Axe patina and restoration.

[JM2]

I see lots of pictures of axes with this beautiful dark brown patina, and a shiny edge. How do you get that patina? All the axes I see hither and yon are either, fiercely rusted, or painted.

I currently ain’t got an axe other than an estwing camping axe and a fiskers splitting axe. But I been wanting a double bit for my cabin project and for the fun of it.

So if I buy an axe head (not super pitted just light rust) off eBay or a yardsale, how best to bring it back? Oil and scotchbright pad is how I would think to start. But I want ideas and opinions.

Thanks.

 

[Miller '72]

Start at the basics, where i think everyone should start.

WD-40
Paper Towels/absorbing towels
Brass Bristle Hand Brush

The brass bristles will not scratch the steel of the axe, or any stamp/etch the like.

Find yourself the axe you want, rust be damned.
Get it home, on the bench and start working.

Spray the WD on, scrub, spray & wipe clean.
Repeat.

Best of Luck!

 

[catspa]

Find yourself the axe you want, rust be damned.

I agree with this.

I use power tools to remove rust, but not just any power tools.

Light surface rust is fairly easily removed with a hand wire brush or steel wool. But some tools that I come across have patches of deeper rust, and sometimes pitting.

I have mounted a fine wire wheel on a 1725 rpm motor with a shaft adapter. Practice on some rusty scrap steel first to develop a light touch.

I think member square peg uses brass wire wheels, which probably work even better than my steel ones.

I don’t favor the bright and shiny look, but I don’t like cratered pitting either. A few times I’ve used a flap wheel or slow belt sander to remove heavy rust, and when I get it down to just speckled, I polish it with a quikcut wheel (grit embedded rubber).

That leaves a kinda satin finish, and then I either leave it out in the rain for a week or spray it with Ospho, a weak phosphoric acid. Dry it back out and wire wheel again, then lightly oil.

That usually does it for my stuff. If you want to do likewise, I urge you to practice on scrap steel first and see if you like the results.

Parker

 

[Honed_Edge]

If you use some form of wire attachment in a drill or such and end up with it too shiny just use it. Over a season it will grow a nice dark patina. Don't oil it much and minimally remove rust that forms.

Once it's looking like you want give it a few coats of linseed oil. Give each thin coat ample time (maybe a week) to dry. It should then stay like that for a long time if kept dry and clean after use. Reoil as usage removes the protective layer.

Rust removing chemicals that you soak parts in leave a very ugly finish thats hard to fix. Some type of brushing tool fixes all but the deepest rust. Keep it simple and use those axes!

 

[Drop bear]

I did a knife in a coffee patina that came up really nice.

And then I assume you just buff the bit you want shiny.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Patina isn't added, it's merely not removed.
Use a wire wheel to remove the rust leaving the patina behind, I'm sure there are people who do but generally you're not taking the axe down to bare steel with abrasives then adding a new artificial patina afterwards.

Here's a 160 year old patina that was hiding under the rust I wire wheeled off.


And this one about 100 years newer.

It seems to me however, that it takes the kind if rust that will pit the steel to produce that kind of patina.

Removing lighter rust that hasn't pitted the steel will generally leave you with something like this that isn't very dark.

 

[catspa]

That Vaughan hammer is about how I like them, plus what use adds.

Parker

 

[Hickory n steel]

That Vaughan hammer is about how I like them, plus what use adds.

Parker

I'm quite partial to the look of the top two myself.

 

[JM2]

Hickory n steel that 160 year old hatchet is amazing. I mean that’s a real beauty. Thanks for sharing all of them.

 

[phantomknives]

dang
yall have a method and here i am just leaning into a knotted cup brush

 

[Hickory n steel]

Hickory n steel that 160 year old hatchet is amazing. I mean that’s a real beauty. Thanks for sharing all of them.

Thanks, I am definitely very happy to have it.
It was hand forged in 1864 by Jonathan Yerkes before Fayette R Plumb partnered with him then eventually took over.

I wish it had been in better condition as far as the poll goes, because I just couldn't leave the mushrooming.
More of the stamp was visible before, and looking back I probably should have just carefully sliced the mushrooming off for the sake of the stamp.


I didn't want to remove very much steel though , so I chose to pound it back as best as I could and that's what I ended up with.