What did you rehang today?

Father inlaw gave me half dozen old axe heads last week. This was one of the M axes no one seems to know by whom they were made. It was very rusty so I decided to make it into a Rockaway pattern which I really like the look of. The head took a extremely good edge. I have resharpened the edge since the picture of it blued.
https://flic.kr/p/2gik5Sj
After alteration
https://flic.kr/p/2gihq4g
After applying several coats of blueing and hanging on a handle.
https://flic.kr/p/2gjqVNh
 
Thanks guys! I appreciate the edification! Very nice and meaningful compliments coming from you all.
I should have a bunch of new axes soon. I'm still waiting on a "bucketful of axe heads"from a local antique dealer. He's very nice and treats me well. I do carpentry for him both at his store(s) and house. I have an "in". Lol.
 
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Customer sent me these two axes for restoration, while they were in excellent shape already, I like to think they were sent back a bit nicer. But everyone has different tastes.

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Blue Sasquatch said:
Customer sent me these two axes for restoration, while they were in excellent shape already, I like to think they were sent back a bit nicer. But everyone has different tastes.

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I really like those! You always do great work though. May I ask how you color inside the stamps? Before or after bluing?
I've been on the lookout for a good champion that still has its full pattern AND a good stamp. Or close at least! My least favorite pattern is Michigan and all my nicest stamps are on Michigans. Go figure.
 
Yankee Josh said:
I really like those! You always do great work though. May I ask how you color inside the stamps? Before or after bluing?
I've been on the lookout for a good champion that still has its full pattern AND a good stamp. Or close at least! My least favorite pattern is Michigan and all my nicest stamps are on Michigans. Go figure.
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Message me via email or through instagram if you wanna talk details, I try not to publicly post my methods. Michigan is the most common pattern I'd say, but most iconic as well. I've two good Champ users in that pattern if you just need a place-holder. The real mint one I have is a double.
 
junkenstien said:
Bigger one is not marked it’s on a piece of rosewood I believe,was advertised as cocobolo but it’s not.Little ones a Hackett diamond on an old hickory handle
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I really like a short curved handle on hewing hatchet. The rosewood one looks great, although that bevel seems a little acute, no?
 
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Re: Michigan pattern. Michigan's everywhere. Always. I think because it's a good all-around pattern. The rounded poll and thick cheeks make it pretty user friendly. If you look at a nice one in the right light so that you can see the way the bevel and cheeks are forged and how they meld together fluidly. They are actually pretty beautiful, but I think it's lost on many of us because the pattern is so prevalent as to be mundane. And it's very hard to get the undulating nature of the curves to show up in photographs.
 
Fmont said:
Re: Michigan pattern. Michigan's everywhere. Always. I think because it's a good all-around pattern. The rounded poll and thick cheeks make it pretty user friendly. If you look at a nice one in the right light so that you can see the way the bevel and cheeks are forged and how they meld together fluidly. They are actually pretty beautiful, but I think it's lost on many of us because the pattern is so prevalent as to be mundane. And it's very hard to get the undulating nature of the curves to show up in photographs.
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I love Michigan's, they're a beautiful pattern in my eyes.
That's probably because my first axe was a Michigan.
Not the most common form for a Michigan though still a Michigan.
 
The Michigan does seem to be the most prolific. For me I think right angles make an axe look good. And the rounded poll of the Michigan is less desirable to my eye for this reason.
That being said I still find enjoyment in looking at and using them. Sadly between being exhausted from work and also tired of getting chewed alive by blackflies and mosquitoes all day I'm loathe to do anything in the woods. Even when I do have an opportunity. So working on and looking at them is mostly what I'm doing lately.
 
Realy like michigans too.Not sure about the bevel i got that a couple years ago and it was wavy from a bench grinder just smoothed it out.Havent used it much i didnt like the handle it was on.By acute do you mean short?
 
Oh, more like the angle might be lower than "normal." I've come to look at hewing hatchets just up the scale from heavier plane irons (putting shaves in here as well). They're maybe a step before planes, or maybe a drawknife gets in between for narrow work. But the idea of a chisel edge and a stabilizing surface are shared between the two, the hatchet's more dynamic use notwithstanding. And in cases the uses even overlap.

Anyway, there's a lot of voodoo around edge geometry with plane irons. I was thinking that bevel looked wide, thus low angle. But then again I don't know how thick it is. Do you know the edge angle? I suppose I was wondering if the angle is low on purpose with that nice haft and all. It looks like a carver's special, as I'll call it.
 
This is what the one I posted in the haft making thread wound up as. Not finished, needs smoothing yet. But it's hung, so i can post it!

Something a little different. It's pretty cool, I'll call it a Fmont Favorite. It's kind of a mashup knob/French favorite/scroll and feels delightful in hand. Also this is a brute. 4lb KP, still needs to be filed, which I'm looking forward to. It's a stout shorter handle that I forgot to measure and I'm not getting up again.

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Fmont said:
Thanks SP. I don't think the relatively strange aesthetic will appeal to all, but I'm really fond of it. I looked at it in this form for a long time and considered the things I was looking for before shaping it.
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I will admit the swell, while appearing very comfortable, is unconventional but the haft looks great! I appreciate the fact that you try different things. That helve looks very comfortable to swing and that's the whole darn point anyway. Looks like a hundred percent contact top and bottom of the eye. Can't get any better!
I've made a couple different swells myself but they've still ended up more traditional looking than not. Congrats on making one that does look different! And on a great haft!
 
Thanks my friend. This was a big part of the inspiration. The first time i saw this i thought it fugly. But there is a utility to it. If I don't wind up using the knob I can clip it shorter to something like a baseball bat-esque scroll end that would look more generally appealing.

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