Axe Refurbishing WIP: Sharpening

Probably wasn't the best idea to sharpen the axe before making the sheath since now I have a 3lb razor lying on a table somewhere, but I was getting impatient and am still waiting on my drill press for putting holes on the leather...the number of speed bumps in the project are too many to count but I shall put something up on that once it's finished...eventually.

I initially try sharpening using a file, followed by sandpaper on a quartz block and Japanese water stones, but that yielded less than satisfactory results since the edge itself was going to be convex and well, it's pretty difficult to make a curved surface consistent on something flat - it was a square peg round hole moment. Plan B, I made up this sharpening jig for getting convex edges and used that in lieu of the quartz block. It's made from a 12" x 12" x 3/8" granite block with a piece of high friction foam mat stuck to it, and some pieces underneath to keep it from slipping on the table. It was surprisingly effective, and has about the same amount of flex as a mouse pad, just bigger and a little thinner. 

My sharpening setup - I use Windex as a cutting fluid to keep dust to a minimum and I wrapped a towel around the upper part of the handle to keep it from getting too grimy - wouldn't want to be going back and refinishing the handle now would I <shifty eyes> 

Convex sharpening pad - the mat is about 1/8" 

From the filed finish I took the edge through 120 grit, 180, 220, 400, 600, and 2000 grit wet dry (had to jump as I ran out of 1000). 

filed finish - I forgot to take pictures of the other grits , but you get the idea 

I then gave the edge a quick buff with some black compound following 2000 grit to blend the scratch pattern given how horrifying it looked before, and it was onto the 8000 grit water stone - I decided to just put a micro bevel on it to strengthen the edge and spare myself from working up from 800 grit to 4000 to 8000 on the primary bevel. I have no idea what the angle is right now but I'm willing to guess somewhere around 40 degrees inclusive..maybe...it seems to be similar to the edge profiles you see on a Gransfors or Wetterlings, so it's so far so good.

8000 grit microbevel - getting shiny! 

After the water stone - I stropped the edge on a newspaper charged with some green chromium oxide compound I had to get a hair shaving sharp edge. I would say that the stropping was overkill - but I would think that many would say I should have just stopped after filing haha.

And now for the final test - I get some sick sense of satisfaction when I sharpen something and can do that to paper < laughs maniacally> . 

Axe Refurbishing WIP continued: finishing the handle

After putting about 10 coats of tung oil and using a heat gun to speed up the hardening process between layers, I found that it did indeed make for a shiny finish as per instructions on the bottle, but for some odd reason it just didn't look quite right, like it was some sort of cheap off the shelf lacquered handle that you`d get from Rona, and felt like it could slip if it got wet.

So after some experimentation, I found that scuffing between coats with 000 steel wool gave a much nicer matte finish that gave it a warmer look and feel.

before steel wool 

After steel wool. Much better! 

After a final coating of paraffin wax after the oil dried <in reality candle wax, that's all I've got>, I tested the handle for water resistance to see if the water just beaded off or clung to the handle, which would be problematic after long term outdoor use.

Looks like it worked as planned. 

 Now that the handle is pretty much done, aside from maybe drilling a hole at the bottom of the handle for a simple para-cord lanyard of some sort <still debating on that> , all that's left now is to make a sheath and sharpen it. The sheath will be something like the one below that I made for a hatchet head last year, but it will be waxed to improve cut resistance and I will need to burnish the edges for a cleaner look. I may also need to buy some better leather given that the current piece I have is somewhat frumpy on the underside as opposed to nice and smooth, we shall see.

One of my earlier pieces of leather work, still room for much improvement but the design is fairly sturdy. 

Axe Refurbishing WIP

Just a small project that I've been putting off for a long while while waiting for parts for my drill press to arrive. It's a True Temper 3lb Black Prince, but I'm not sure which pattern it was, if anyone knows please let me know. I got the axe head from a flea market in Kingston roughly a year ago for 5 bucks, but never got around to rehanging or cleaning it up. The corners were chipped and rounded, and the head a little was mushroomed, but those cleaned up nicely with a file and some hand sanding. I also re profiled the edge to allow for better chopping, as the angle put on by the previous owner was too obtuse.

Most of the heavy pitting had to be removed with a soak in rust remover, sandpaper, and a soak in some boiling citric acid solution for final rust removal and forcing a patina for rust protection.

After putting on a patina, the fun part: hafting the axe. I got the hickory handle from House Handle Company in Tennessee given that I couldn't find anything decent anywhere nearby in Toronto. It was more or less a process of constantly going back and forth with checking for how far the axe head went onto the handle and going to town on it with a file and rasp to shave it down, rinse and repeat. Needless to say, it was quite tedious and I'm glad that part's over with. 

After a final sanding it was time to drive the wedge into the head of the handle (with a small hammer very slowly to avoid cracking anything) , followed by a coat of tung oil to finish the handle. After about 4 coats I'll be making the leather sheath to go along with it. 

(the ancient Delta Milwaukee DP220 I'm working on hiding in the background) 

More to come later - stay tuned!