Re-quenching Mexican Collins Axe?

I am not able to speak with authority, but it was always my understanding that thicker heavier pieces of simpler steels like axes and hammers wanted a water quench. If I remember E&S went as far as using brine.

The problem is the bit which isn't thick or heavy. At the factory, before grinding, it may have been thick enough for a brine quench.
 
1. Totally missed the point.

2. New handles cost $17 here after tax, leaving $28.00 for a vintage axe head plus shipping and tax. As I have already proven, they are hard to find, unless you are willing to accept stubs and axes with big fragments out of them. Are we really starting down that road again?
 
I picked a true temper FSS double in similar condition last year for $17 including shipping. eBay isn’t my first choice but you can find a deal occasionally.
I came across a True Temper hewing hatchet a couple of years ago that had just been listed "buy it now" for $17 free shipping! I quickly looked the 2 pictures over and hit the button! The hatchet was like new, never sharpened with original handle. I think the shipping was like $9.
 
I came across a True Temper hewing hatchet a couple of years ago that had just been listed "buy it now" for $17 free shipping!

Things are different today than they were 2 years ago. There are still a few bargains out there but there are a lot of buyers now and great many collections have been built in the past 5 years. Estate sale prices are up. Flea market prices are up. Antique store prices are up. A few bargains are found at yard sales but it's rare to find a yard sale with anything old anymore.
 
1. Totally missed the point.

2. New handles cost $17 here after tax, leaving $28.00 for a vintage axe head plus shipping and tax. As I have already proven, they are hard to find, unless you are willing to accept stubs and axes with big fragments out of them. Are we really starting down that road again?


Yup. I have no clue about the buying and selling of old axes. You clearly know it all. I am confused as to why you came here asking questions, when you clearly already know what you think are the answers.

I'm sorry, exactly what again have you proven?
 
I'm sorry, exactly what again have you proven?

If you've forgotten already, go back and read it again. Stop being childish. If you have nothing constructive to say, you shouldn't post. If you have a problem with me, take it to personal messages, and I'll delete them without reading them. Don't make everyone else suffer.
 
Things are different today than they were 2 years ago. There are still a few bargains out there but there are a lot of buyers now and great many collections have been built in the past 5 years. Estate sale prices are up. Flea market prices are up. Antique store prices are up. A few bargains are found at yard sales but it's rare to find a yard sale with anything old anymore.

Someone here gets it.
 
Here's the 2 rusted, pitted stubs I bought on eBay for $15 a piece.

I need to start shopping in 2016 instead of the present. That's where "tons" of $15 axes can be found.

While I'm at it, I'll buy "tons" of $300 AK47's and unissued $300 M1 carbines. Then I'll buy gold at $35 per ounce.
 
Also, you should know that it is possible to disagree without being disagreeable.

Sorry to hear you thought you were being polite. You need to work on that.

I hope for the forum's sake that we can now stop talking about the debunked myth of the "tons" of $15 axes.
 
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Perhaps I am missing something, but if you bought two old axes that don't take to filing well, there's probably good steel left on the bit. I have a vintage True Temper that looks as if it has been filed once or twice, but none of my cheapo files will bite that steel. I'll need better files, but I'm lucky that it doesn't need sharpening at this time. Point being, you have purchased two old axes that seem to have good steel, but you want to try and improve the bit on something new that may have inferior steel. As an academic pursuit, the idea is fine, as others have said. Logically, it just sounds as if you are hoping that polishing a turd will yield something other than a turd (not to say that those Collins axes are turds - they may be fine, but your question about re-quenching suggests that you expect they are not the quality tool you desire).
There are some decent options for new axes that are under $200 if the vintage thing isn't for you. My suggestion would be to pursue something new with a good reputation. I am quite happy with my Hults Bruk Kalix axe, for example. I needed something small and decent quickly. It fit the bill for right about $80 shipped. It isn't top of the line, but it is a quality tool in my opinion. I might have found a decent or perhaps even better alternative on eBay or a pawn shop or a yard sale if I had the time, but I had more money than time in this instance.
 
I need to start shopping in 2016 instead of the present. That's where "tons" of $15 axes can be found.

While I'm at it, I'll buy "tons" of $300 AK47's and unissued $300 M1 carbines. Then I'll buy gold at $35 per ounce.
Those two Flint Edge double bit heads were bought this year 2018. You probably saw them on eBay and just didn't realize what they were.
 
I need to start shopping in 2016 instead of the present. That's where "tons" of $15 axes can be found.

While I'm at it, I'll buy "tons" of $300 AK47's and unissued $300 M1 carbines. Then I'll buy gold at $35 per ounce.

Assault rifles, gold by the ounce and axes, can all of these deals be found on Ebay?
Rifles and gold I leave to you in Florida. I still find $15 and less deals on Ebay for axes...just need patience and an eye for what you are looking at and for, and as with any deal...a little luck of right place at the right time. Deals are just that.
Shipping is the cost of someone else doing the heavy lifting...driving around, picking the deal, cleaning off a layer or two of rust maybe and making it available.
I wish you well on your heat treating endeavor.
 
Sorry to hear you thought you were being polite. You need to work on that.

I hope for the forum's sake that we can now stop talking about the debunked myth of the "tons" of $15 axes.

I hope for the forum's sake you produce something soon. You've talked a lot, gotten your fragile feelings hurt over less than nothing but have yet to just do the simple thing you're just sure is the thing to do.

Maybe I should post a thread about re-quenching new axes. Wait...that sounds familiar.



He wanted me to buy axes I couldn't find? No, he just didn't check the market.

As for sources other than Ebay, I don't have them. It must be nice to live in Washington or Vermont, where everyone has 50 nice axes in their shed, but I'm in Florida, where people buy Chinese tools and take trees down with bulldozers. There are no Fifteen-Dollar Axe Outlet franchises near me. There is nothing on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or Offerup. There are no websites selling old axes at low prices. It would be silly to spend days wandering around the area's substandard, disappointing flea markets just to find one axe.

I think it would be easier just to admit I was right.

I can find something faster, if I'm willing to spend a lot more.

No one said you should post a thread, those are your words, just like no one told you to use ebay to find an axe. You seem to desperately need us to think you are a solid internet researcher but you have repeatedly demonstrated that you can barely comprehend what is written in a forum thread and do it without inserting your own logical fallacy. Your entire ebay tirade is the result of it. So starting a new thread about heat treating an axe is an assumption made by you.

There is nothing to admit. No one here is arguing your ability to find an axe. You've made it abundantly clear that you are incapable and I know I certainly believe you.

What you have failed hardest to prove though at this point, is that you can do anything other than whine. Produce the finished Collins and we'll discuss an admission. Next I need you to prove that you aren't a Millennial. I mean your written communication skills are poor, but not quite text message poor. I'm on the fence, but you don't seem to understand what the word "literally" means when it's used correctly and Millennials misuse it so often that it's got me thinking you might be one of them. Just to be clear though, either way, when you thought someone misunderstood you or was rude to you ... no, that's just you.
 
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