Multitool.org Forum
Outdoor Section => The Axe Hole => Topic started by: Alan K. on July 31, 2016, 04:23:55 PM
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The big axe is interesting because I don't know anything about it. It seems to be a typically heavy Michigan pattern axe, but it was so rusty that there are no markings on it. I found this axe head when I was digging a fire pit for one of my reenactments. It was 2 feet underground for who knows how many years, possibly decades. The handle was long gone, but some wood remained in the eye. I hammered it to remove loose chips of rust then spent a couple of hours filing an edge for it. The replacement handle came from Home Depot and it is tight, but there are visible gaps due to the rust having eaten away some of the steel.
The smaller axe is relatively new. It is a Fiskars 28 inch chopping axe (model 7558) that I just bought last week. There's nothing interesting about it from a historical perspective since it is current production, but it is scary sharp and cuts like a machine.
Last is my Tomahawk. It is marked CAST STEEL, ALLAN MFG, WARRANTED. I bought it from a sutler at the reenactment of the Civil War Battle of Olustee around 1982 / 83 ( https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Olustee-Battlefield ). I went to see it with my father because it was the only major Civil War battle that took place in Florida, and my high school history teacher who was participating invited me. That was my first exposure to historical reenactments, and I was hooked. Because axes didn't change very much for a few hundred years I use this tomahawk at my Renaissance period encampments for cutting firewood into kindling.
The large chunk of wood that I stuck them all into for the picture is a portion of the root from a Florida Live Oak that was lifting the sidewalk in front of my house. I dug it out and chopped it off. Oak root is still oak, and it will go into the smoker after it has aged for a year or so. I waste nothing.
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Nice looking Axes Alan :tu:
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Nice axes! :tu:
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Sweet axes Alan :cheers: Anyway to see some closeups of the older axe you dug up out of the ground and refurbished :dd: :D
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Ask and ye shall receive. :salute:
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Wow :o that had more than a spot of rust when you found it :ahhh
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Like I said, it was probably buried for decades. That is the cleaned up version after soaking in oil for a week and then hammering it to knock the flakes of surface rust off of it and filing it for over 2 hours to get a semblance of an edge on it.
I'm thinking of taking off this handle and trying to clean more of the rust off of it by giving it a cola soak. I didn't know about that method when I did this. Then I'm thinking of using an epoxy resin to fill the gaps and bond it to the handle. Does that sound like something that should be done? Would that make this axe actually usable? As it stands now I'm afraid to use it too hard because the head might fly off the handle. That's why I bought the Fiskars to chop out the root.
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Like I said, it was probably buried for decades. That is the cleaned up version after soaking in oil for a week and then hammering it to knock the flakes of surface rust off of it and filing it for over 2 hours to get a semblance of an edge on it.
I'm thinking of taking off this handle and trying to clean more of the rust off of it by giving it a cola soak. I didn't know about that method when I did this. Then I'm thinking of using an epoxy resin to fill the gaps and bond it to the handle. Does that sound like something that should be done? Would that make this axe actually usable? As it stands now I'm afraid to use it too hard because the head might fly off the handle. That's why I bought the Fiskars to chop out the root.
Thank you for the pics :salute:
You can buy epoxy kits for handles so I wouldn't see why that wouldn't help strengthen it to be usable :cheers: I would still gradually bring it into harder use though :D Maybe start out a bit lighter on it then get a little more physical with it after you have tested it out first ;)
Neat looking old axe anyways :D
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Can we see a picture of the eye Please
If the head is tight I would try using it :tu:
(Putting linseed oil on the wood will tighten a handle)
An axe doesn’t have to be smooth to be useable, my rustiest ;)
(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/sparky_415/2015/DSC02168.jpg) (http://s112.photobucket.com/user/sparky_415/media/2015/DSC02168.jpg.html)
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Can we see a picture of the eye Please
If the head is tight I would try using it :tu:
(Putting linseed oil on the wood will tighten a handle)
An axe doesn’t have to be smooth to be useable, my rustiest ;)
(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/sparky_415/2015/DSC02168.jpg) (http://s112.photobucket.com/user/sparky_415/media/2015/DSC02168.jpg.html)
Nice and rusty :D I like it Sparky :cheers:
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Thank's theres more about that one here ;)
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,58635.0.html
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Can we see a picture of the eye Please
If the head is tight I would try using it :tu:
(Putting linseed oil on the wood will tighten a handle)
An axe doesn’t have to be smooth to be useable, my rustiest ;)
(http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n184/sparky_415/2015/DSC02168.jpg) (http://s112.photobucket.com/user/sparky_415/media/2015/DSC02168.jpg.html)
I can't quite get a clear enough picture to show the gaps but you can see daylight through some of them. The eye was a little longer than the end of the haft so instead of using the wedge it came with I used a carpenter's shim (the ones used for installing doors and windows) that I cut to fit.
