Has anyone ever "blue'd" an axe head

I like slow rust bluing instead of cold blue. It's an involved process though and it pays to do some homework. I did this to the rock hammer I restored for my geology field work and it looks very nice. I took it on my field course this summer. I'll post some pics sometime and you can get an idea what it looks like after six weeks of hard use digging and bashing into rocks. Much more wear than an axe should ever see. The finish has worn, but the look seems authentic to me and provides corrosion resistance. Areas that see wear tended to stay clear of rust from abrasion anyway so I think it's a viable option.
 
I use Birchwood Casey blue on all axes that I refurbish to get a uniform finish. However you need to oil the axe after a day to neutralize the chemical process or it will begin to rust fairly quickly. Once oiled, it holds up quite well with use and will gradually turn into a lighter more natural and fairly uniform patina, which is the end result that most people prefer.
 
I saw a bunch on this thread but I didn't see any quite like this one. This is a Plumb boy scout hatchet I re-hafted. I put a mirror polish on it and gun blued it. Very time consuming but well worth it! Unfortunately, the (oxide?) coating wears off relatively easily and you can get some ugly scratches pretty quickly. Give it a try though, looks really cool. Buff, then blue.



 
I have now.

plumb_jersey_headtohead by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

The Plumb on the right is obviously the blued head. The other one got an extra cleaning with vinegar. It had been painted and I think maybe laid on one side because one is more pitted than the other, and so it took a little more cleaning to get it nice which left it this gray color. It has streaks of wood and whatever else on it in the picture, but you get the idea.

All I did to the Plumb was soak it in vinegar until it looked like the head on the left then degreased it and rubbed the cold blue on. The surface of the steel on the Plumb is still in good shape - some dings and dents, but not very much pitting.
 
I think that Plumb turned out great. Solid color.

smith357 said:
I sometimes cold blue axe heads, I have used many products over the years in my other hobby and not all cold blue is created equal, the best I have found is Brownell's Oxpho Blue.
http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...ld-bluing-chemicals/oxpho-blue--prod1072.aspx
Click to expand...

Oxpho Blue is what I use/have used as well. I haven't done any pageant winners; just unmarked heads- maybe 3-4.

This is an unmarked boy's axe I rehung in the last couple of months. I gave it to a friend as a house warming gift.

Still not sure what I think of bluing axe heads. I really would prefer it to have an untouched look.


.

.
 
Agent_H said:
I think that Plumb turned out great. Solid color.



Oxpho Blue is what I use/have used as well. I haven't done any pageant winners; just unmarked heads- maybe 3-4.

This is an unmarked boy's axe I rehung in the last couple of months. I gave it to a friend as a house warming gift.

Still not sure what I think of bluing axe heads. I really would prefer it to have an untouched look.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I wanted to try it, now I did, and I like it, but I'm not sure it's a thing I'm going to add to the list of procedures on future hangs. I do think it looks sharp though.

I guess I have a couple theories/opinions/observations on it for the OP .... based on this limited experiment. It's pretty well known that cold blue isn't crazy durable. On the smoothest surfaces it was damaged pretty easily by splitting just a few pieces of wood, which is exactly what I was expecting. So if the question is, is cold blue a "finish" that protects my axe? No, not really. However, I can only assume that, an acid etched head, particularly if it's pitted and the pits were cleaned out, then yeah, maybe this is a good way to get something protective down into the pores. Can oil do the same thing? Yeah probably, particularly BLO or something that's going to hang on. The only thing I want to protect my axes from is rust, and I really think the only way to get worrisome rust on an axe is to just leave it out in the rain uncared for.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top