I picked up this old 4 lb Michigan pattern felling axe head the other day for 6 bucks, it had a little minor damage but nothing too critical, the poll had some minor mushrooming but the eye was straight, and the edge was not chipped. there is still a lot of life in this old tool and I though it would make a good project for an axe to take down to the cabin.





I ground off the mushroom from the poll, and cleaned off the old paint and rust then wet sanded the head and then used cold blue rather than paint.

The head after the first rough grind.


After a few hours of wet sanding while watching TV news.


I headed off to the Loews and went through all their hickory handles and finally found one with good grain plopped down my 10 dollars. I had to sand off the thick clear paint they dipped the handle in then melted in a bunch of bee's wax. I threw away the soft poplar wedge that came with the handle and made my own from walnut.

I think it has a few more years of service left in it.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Very nice job! One of the side uses of my shop is to rehab old tools. I recently completed approximately the same job to an old old shingling axe. It will make a great camping hatchet. Be sure and let us see the next one that you complete. ........... Big Cholla

Very good job and looks nice.

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James
On the Llano Estacado

Wow! That looks great!

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

That's really nice. Trying to mate the head to handle, and make it balanced, functional, and non-lethal, is an art that escapes most of us today.

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Why, I aughta.....

Hey, put me in!

What? It's not a karma?

Well dang, you did a good job anyway!

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James L. "Jim" Rhiner

Probably good American steel in that axe head ,glad you brought it back to life!

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

That was my guess as well, German and Swedish heads are almost always squared off at the poll, not rounded and generally don't have the heavily convexed cheeks. Probably made by a major US maker for some hardware store who put their own sticker on it.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Nice story and great looking axe I love seeing projects like this one

The talent of the individuals who frequent this board is quite amazing to me. Beautifully done, Sir.

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NICK-SWCA-NRA BENEFACTOR LIFE

Very nice results...the quality of the axe and the work shows..

I like it.
Good job.

Sir, I am not trying to rain on you parade here. Just an observation.

I do believe you are missing the final step. There needs to be the proper size medal wedge driven in to finish the job.

You have done an impressive job

That darker strip you see is the wedge. It's a wood (he said it's walnut) wedge.

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SWHF #448

Nice job. I love to see old tools refurbished and made into something useful. I've refurbished a few hand planes and couple of hand saws. Some of the old stuff was made really well and refurbed function better than much of the stuff made today, especially in the hand tool market.

Excellent job! I really love and appreciate good, quality axes and hatchets. Even in their elegant simplicity, they're just plain classy. Once again, great job on restoring!

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Pack light and cinch tight.

-db-

Yes and after the wood wedge is driven in the metal wedge is next driven in at about 70 degree angle. And then you are done. It takes two minutes to do and the wedges are available at any hardware store or at Sears. I want to say for pennies however those days are gone forever.

Trolley

Great job, smith357 ! I did much the same job several years ago on an axe I pulled out of the ground, heavily rusted with a rotted haft. A few hours with grinders, files, and emery strips, and a little whittling on a nice piece of hickory, and that axe is still serving me well today. The old tools are the best, eh?

Larry

Great job on the axe. Now all we need to see is a picture of about 5 cords of wood that you split with your new axe.

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Trolley, a wood wedge alone, without the addition of a supplementing metal wedge, is traditional and can be completely suitable. Here's a detailed discussion on the topic: To Metal wedge, or not to metal wedge? That Is The Question...

If you were to investigate collectible vintage axes/hatchets, you'll find many that do not incorporate metal wedges.

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SWHF #448

Who carries metal wedges? I need a few.Wood really dries out and shrinks in this climate

I applaud your results, really nice job.

For a while I was re habbing sledge hammer heads I had around with new fiberglass handles. The last step is to pour epoxy into the head to fill voids.

There is always extra epoxy left, so I used it on all the loose wood handle axe and hammers I could find. Some of them had had so many wedges and nails driven into them over the years that they were unsafe. The epoxy oozed it's way into all the crevaces and pours and made them all rock solid, that way I maintained the character of the old wood handles.


My way worked, but yours is much more elegant. If I tried to do what you did, it would be so wobbly that I would be reaching for some epoxy. Really nice job you did. Ed

I am not going to risk splitting the haft with a metal wedge unless needed. Driving a blunt metal wedge into end grain without a kerf can sometimes do more harm than good.


When it comes to axes, to get something new that is as well made as the old axes will cost you north of $100. A good Council Tool Velvicut, Gransfors Bruks, or Wetterlings felling axe will start at $130. This set up cost less than $20 and a few hours of my time where I was doing nothing anyway.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Saw the title and thought it was about a beauty secret to share with the wife.

Refinishing old axes brings back lots of memories being traditional FD rookie busy work ,
I have done a few in my day and suspect many of those old FD axe heads were older than I was.

Sadly about 5 years ago some genius decided we needed fancy new heavy axes with yellow plastic handles then collected up the old ones and trashed them.
Luckily I was able to rescue 1 flat and 1 pick head from the dumpster before they went to the landfill , the pickhead now hangs next to my retired leather Cairns helmet ...

Nice save on that axe.

Years back when we bought our camp (now our retirement house) there were a bunch of older tools lying in a corner of the old garage. A couple shovels, a rake, a sledge hammer, a single and a double bladed axe. All had broken handles with the stump still enclosed by the neck of the tool. Took my time and drilled them out. Then used a hand and a bench grinder to clean up the metal. Used a grinder and files to tune up the blades of the axes.

The next village over had a very old rural type hardware store in it. In the basement they had a few barrels of all sorts of handles. Hunted around and found handles that looked like I could fix all of the tools. Prices were reasonable and I picked up a bunch of wooden and steel wedges. Of course I had to whittle or grind to make a good decent fit.

Still using all of these tools that I fixed up over 25 years ago. From what I see when I go to the big box stores my tools are much better that most of the stuff they sell today.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

Why Bees wax on the handle ? I find that interesting. By the way nice job

Bee's Wax in farm country is plentiful and cheap, and its self life can be measured in decades. I get 2 lb. blocks for 5 bucks from a beekeeper. I keep some in a small crock pot on my bench. When cooked in, penetrates deep into the wood fibers and seals, it beads water, and polishes to a nice sheen. I use Bee's Wax for any number of things including sowing, bullet lubes, leather balms, topical ointments, and fuel.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

In the north country we can just about always get Sno-Seal, which is mostly beeswax. I use it on both leather and wood, as well as on my boots.

I follow this thread with interest as my wife brought home an old Plumb shingling axe. It works pretty well, but the handle is an inch ot two too short, so I just may try may hand at installing a new handle, if I find one I like.

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Not in jail.