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Awarded. :tu: :tu:
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Love the little tomahawk mate, but your archaeological find is fantastic. :cheers:
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Good axes there Allan!
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Awarded. :tu: :tu:
Thanks.
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Thanks,
I’ve used axes with gaps in before Alan you will probably be fine :D
If it comes loose I would give the handle a good wack to make sure it’s seated
then try driving the wedge in a bit more, possibly adding a metal cross wedge then oil the wood
But oil is always good :tu:
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I'll try that. Thank you.
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Thanks,
I’ve used axes with gaps in before Alan you will probably be fine :D
If it comes loose I would give the handle a good wack to make sure it’s seated
then try driving the wedge in a bit more, possibly adding a metal cross wedge then oil the wood
But oil is always good :tu:
Good advice and thanks for the link above :cheers:
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Here's one from the you're not going to smurfing believe this one file...
I bought the Fiskars axe a couple of weeks ago to chop out that root. It didn't come with a protective blade cover so I contacted Fiskars customer service and asked them to send me the blade cover if it was supposed to come with one. I got an email a couple of days ago saying my warranty claim had been approved and a package was on the way. Here's what I just received. It's an X11 splitting axe. I should have known something was off, when, according to the tracking information, the package weighed 6 pounds. I can't really complain because I'm obviously ahead on this deal, but I still need a blade cover for the silly chopping axe! :facepalm:
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Time to try making a Sparky PVC pipe cover? Can't complain too hard about getting a free axe. :D
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,27818.msg650852.html#msg650852
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Oh wow you can't beat a free axe :ahhh :ahhh :ahhh :tu:
Yes I would either make one like in the link above or rig something else up :D
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Wow, What a good company :tu:
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The other option is do a bit of leatherwork. Doesn't have to be fancy to get the job done.
(http://i581.photobucket.com/albums/ss260/gareth_SAKs/Knives/2015-11-15%2014.22.11_zps4h9vszwy.jpg)
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I'm now wondering if there is someone who got a edge cover when what they needed was a replacement X11. :think:
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I'm now wondering if there is someone who got a edge cover when what they needed was a replacement X11. :think:
I was wondering that myself. I think I will make a cover out of plastic but of a similar design to your leather cover. Right now, all of the axes are leaning against a wall where I hope they are out of the way, but if somebody (me) were to stub their toe on an axe in the middle of the night, the axe would win. Or, another way to put it, stub your toe on an axe and you could really stub your toe.
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I'm now wondering if there is someone who got a edge cover when what they needed was a replacement X11. :think:
I was wondering that myself. I think I will make a cover out of plastic but of a similar design to your leather cover. Right now, all of the axes are leaning against a wall where I hope they are out of the way, but if somebody (me) were to stub their toe on an axe in the middle of the night, the axe would win. Or, another way to put it, stub your toe on an axe and you could really stub your toe.
Just email them and tell them you need two axe covers now :whistle:
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The X11 came with a cover but that cover won't fit the chopping axe. Some sources (mostly e-bay sellers) are claiming that the 28 inch chopping axe has been discontinued. I don't know that for certain but it would be a shame if it is true. I'd blame it on Gerber's influence if Fiskars has stopped making the 7558 chopping axe while instead offering those ridiculous, Klingon looking tools they recently came out with.