Good on you guys! I love restoration of old tools that are then put to work.
@cornstalker
I plan to get the ax head out in the mail this afternoon...so I'll PM you the tracking info later on today.
Here is the "wedge" assortment that I found in the Hults Bruk double.
So... you literally have an axe to grind.
"The victor is not victorious if the vanquished does not consider himself so."
― Ennius
Well, my first hard lesson has been learned. I am thankful I decided to start with a cheap head for practice.
On the single bit I had notched out some dents with a grinding wheel and asked a buddy to weld the notches up so I could machine them back down. Well, bless his heart, he felt like he should go the extra mile and fix some areas that I did not request as well. He also decided to do some of the shaping with a die grinder.
Unfortunately, he went out past the temper line with the welder turned up too high and blew a small chunk out of my cutting edge. The heat marks also indicate to me that he may have ruined the temper in two places on the cutting edge.
I will have to hit it with a file to see if the affected areas are now softer than the rest of the cutting edge. I will need to pull the edge back two more millimeters to get rid of the blown out part anyways. If it is softer there, I have to decide if it is worth taking it to the machine shop that does our cylinder heads at work and have it annealed in the oven. Then I would finish shaping it and re-temper it. Will also have to sand out the chatter marks from the die grinder.
I am thankful it didn't happen to one of my heirloom heads.
There was no difference that I could tell in the harness of the edge where the burn marks were. Whew.
I went ahead and finished shaping and cleanup. It's in a vinegar bath now. If the patina comes out satisfactory, I will fiinish the edge and hang it.
It isn't perfect, but for my first crack at it I am pleased so far.
The Sager should be there tomorrow, looks like. Post Office is slow...but I guess a week is better than a month.
Nice work cleaning up that ax head.