit the eye. I have a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder with a small flap sander wheel on it, it will size the handle and sharpen nicely. Pat
 
coote reminded me to mention something i forgot before...

i have made several handles for hammers, hatchets and a small axe out of maple that i cut split and shaped myself from the back woods. its not too hard, and if you get to know the wood well enough, they go together pretty quick and easy.

i agree, the fitting of the eye is the most time consuming part, because you have to be careful not to take too much off in one go.
 
age of the steel shouldn't be a consideration. There's a valid argument that a department store axe from 80 years ago, or especially 50ish years ago is going to be a better steel and heat treat than a department store axe today.

Reprofiling the edge is fun work. I can't say that I have done it on antiques, but I have thinned out and lightened some modern heads and put really nice convex edges on them and they work well for my environment. I did one for a friend recently, rehandled and reprofiled, specifically for food prep, game cleaning, and wood shaping. It's not really even an axe anymore.
 
its alot of fun fixing up and using an old axe, and i have a collins axe that was made a hundred years ago 2 miles down the road in the original collins axe factory. really neat to think about...
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I agree!!!

I was shocked to find out there was such a huge market for old hatchet and axe heads
The Norlund heads seem to be pretty expensive
Kelly Works as well
True Temper and Collins are some other popular ones

It just goes to show that people like old stuff that they CAN USE
I just found a Collins hatchet head and a Bridgeport Boy Scout hatchet
I'm kinda back logged on my re handling though!!
 
Trent Rock said:
I agree!!!

I was shocked to find out there was such a huge market for old hatchet and axe heads
The Norlund heads seem to be pretty expensive
Kelly Works as well
True Temper and Collins are some other popular ones

It just goes to show that people like old stuff that they CAN USE
I just found a Collins hatchet head and a Bridgeport Boy Scout hatchet
I'm kinda back logged on my re handling though!!
Click to expand...

I look at the some of the prices and say, not me. I think the collectors are really looking for the embossed heads with different and unusual logos. I had been bidding on a Kelly Works head and I stopped at $12. It went for about $40!

That said, I just picked up a single and double-bit axe head yesterday on Ebay for $21 shipped. If I am interpreting the markings correctly, at least one is a Gransfors Bruk. I definitely can live with that.

John
 
Soooo I'm looking at axes drooling over a nice big ass felling axe and I totally can't afford to buy it right now and it hit me like a brick wall to restore one
 
But since I'm younger and stupid I like the hard way and I'm opting out the traditional hickory handle and I'm going to make a micarta handle instead
 
Has anyone else ever done this I know micarta can be heavy but I was thinking I could use an aluminum tube for the center to reduce the weight
 
I just had to restore the hatchet I loaned to my father in law this summer. apparently, after getting home he left it, wet, packed away with the rest of his camping gear. I wasn't impressed. after a lot of time with the wire brush, and a whetstone, I have a lot of pitting to remind me not to loan tools.

I've always found older tools tend to be built to last, rather than replaced. under warranty or otherwise. I pick up as many old tools as I can find / afford.
 
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