Attempted rehab True Temper F.S.S. double bit.....

D

Drum4fun

Joined
Mar 21, 2018
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371
Found this for sale in Northern Arizona.... I thought (but not sure) it
had enough good steel remaining under the rust that warranted an
attempt at resuscitation. As most here are aware these double bits
are frequently subject to aggressive grinding for use on the fire lines...
this one appears to have reasonable bit edges left and temper lines while
not deep are present and still indicate some life left in this head. The
seller indicated this was located on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation
in the White Mountains.

So, a work in progress... next will wire brush the surfaces and eye. Then
mill file the bit edges and re-haft. This should make a nice companion for
my True Temper F.S.S. Pulaski that lives in the truck. I know, nothing rare
or collectible here... but, I enjoy the process. So far I'm out $9.00.

(adjacent to F.S.S. this one has a "B7" imprint). I suspect not especially
"vintage" ... based on what I've read here I'm thinking 60's-70's. I haven't
weighed the head but I believe it will weigh in between 3-4 lbs..

Charles
https://imgur.com/a/NJIX4CZ
 
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Survivor45...
I think there remains enough "good steel" here to salvage a working tool .... time
will tell. I will share "warts and all" thru the process. To my untrained eye it appears
the woodsman favored one bit over the other.... or, perhaps the grinder did. ;) The
bastard mill file will indicate the quality of what remains . So as to keep costs down
I will search out a reasonable haft at H.D., Ace, Lowe's, Stihl... etc.. Thanks for the
comment.
note ... I believe this "body style" is referred to as "Western" by True Temper... please
feel free to correct me if that is in error.
Charles
 
So, today I thought I'd give the bit edges some attention. With the Mill
Bastard file it took me 1 1/2 hours to remove all the leading edge flea
bites and chips. It was slow going but I'm pretty sure the steel is still
good quality. I did not want to get too aggressive as the temper line was
close enough to the bit edge as to indicate the need to go slow. As you
can see the heel on one edge has a missing chip .... i opted to remove
a "mushroomed" chip edge but decided not to chase the missing chip (cosmetic
v. functional ???). The bit edges appear symmetrical. After filing I used
the Lanksy puck (coarse/fine) to sharpen...curl over of the bit edge was
minimal and I have learned that I was being too aggressive "pushing" the
stone into the edge rather than circular sliding the stone along the edge. After
the stone work I made some passes with wet-dry P600 paper to remove most
of the deeper scratches from the filing. Finished with a few quick passes on the
leather strop . The profile view indicates a good edge from heel to toe and toe to heel.

More work than I thought it would be when I started out.

Next up... all four cheeks have pock marks / divots to some degree... but,
I will leave those alone. I am more interested in raised firm areas of oxidation
not removed by the vinegar soak. I did not necessarily want to use the drill
powered wire brush but think I will (thought about Marine/Naval Jelly
but that stuff is nasty to deal with... pass).

Pleased with proceeding nicely. Enthusiasm for the project has not diminished.
Morale is high. ;)

Charles
https://imgur.com/a/NJIX4CZ
 
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Well... not my best work... have you ever had a hang go crappy from the start
and think it would somehow magically improve at the finish ? That's what this
one was... Not sure if I blame me, the eye shape, or the less than quality haft.
To make a long story short... ended up with gaps at the eye edges and cheeks.
It seems the ridges were responsible cracking the wedge. The head is very tight
but sloppy looking....but, won't re-hang until I need to.

Found a reasonable Truper (made in Mexico with American Hickory, and capable
of causing birth deformities) at Lowes' (struck out at Ace , Home Depot.... warps,
cracks, chips, knots). Haft is a bit on the chunky side... I will address that later.

Wanted to mention... the wire brush on the drill did very little to change the cheek
bumps. However, it did uncover the hidden 3-2 imprint indicating initial weight.

So, rust bucket resuscitation... not cosmetically wall hanger quality but functional . Was
a fun project. Some may get a chuckle out of this... carrying the ax back to storage,
I dropped it.... landed on concrete right on the bit edge. Left some missing small chips....
back to the file for me. :oops:..and yes, I was speaking in tongues.

