Sager double bit on octagonal handle

Michael H · Jan 21, 2021

Well, now I understand the satisfaction of bringing a rusty chunk of metal back into a useful tool! This is my second hang.

ANY and ALL comments appreciated! Much to learn here. Seeing as this took me 9+ hours to complete I’m not getting much faster…or smarter, apparently.

Any guesses on the age of this one? 1940’s?

For starters a brass wire cup in a drill took off most of the rust, I stopped just as I was seeing a bit of metal exposed. Would love to hear other's preferred options here.

The pitting of this one nearly made saw teeth out of the edge. I wonder how much weight was lost on it; some for sure. There’s a small 4 on the reverse side of the head.

I took a file perpendicular to the edge to reconfigure. That took some time! I did try to straighten the edge a bit.

Used a puck and sandpaper (360) after filing.

Used a 30" octagonal from House Handle. Felt pretty comfortable and thin so I didn’t change the handle other than filing and sanding near the head for a smooth transition. Still applying boiled linseed coats. Also oiled the head.

I live in a tiny home and have a tiny wood stove to fill, my primary heating source. My wood can't be longer than 8", but it sure is easy to split at that length. Had this Sager out this past week and it's a fun splitter.

---Many thanks to member Imalterna for not only selling me this head, but for helpful tips---cheers!

lmalterna · Jan 22, 2021

Michael,
You took on a heavily pitted but excellent vintage head and did a fantastic job! I really like the transition of the handle to the head and the wedging is better than mine. I seem to always bone up the wegding a bit. The satisfaction of recovering an old valued tool is the best reason for doing this. I spend hours reworking an axe that I have no real chance to use, I no longer burn wood and only have a handful of trees on our place.

You did not take short cuts and did a great job.

Bill

Meek1 · Jan 22, 2021

Michael H said:
Well, now I understand the satisfaction of bringing a rusty chunk of metal back into a useful tool! This is my second hang.

ANY and ALL comments appreciated! Much to learn here. Seeing as this took me 9+ hours to complete I’m not getting much faster…or smarter, apparently.

Any guesses on the age of this one? 1940’s?

For starters a brass wire cup in a drill took off most of the rust, I stopped just as I was seeing a bit of metal exposed. Would love to hear other's preferred options here.

The pitting of this one nearly made saw teeth out of the edge. I wonder how much weight was lost on it; some for sure. There’s a small 4 on the reverse side of the head.

I took a file perpendicular to the edge to reconfigure. That took some time! I did try to straighten the edge a bit.

Used a puck and sandpaper (360) after filing.

Used a 30" octagonal from House Handle. Felt pretty comfortable and thin so I didn’t change the handle other than filing and sanding near the head for a smooth transition. Still applying boiled linseed coats. Also oiled the head.

I live in a tiny home and have a tiny wood stove to fill, my primary heating source. My wood can't be longer than 8", but it sure is easy to split at that length. Had this Sager out this past week and it's a fun splitter.

---Many thanks to member Imalterna for not only selling me this head, but for helpful tips---cheers!

Very well done! Looks great!

fishiker · Jan 22, 2021

Good job, be careful or you'll become addicted to those old heads. Sager double bits make great users!

Dusty One · Jan 22, 2021

Great job....Great axe !!!

Michael H · Jan 22, 2021

lmalterna said:
Michael,
You took on a heavily pitted but excellent vintage head and did a fantastic job! I really like the transition of the handle to the head and the wedging is better than mine. I seem to always bone up the wegding a bit. The satisfaction of recovering an old valued tool is the best reason for doing this. I spend hours reworking an axe that I have no real chance to use, I no longer burn wood and only have a handful of trees on our place.

You did not take short cuts and did a great job.

Bill

Thanks Bill! I do believe this was my first successful eBay bid, come to think of it. I'm the guy who doesn't get the item, so far mostly being cannon fodder for successful, savvy bidders.
I did throw a few splinters into the corners of the wedge area, then they broke off after a bit of banging and that didn't look to hot. At least it's tight; hasn't budged on swinging. I did need to use a wedge and a half on it, such a long eye. Maybe next time I'll make a wedge long enough.

Michael H · Jan 22, 2021

fishiker said:
Good job, be careful or you'll become addicted to those old heads. Sager double bits make great users!

Addiction forthcoming...I predict! This was far too much fun.

David Nowlin · Jan 22, 2021

Yes looks great! There are good and bad addictions. Unfortunately this one can start out good and turn bad.....lol. It is certainly rewarding and in my case very therapeutic.
Only problem i have is finding the heads. Not looking for the collectible ones just rust ole working heads.
I should hold a sign by the interstate off ramp that says “ I will work for old rusty ax heads” lol
Also you said you used a puck and sandpaper? You mean a black rubber hockey puck(like a block of wood)or the sharpening stone shaped like a puck? And where is the best place to get a puck sharpening stone?

lmalterna · Jan 22, 2021

My collecting/refurbing started at local flea markets. I picked that Sager up roadside just outside of Charleston, WV. My wife had business at the immigration office and I stopped at a table selling tomatoes and fresh eggs. I mentioned I was looking for axes and the guy pulled that our of the bed of his truck. As my interest grew, my leanings were towards axes from the extreme NE- Vermont, Mass. and Maine. Not going to find those in Virginia yard sales or flea markets, so eBay became the place to shop. Hard to find bargains as axes are hot commodities.
Fact is, for a using axe, there is NOTHING wrong with Plumb and Kelly(I especially like Flint Edge). They are more common, more affordable and make excellent axes.
Bill

stevewest · Jan 22, 2021

David Nowlin said:
Yes looks great! There are good and bad addictions. Unfortunately this one can start out good and turn bad.....lol. It is certainly rewarding and in my case very therapeutic.
Only problem i have is finding the heads. Not looking for the collectible ones just rust ole working heads.
I should hold a sign by the interstate off ramp that says “ I will work for old rusty ax heads” lol
Also you said you used a puck and sandpaper? You mean a black rubber hockey puck(like a block of wood)or the sharpening stone shaped like a puck? And where is the best place to get a puck sharpening stone?

