Whenever I take my wife to garage or house sales my buying is of course limited, anything I buy has to be cheap and even then she will ask "what do you need that for?"
It was the last day of an estate sale and everything was half-price. There is this rough-looking single-bit Flint Edge axe in the garage for two dollars. I said to my wife "I think I should get this axe, it is only two dollars", and she says "tell them you will give them one dollar for it. "
It was pretty rusty and the handle was all gray. I said "I am not going to ask them to sell it for a dollar, you do it!" and I handed her the axe. So she walked over to where they were taking money for the items and she ended up getting it for a dollar and a half.
It looked pretty bad, but the next day I took a putty knife and scraped most of the big rust flakes off and it looked a lot better. I painted the gray handle with neatsfoot compound twice and it turned a very dark coal color. This afternoon I laid the head on a piece of railroad track and hammered a lot of the mushrooming on the back down and it looked even better. After I shot the photo of the hammered head, I hit it with a large file and got it more in shape.
Now I am thinking maybe I can sharpen this up and put a new wedge in the top of the handle and try to use it a bit and see if the handle comes loose or breaks.
Anyway that is my latest axe story. I just could not leave that old axe behind and take the chance that the people having the sale might just throw it in a dumpster with all the other unsold stuff. Maybe I got this axe over the hump so it will be around and in use long after I am dead.
It was the last day of an estate sale and everything was half-price. There is this rough-looking single-bit Flint Edge axe in the garage for two dollars. I said to my wife "I think I should get this axe, it is only two dollars", and she says "tell them you will give them one dollar for it. "
It was pretty rusty and the handle was all gray. I said "I am not going to ask them to sell it for a dollar, you do it!" and I handed her the axe. So she walked over to where they were taking money for the items and she ended up getting it for a dollar and a half.
It looked pretty bad, but the next day I took a putty knife and scraped most of the big rust flakes off and it looked a lot better. I painted the gray handle with neatsfoot compound twice and it turned a very dark coal color. This afternoon I laid the head on a piece of railroad track and hammered a lot of the mushrooming on the back down and it looked even better. After I shot the photo of the hammered head, I hit it with a large file and got it more in shape.
Now I am thinking maybe I can sharpen this up and put a new wedge in the top of the handle and try to use it a bit and see if the handle comes loose or breaks.
Anyway that is my latest axe story. I just could not leave that old axe behind and take the chance that the people having the sale might just throw it in a dumpster with all the other unsold stuff. Maybe I got this axe over the hump so it will be around and in use long after I am dead.
