Axe eye repair

Maine20 · Jan 15, 2018

Has anyone repaired an axe with a slightly deformed eye? (Bulged out evenly from pounding) Is it doable without a forge or large torch? If I heat the eye/pole will it draw the temper out of the bit?

Thanks for your input.

Square_peg · Jan 15, 2018

Yes, I've done several with just a MAPP gas torch. Tie a wet rag around the bit to protect the temper.

Hickory n steel · Jan 15, 2018

I have seen people just hammer on it cold, but I would heat it with a torch keeping a wet rag around the bit.

A17 · Jan 15, 2018

You can hammer it cold if it is only very slightly deformed. If the unevenness is very noticeable odds are it will crack like the one a neighbor and I fixed. Fortunately he was a good welder too so we were able to weld it up.

phantomknives · Jan 15, 2018

yeah about this, my kelly hand made has this problem. the twist is it's a kelly hand made and the marking is in the way

Hickory n steel · Jan 15, 2018

phantomknives said:
yeah about this, my kelly hand made has this problem. the twist is it's a kelly hand made and the marking is in the way

In this case I would heat it up and put it in a vice between two hardwood blocks.

Square_peg · Jan 16, 2018

phantomknives said:
yeah about this, my kelly hand made has this problem. the twist is it's a kelly hand made and the marking is in the way

What is its value with the deformed eye?

You could try heating it and hammering it hard with a hardwood mallet.

Maine20 · Jan 16, 2018

Thanks for your thoughts. A damaged eye has been a automatic disqualifier for me, but for the right head It sounds like it may be worth giving repairing a shot.

Square_peg · Jan 16, 2018

Try it on a throw-away axe.

phantomknives · Jan 18, 2018

so about that kelly handmade, i dont know if i want to steam bend it the 10 or so degrees it needs or fix the eye. which do you guys think?

Maine20 · Jan 18, 2018

phantomknives said:
so about that kelly handmade, i dont know if i want to steam bend it the 10 or so degrees it needs or fix the eye. which do you guys think?

Like Squre_peg recommended practice on a head you don’t care about. If you feel good about the result then go for it. Could you explain what you mean by steam bending?

phantomknives · Jan 18, 2018

Maine20 said:
Like Squre_peg recommended practice on a head you don’t care about. If you feel good about the result then go for it. Could you explain what you mean by steam bending?

steam the lower 8 or so inches, clamp it up and twist the handle slightly so it produces the same effect as straightening the eye

Maine20 · Jan 18, 2018

I got ya. Sounds like you are thinking of bending the handle to compensate for a crooked eye. Sounds reasonable to me, I have a homestead boys axe that I may try this on. The repair I am thinking of involves fixing a eye bulged on each side form pounding on the pole.

Square_peg · Jan 18, 2018

I thought you were talking about an expanded or crushed eye. A twisted eye is a whole other thing. No real repair for that. Best you can do is find a handle with a lot of material in the eye and carve it to match the twist in the eye. You might have to start with a stave.
I skimmed over this on that Walters resto I did a while back.

At this point I had a pretty good handle blank. I set my axe on the blank, aligned the bit to the haft and traced the eye on the end of the haft. Some of you may have run across axes where the eye didn't align perfectly with the bit. By tracing the eye with the bit aligned to the haft I avoid trouble here.