The modern market offers many types and varieties of axes, both domestic and foreign, in various designs and purposes. It is very difficult to choose the right one until you test it in action. Yes, and they cost a lot of money. Moreover, some unscrupulous manufacturers produce products that are visually attractive, but are made of soft metal, and the ax handle is made of slippery and not durable plastic.
What should I do? I advise you to pay attention to axes that were released many years ago. Usually they were distinguished by high technical and operational characteristics. If you come across such a product, even if it looks unattractive due to the thick layer of rust covering the metal, this is what you need. Some skills, a set of tools, materials, time and labor will turn the “ugly duckling” into a “glorious swan”.
Need for tools and materials
I will name tools that will make the work easier and faster, but in general you can only get by with hand tools. It will just take a little longer and require more effort.
So, you will need:
- hand wire brush;
- Bulgarian;
- belt grinder (grinder);
- mechanical jigsaw;
- Sander;
- sharpening machine;
- vices and clamps;
- sandpaper;
- felt circle;
- calipers;
- pencil and ruler;
- wood file;
- hammer.
You can’t do without the following materials:
- rusty old axe;
- a wooden block at least 50 cm in length;
- a small block of wood for making a wedge;
- two small metal plates;
- suitable glue;
- water repellent;
- rags and paper napkins.
The process of restoring an old ax
It is necessary to visually verify that the ax does not have through cracks or large chips. A more thorough check of the condition of the metal will be possible after the rust layer has been completely removed.
It is advisable to start cleaning the workpiece using a hand-held metal brush. To do this, an old ax is attached to the work table with clamps. In this way, it will be possible to remove only the surface layer of rust, which is loose and fragile.
Then cleaning continues using a grinder. To make work progress faster, the disc should be held at an angle to the surface being treated. This tool removes the main layer of rust from all sides of the workpiece, including the recesses and bends accessible to the grinder disk.
Next, the fight against rust should be transferred to a belt sanding machine with an endless abrasive belt. Moreover, the operation must be continued until the oxidized layer is almost completely removed. You should also carefully trim the cutting edge of the ax blade to remove small nicks and oxidized areas.
You can finally get rid of rust by manually sanding it with sandpaper, including one wound on a wooden block of suitable size, alternately clamping the workpiece in a vice or with clamps. Unremovable bumps, sharp edges, burrs and large roughness are carefully cut off with a grinder.
The final treatment of a metal ax is polishing using a felt wheel mounted on the shaft of a sharpening machine. This operation has mainly aesthetic purposes. What a striking change from what is and was in the beginning!
The time has come to make the axe. To do this, use a caliper to measure the longitudinal and transverse dimensions of the embedment in order to select a suitable wooden block for the cross-section.
It can be made of hard wood: oak, birch, maple, ash, etc.
On one of the faces of the block, using a pencil and a ruler, the profile of the future ax handle is drawn. You should draw out the landing part especially carefully, aligning it with the height and length of the cheek of the ax.
Then the wooden block, according to the intended contour, is processed on a mechanical jigsaw along the length and width.
The blank for the ax is ready. Next, the ax is placed sideways to the end of the ax handle from the landing side and outlined along the inner perimeter with a pencil.
Now comes the operation of processing the blank with a wood file, from time to time measuring the mounting hole of the ax and the degree of processing of the ax handle.
After the dimensions of the insert and the seating side of the handle match, it continues to be processed with a file, then with a grinding machine and, finally, with sandpaper by hand, holding the block in a vice.
A rather important operation is cutting a groove for the wedge to the depth of the eye using a jigsaw.
After this, the ax is mounted on the ax handle by vigorously tapping it on a hard surface until the end appears from the exit side of the insertion with some margin (about 1 cm).
Next, a wedge of appropriate sizes is made from hard wood: oak, walnut, yew, etc. Before driving in place, glue is applied to the wedge on both sides so that it sits more firmly in the groove and does not pop out during use. The wedge is driven in by lightly tapping the hammer until it stops. Then the protruding part of the ax along with the unclogged part of the wedge is cut off with a jigsaw.
For greater reliability, two small metal plates are driven into the middle part of the wedge at an angle.
The ax handle is treated with a water-repellent agent, and the finished product acquires not only a finished and attractive appearance, but also full readiness for work, from chopping wood to carpentry work.
Conclusion
The chamfer of the ax along with the cutting edge can be hardened if the grade of steel from which it is made is known. To do this, just open the metallurgist's reference book and find the hardening mode for the found steel grade. As a result of this operation, the tool will acquire even greater strength and better performance.
You can strengthen the ax on the ax handle with not one, but two or more wooden wedges, making, in addition to the longitudinal one, two or more perpendicular slots, and driving your wedge into all of them, starting with the longitudinal one.
