What did you rehang today?
- Thread starter Irongun324
- Start date
I rehung my welded 4lb Plumb on the haft I got it on. I learned the haft won't straighten without steam or heat so I'll need to straighten it soon but it's on and tight. The haft was originally red so I would say it was be original if it weren't for the fact half of the wood wedge was gone and a bent bolt was installed in its place when I got the axe. What do y'all think? Original or not?
Hickory n steel
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Finally gave my great grandfather Homestead michigan the rehang it deserves.
This isn't a perfect hang but so far it seems nice and tight.
I wanted to go all the way down onto the shoulder, but I didn't want to pound too much and crack the clipped fawns foot.
I don't know why, but there's just something I like about the shape of these late pre Mann Collins Michigan heads.
This isn't a perfect hang but so far it seems nice and tight.
I wanted to go all the way down onto the shoulder, but I didn't want to pound too much and crack the clipped fawns foot.
I don't know why, but there's just something I like about the shape of these late pre Mann Collins Michigan heads.
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I like to leave a little on a working axe so it can be re-set in the future. Maybe a half inch. You lose a quarter inch in re-using a handle.
Hickory n steel
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This was a full untrimmed handle that was hung on a brush axe, I trimmed at least 1.5" off of it before using it.
Tidied up this flint edge cruiser today that I picked up over the summer.
Usually it's the top that gets beat up, but this one it was the bottom.
Enough to spall off a piece, but really it's not that bad overall.
Not much left of the wedge, but nothing's really wrong with this handle.
I used this little Jimmy to remove the wedge. It's just a piece of 1/4" with a sharpened end.
Then knocked the handle out easy enough.
Worked over the rough spots and set the bevels, which weren't really too bad
Cleaned up and refit the handle. Before setting it I blued the shiny spots I made.
Carved a quick wedge
Nice fit in my opinion. Just peeled a shaving at the end as I drove it tight
Cleaned up just right. Nice contact, no step.
Here's a few of the end result, after a couple good doses of danish oil, and hitting the bits with a stone.
I guess she's ready to go back to work!
Usually it's the top that gets beat up, but this one it was the bottom.
Enough to spall off a piece, but really it's not that bad overall.
Not much left of the wedge, but nothing's really wrong with this handle.
I used this little Jimmy to remove the wedge. It's just a piece of 1/4" with a sharpened end.
Then knocked the handle out easy enough.
Worked over the rough spots and set the bevels, which weren't really too bad
Cleaned up and refit the handle. Before setting it I blued the shiny spots I made.
Carved a quick wedge
Nice fit in my opinion. Just peeled a shaving at the end as I drove it tight
Cleaned up just right. Nice contact, no step.
Here's a few of the end result, after a couple good doses of danish oil, and hitting the bits with a stone.
I guess she's ready to go back to work!
Nice sweatshirt! I'm a fan of plaid too. Sorta off topic but it would lead to a head being hafted so its not too off topic. Any advise on how to straighten the eye on a Flint Edge swamper? The eye oddly has the top and bottom of one side sorta caved in. Not like someone used one side as a hammer, but abused in a way I don't know yet. There's no marks on the head like it was beaten on so I'm in the dark on how it happened. It takes a wicked edge with just a file so I really want to use it and see how long the edge lasts.
Well, I'm not sure without pictures.
I will speculate that it could be fixed pretty easily with a drift and torch though. Heat only the damaged side dull red, and work it back out using the drift. I've done that to one that was used as a hammer.
If it's a flint edge with eye ridges that makes it trickier, so as to not damage those. It could be as easy as cutting some grooves in the drift though. Depending where its caved in, a partial drift also might work and that would be easier to make.
Have to wrap and wet the bits if you want to keep that good heat treat.
Oxy acetylene is the way to go for this stuff, it gets a lot of heat where you need it fast, and less heat is put in the piece overall.
It's an easy fix, other than making the drift.
Unless you happen to have one lying around. It's not that remote a possibility with this crowd
I will speculate that it could be fixed pretty easily with a drift and torch though. Heat only the damaged side dull red, and work it back out using the drift. I've done that to one that was used as a hammer.