Charles
https://imgur.com/a/NJIX4CZ
 
Well all in all that head is in great shape.
Of the 6 or 7 I've hefted none have gone perfect for my liking.
But all good enough.
I think if you left it in the vinegar bath longer it would have removed the rust from the deep pits.
How long did you let it soak ?
Still overall it looks good.
 
Charles, that doesn’t look bad at all to me! It’s seated right down on the shoulder nicely and you can always do some minor reshaping/thinning to the handle later. The head has very little wear and I like the look of it as it is.
 
Thanks guys... I'll keep it and put it to work. I need to chill out on the search
for perfection. This is a perfectly serviceable ax that I just gave at least another
20 year life expectancy.

Survivor ... I only floated it in vinegar for 24 hrs. .... had not considered a longer
soak..thanks for the reminder.

Jasper... I agree.... if I had a do - over I would take it just a bit more down on the
shoulder. The re-shaping and thinning of the haft is definitely going to happen. Glad
to hear someone else also doesn't need perfect cosmetics to enjoy the tool . You kind
of take a gamble on these ol' rusty's when sometimes a multitude of flaws can easily
be hidden. (cracks, deep pits, shallow temper lines, uneven heel to toe side-to-side) etc.
As you indicate... I got lucky.

JB... I thought so also...$9 for the Truper haft, $9 for the head. I'm not sure what the
comps are for these TT F.S.S. double bits but I don't think I could find comparable
quality in this price range for current models. I'm guessing you've had dozens of these
pass thru your findings.... i like that this one allegedly came thru the White Mountain
Apache Indian Reservation.

p.s. can somebody please share techniques, pitfalls, gear, and, any insights in
reshaping these handles ? (really want to thin this one out symmetrically quite
a bit...as is now feels more like a club / bat than (some I've found) vintage haft.

Thanks again.
Charles
 
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Drum4fun. I use a "card scraper" or sometimes called a cabinet scraper. For shaping handles and fitting heads. (of course I use a few wood rasps also)
I have two spoke shaves and I personally just can't get them to work for me. The card scraper is a very simple and effective tool.
Oh and they are cheap. Do a YouTube search and check them out.
 
Will do Survivor ! Thanks for the recommendation. I will practice on a few old
broken hafts.... easy enough to find at the Swap meet. I've tried spoke shaves....
beyond my skill level.
 
Thanks for the recommendations guys... taken under advisement. After watching
a half dozen videos on the card scraper & burnishing tool I'm pretty sure I want to
give it a go.... I'll share my learning / successes / failures here. Looks like something
I'd enjoy doing.
Charles
 
The back-side/spine of a hacksaw blade will pull lacquer off handles pretty quick as well. That flat edge can be burnished somewhat to sharpen it again. The nice thing about them is that there is so much edge that you don't have to stop to touch it up often in the middle of a task.

You can push it or draw it back with two hands which might be a plus for hand fatigue.

I love my spokeshaves but they really do have to be kept very sharp and always set at the proper depth. The blades on mine all move just a touch during use despite the securing screws built into them. Spokeshaves can only get so close to radii such as a palm swell or tight shoulder before you need to switch to rasps, files, etc.

I tend to use my draw knives for greener work, spokeshaves for putting planes into dried wood, and scrapers for de-lacquering and then finer/finishing work.

The above mentioned cabinet scrapers are great as long as you are prepared to burnish them properly after you've used all the stock edge they come prepared with - that probably is just basic "tool maintenance" though.
 
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AgentH ...that's good insights, just what I was looking for....thanks. I'll work with
the cabinet scrapers to gain some facility then re-visit practicing with the spokeshaves.

Dusty... thank you . I am pleased with the outcome on this one.
 
I had tried steel spokeshaves with little success, then one day I was given a round-soled wooden spokeshave. I haven't looked back. It is easy to set up, easy to use, and I set the depth by tapping the blade on a handy piece of wood till it won't go in further. Just my two cents.
 
A17 said:
I had tried steel spokeshaves with little success, then one day I was given a round-soled wooden spokeshave. I haven't looked back. It is easy to set up, easy to use, and I set the depth by tapping the blade on a handy piece of wood till it won't go in further. Just my two cents.
Click to expand...

I do have my eye out for one of these. But the few I've seen are in bad shape and selling for more than I'm willing to invest.
 
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