Blade forum member Fortytwoblades - Baryonyx has a great webstore with lots of stuff including pucks and slips.

Michael H · Jan 22, 2021

lmalterna said:
My collecting/refurbing started at local flea markets. I picked that Sager up roadside just outside of Charleston, WV. My wife had business at the immigration office and I stopped at a table selling tomatoes and fresh eggs. I mentioned I was looking for axes and the guy pulled that our of the bed of his truck. As my interest grew, my leanings were towards axes from the extreme NE- Vermont, Mass. and Maine. Not going to find those in Virginia yard sales or flea markets, so eBay became the place to shop. Hard to find bargains as axes are hot commodities.
Fact is, for a using axe, there is NOTHING wrong with Plumb and Kelly(I especially like Flint Edge). They are more common, more affordable and make excellent axes.
Bill

Think I may need to dip into Plumb. I like those, at least in 2D. I really like a Flint Edge Jersey that was my first hang. So many to explore...and Bill you've had me looking at the Maine axes now, too...

FLINT77 · Jan 22, 2021

Great looking axe and hang! good job!

However...... I'm going to need to see a picture of this woodstove that only accepts 8" wood !!!!!!

Michael H · Jan 22, 2021

FLINT77 said:
Great looking axe and hang! good job!

However...... I'm going to need to see a picture of this woodstove that only accepts 8" wood !!!!!!

Ha! Yes I do get that....here's a couple photos-

This is made by a company in Idaho, Dwarf Stoves. There's a 3 kw and a 5 kw in addition to this one, the 4 kw. Really well built, with firebrick inside and tertiary combustion, pretty snazzy for small spaces. Some folks put the smaller one in retrofitted vans and such. That one really is tiny. 6" wood...

13" across on the top. The firebox is a scant 10" wide, though it wouldn't work well stuffed to the gills and I limit the wood to 8" for some air flow. I think I use under 1 cord a year for the tiny home up here in the Pacific Northwest, using a fair bit of Doug Fir, not the heaviest of woods but I throw in some ash, oak or madrone for colder nights. This was my contribution to Thanksgiving, a yam thing on the wood stove. Doesn't get better!

FLINT77 · Jan 24, 2021

very cool M Michael H

What's the diameter on that flue pipe? like 4-5" ?

Its also strange to see grass so green next to a wood stove in use. does your grass ever die up there?

how many sq. ft. is your house? our house was only like 1000 sq. ft. and we heated it with a woodstock keystone catyltic soapstone stove that was rated at like 45,000 btu which is like 3x the output of your stove, so I'm guessing your house is like 3-400 sq. ft? Although we would get to zero F every year and occasionally to -10 so that's a factor as well.

Michael H · Jan 25, 2021

FLINT77 said:
very cool M Michael H

What's the diameter on that flue pipe? like 4-5" ?

Its also strange to see grass so green next to a wood stove in use. does your grass ever die up there?

how many sq. ft. is your house? our house was only like 1000 sq. ft. and we heated it with a woodstock keystone catyltic soapstone stove that was rated at like 45,000 btu which is like 3x the output of your stove, so I'm guessing your house is like 3-400 sq. ft? Although we would get to zero F every year and occasionally to -10 so that's a factor as well.

Yes, 4" pipe. Very hard to find!
We have green grass 8 months of the year including Christmas in Western Oregon, weird and nice at the same time. It does go brown in the summer though, gets very hot and arid and often won't rain for 60 days.
The house is 198 sq. feet. Those soapstone stoves I hear are great. Hold a lot of heat. Mine will give off heat 2-3 hours after burning out, pretty thick steel but nothing like stone. I keep a window cracked while using it so there's loss of efficiency, though for clean air I went that way. There's a gizmo the manufacturer offers that pulls in outside air without the need to crack a window, pipes it directly into the stove. But it didn't work well for my situation. And, I like to clear out the air, plus the stove if anything is oversize for the space so a window allows a bit of a brake.

Axcentric · Feb 3, 2021

Michael H said:
Well, now I understand the satisfaction of bringing a rusty chunk of metal back into a useful tool! This is my second hang.

ANY and ALL comments appreciated! Much to learn here. Seeing as this took me 9+ hours to complete I’m not getting much faster…or smarter, apparently.

Any guesses on the age of this one? 1940’s?

For starters a brass wire cup in a drill took off most of the rust, I stopped just as I was seeing a bit of metal exposed. Would love to hear other's preferred options here.

The pitting of this one nearly made saw teeth out of the edge. I wonder how much weight was lost on it; some for sure. There’s a small 4 on the reverse side of the head.

I took a file perpendicular to the edge to reconfigure. That took some time! I did try to straighten the edge a bit.

Used a puck and sandpaper (360) after filing.

Used a 30" octagonal from House Handle. Felt pretty comfortable and thin so I didn’t change the handle other than filing and sanding near the head for a smooth transition. Still applying boiled linseed coats. Also oiled the head.

I live in a tiny home and have a tiny wood stove to fill, my primary heating source. My wood can't be longer than 8", but it sure is easy to split at that length. Had this Sager out this past week and it's a fun splitter.

---Many thanks to member Imalterna for not only selling me this head, but for helpful tips---cheers!

?

I like it. The final product makes you look like an 'old pro'. How did you achieve the rich black coating?