If it's a flint edge with eye ridges that makes it trickier, so as to not damage those. It could be as easy as cutting some grooves in the drift though. Depending where its caved in, a partial drift also might work and that would be easier to make.
Have to wrap and wet the bits if you want to keep that good heat treat.
Oxy acetylene is the way to go for this stuff, it gets a lot of heat where you need it fast, and less heat is put in the piece overall.
It's an easy fix, other than making the drift.
Unless you happen to have one lying around. It's not that remote a possibility with this crowd
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Eye might just be off center ,have a flint edge boys axe with a crooked eye.
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Tidied up this flint edge cruiser today that I picked up over the summer.
Usually it's the top that gets beat up, but this one it was the bottom.
Enough to spall off a piece, but really it's not that bad overall.
Not much left of the wedge, but nothing's really wrong with this handle.
I used this little Jimmy to remove the wedge. It's just a piece of 1/4" with a sharpened end.
Then knocked the handle out easy enough.
Worked over the rough spots and set the bevels, which weren't really too bad
Cleaned up and refit the handle. Before setting it I blued the shiny spots I made.
Carved a quick wedge
Nice fit in my opinion. Just peeled a shaving at the end as I drove it tight
Cleaned up just right. Nice contact, no step.
Here's a few of the end result, after a couple good doses of danish oil, and hitting the bits with a stone.
I guess she's ready to go back to work!
That is an excellent rescue and resurrection.
No doubt you will be working it soon. Awesome pictures
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Tidied up this flint edge cruiser today that I picked up over the summer.
Usually it's the top that gets beat up, but this one it was the bottom.
Enough to spall off a piece, but really it's not that bad overall.
Here's a few of the end result, after a couple good doses of danish oil, and hitting the bits with a stone.
I guess she's ready to go back to work!
It's ready to rock-n-roll now. The hammerings on the bottom of the axe were from someone trying to remove it. The chip occurred when they hammered too close the the hardened bit.
@muleman already knows this. But I say it for the benefit of someone else who is considering hammering their axe off an old handle.
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Or someone had it mounted upside down and kept hammering it down because it kept loosening up
Could be either, as we all know both have happened many times.
I will say I'm inclined to go with the thought it was to take off the head. Seems like when people beat them up trying to seat it back down they raise hell with the eye, and that was not the case here. Just the bottom edges of the bit.
But theres really no telling for sure what abuse, or why, an old tool has received, all we can see is the damage left!
I had little hope for the handle on this Plumb when my brother gave it to me. Someone used nails to tighten the head and they were longer than the head was tall. The points were visible on the handle below the head and the foot was starting to crack. I got lucky and had enough wood to shorten the handle on both ends. I'm not finished but I'm happy with it so far.
I rehung the TT Flint Edge @Nbrackett sent me on a link haft from the hardware store that I also picked a house axe handle up from along with a 32" haft for a TT KP that I got in a trade. Last time I was there I (sorta) caused all the hafts in storage to be brought out. There are tons of miners axe handles and lots of 32" single and double bit handles. Too bad I don't have the heads (or the budget) for all those 32's.
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Green sticker Links. The hardware stores around me stock Links and saw shops have Tennessee Hickory handles. Blues are nice, greens are deluxe ones in all sorts of sizes. Blues are white hickory, greens are part heartwood with a flame finish. Unsurprisingly, greens are a few bucks more literally. The blues are far more common so green ones are a rarity for me.
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It's cleaned, filed, honed and hung. I'm out of poplar wedges so i made one from white birch. I'm pretty confident this haft is hickory but it's a soft easily workable strain. Anyone have any ideas? I bought this one off JB and straightened it with steam and weight. A few of the process.
I used a chisel grind instead of a banana like I've been doing lately. In hard wood they actually work a little better for me. They get stuck a little more but pop chips a tad better. It's been so darn cold out lately i haven't been doing much and I've missed it! Take care!
I used a chisel grind instead of a banana like I've been doing lately. In hard wood they actually work a little better for me. They get stuck a little more but pop chips a tad better. It's been so darn cold out lately i haven't been doing much and I've missed it! Take care!