Some may remember my (her) family (cacked) 5# Legitimus that somehow fell into my lap. I did a couple vinegar dips (only on affected area), followed by an oven bake, media (walnut) blasting, acetone rinse and painting with a commercial grade weld-through primer. I finally welded the thing. I've never blacksmithed but holy crap that was a very LARGE chunk of red hot metal. So you weld and then you grind and then you weld more and you grind more, etc. I kept it as cool as I could but different metals are different metals. I've been taking photos of the whole process (cleaning, dipping, grinding, welding, etc.). I promise they will all be up soon.
It looks like this 5# Legitimus was maybe a little darker than a fire engine red?? I'm thinking about maybe trying to re paint it as close to factory as I can and then use it a bit (so it doesn't look fake and painted) before I give it back to her dad. He probably won't accept it on the condition that our kids both learn to use it AND make it to college with all limbs/digits --but the repair/restoration is something I need to finish.
What is my best option for paint to get this head as close to the way it was when it came from the factory? I do a lot of welding. I understand the differences in metals. Does anyone have any suggestions to homogenize the metal or at least even the patina back to what it should have been so there isn't a big shiny section where I filled the metal from welding material? What can I put on it or how can I use it so that it develops an even use patina as it would have?
Unrelated handle comment:
I measured the haft with a 3d scanner from work and I'm deciding between the grains of four shaped hafts. We are close to knowing the full details of this axe (where & when it was bought, etc.) if this is a factory 5# haft I'm happy to publish the dimensions as a PDF. Either way I'm happy to publish it --but might be more desirable if it is something other than a hardware store replacement handle.
It looks like this 5# Legitimus was maybe a little darker than a fire engine red?? I'm thinking about maybe trying to re paint it as close to factory as I can and then use it a bit (so it doesn't look fake and painted) before I give it back to her dad. He probably won't accept it on the condition that our kids both learn to use it AND make it to college with all limbs/digits --but the repair/restoration is something I need to finish.
What is my best option for paint to get this head as close to the way it was when it came from the factory? I do a lot of welding. I understand the differences in metals. Does anyone have any suggestions to homogenize the metal or at least even the patina back to what it should have been so there isn't a big shiny section where I filled the metal from welding material? What can I put on it or how can I use it so that it develops an even use patina as it would have?
Unrelated handle comment:
I measured the haft with a 3d scanner from work and I'm deciding between the grains of four shaped hafts. We are close to knowing the full details of this axe (where & when it was bought, etc.) if this is a factory 5# haft I'm happy to publish the dimensions as a PDF. Either way I'm happy to publish it --but might be more desirable if it is something other than a hardware store replacement handle.