Off Topic Rusting a cheap harbor freight hatchet to age it ( update )

This is crazy! Everyone else wants to 'shine up' an old axe and here you are desperately trying to go the other way. Best I can think of is to use it and 'incidentally' leave it out in the sun and rain. No one's lifespan is so short that a tool needs to be artificially aged if it's actually being used.
 
300Six said:
This is crazy! Everyone else wants to 'shine up' an old axe and here you are desperately trying to go the other way. Best I can think of is to use it and 'incidentally' leave it out in the sun and rain. No one's lifespan is so short that a tool needs to be artificially aged if it's actually being used.
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Did you see my last post of how nicely it's rusting up ?

This thing has looked like crap since the day I got it because I used some coarse sandpaper to remove the paint.
Then it got even worse looking from all of the file...ect marks left when I reshaped it into a Hudson Bay. I did try to add some intentional character marks with a hammer but that really didn't work.

So what am I supposed to do ,Spend more on sandpaper to polish it up than it costed ? Or just spend nothing to let it rust up and look old ?
I vote for spending nothing, and all I had to do was smooth out the surface a little bit with an old sharpening stone.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I vote for spending nothing
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My vote too, but yours is the only vote that counts. I've tried in the past to put "patina" on metal. I was happy with results on copper, but never got steel the way I wanted it. And to be honest I've been cheap about it. Looking forward to see how your project turns out.


Bob
 
rjdankert said:
My vote too, but yours is the only vote that counts. I've tried in the past to put "patina" on metal. I was happy with results on copper, but never got steel the way I wanted it. And to be honest I've been cheap about it. Looking forward to see how your project turns out.


Bob
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If I really wanted to I could probably take a wire wheel to it now and it might look ok, but Im hoping for a little pitting to hide what I couldn't get out with the stone, and I don't have a handle for it yet anyways
 
Casual quick rust will come off pretty quick with a wire wheel on an angle grinder. The look you are going for - that rich/dark "patina" comes from time an repeated exposure as well.

"Time" is the factor that you are bypassing - obviously that is part of the experiment.

If or when you clean it up I wonder if you should use something less abrasive - a rag first, then light steel wool before you wire it.

Is there anything to wiping it off then setting it back out? To build layers?

My experience was the first layer of oxidation comes off pretty clean, subsequent layers build on the first.

Would it help to wipe it off lightly then set it back out to expose the metal that the rust hasn't set up on yet?

Air exposure may play a part in what you are trying to achieve.

someone can possibly add to or nullify what I'm getting at in more precise words.
 
Agent_H said:
Casual quick rust will come off pretty quick with a wire wheel on an angle grinder. The look you are going for - that rich/dark "patina" comes from time an repeated exposure as well.

"Time" is the factor that you are bypassing - obviously that is part of the experiment.

If or when you clean it up I wonder if you should use something less abrasive - a rag first, then light steel wool before you wire it.

Is there anything to wiping it off then setting it back out? To build layers?

My experience was the first layer of oxidation comes off pretty clean, subsequent layers build on the first.

Would it help to wipe it off lightly then set it back out to expose the metal that the rust hasn't set up on yet?

Air exposure may play a part in what you are trying to achieve.
someone can possibly add to or nullify what I'm getting at in more precise words.
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After the first couple of days I took it to the wire wheel to remove the weird patina that came from the salt.
Underneath the rust was a decent dark metal color, which the wire wheel didn't remove like you're suggesting. I think this may have to do with the fact that the rust is fresh and I don't have to bear down with the wire wheel to remove it.

I could easily take a wire wheel to it, see how it looks, then put it back out to rust up again, but I may have the best chance of the steel getting real dark if I just leave it. ( not that I can wait too long )

Edit: I went out to look it over a little better and the rust on one side is pretty thick, I'd say
all it'll needs is another day or two for the other side to develop the same level of rust and that part will be done.
I won't have to go out and flip it over everyday or anything, I can just stick it in my big chopping / carving stump outside and leave the rust to do it's thing.

It may be a good idea to leave it for a couple months, and if I tell myself it'll be a Halloween decoration that may keep me from cleaning it up too soon:D
 
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Here's both sides good to go, so now I think it's just time to let the rust so it's thing.
I've got it stuck in my big chopping / carving stump out front and I'm just going to leave it there for a while ( I'm going to try to anyways )
I'll update the thread here and there, and maybe take the head to a wire wheel In about a month.
 
Ok if no one else want to know I do why do your neighbors flood their yard everyday?
Hickory n steel said:
Well If you can believe it, I actually lost the hatchet head.

The neighbors flood their backyard everyday which also floods an area of ours, and now it's lost in the water somewhere ( don't remember the exact spot I left it ) and I can't get over there and locate it without getting all muddy.
I guess it'll probably be good and rusty by the time I find it :D
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Oh yeah nice hatchet head.
 
gonebad395 said:
Ok if no one else want to know I do why do your neighbors flood their yard everyday?


Oh yeah nice hatchet head.
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They don't exactly flood the whole backyard, they have a little ditch running along the fence to the plants and stuff they grow.
The problem is that they don't use a seep hose or drip system or anything, they just toss the hose out into the yard then turn it on and leave it from probably noon to sundown. There's a slight slope so a lot of the water ends up in one part of our yard by the gate.

Btw I now believe the 2 ducks I saw belong to them because they were there again today and they don't have the water on.
 
NOW you're getting close to pitting.
That will help the "man made" aging to blend in.

If it floats your boat, I'm liking the thread.
 
I found a poor quality old photo of what this hatchet used to look like ( the date on my cheap camera was not set and is wrong in the photo )

Based on this picture I'm sure it's not hard to imagine why I wanted to modify and age this thing.
 
Well, I couldn't wait to see what it looked like and here it is.


So what do you guys think , should I call it done, or stick it back out there to rust some more ?
There's not much pitting other than some very fine stuff on the bit ( the hardened steel must've reacted differently ) but in general I'd say it looks ok.
I'm only asking because I'll bet I'd never be perfectly satisfied with how this thing looks because I know it's a cheapo made in India.
 
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I think it's awesome!
I'm picturing a laminated Rosewood/Bamboo handle with rich brown leather wraps.

That's a great project, and I'm happy I stumbled across it.
Fact is this is a different way of looking at the common objects we tend to, well... overlook.
 
Zombie411 said:
I think it's awesome!
I'm picturing a laminated Rosewood/Bamboo handle with rich brown leather wraps.

That's a great project, and I'm happy I stumbled across it.
Fact is this is a different way of looking at the common objects we tend to, well... overlook.
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Thanks.
I'll be sticking to a traditional hickory hatchet handle for this , and I'll probably have to pick one up from the hardware store and shape it down because I don't have any wood to make one out of.
I like to keep my handles pretty simple and traditional Because I've found that if you go too fancy with all kinds of wraps and stuff it's just not the same as a simple working tool, no matter how cool it looks.
 
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