This thread is awesome, can't wait to see how the others turn out.
This thread is awesome, can't wait to see how the others turn out.
A little over four hours in the vinegar. Blotchy for now, and the mig wire is definitely noticeable at this point. Curious to see what it looks like in the morning.
I am guessing the results will be less than satisfactory. Learning as I go.
I just read that mig wire is typically .05-.12% carbon.
1055 steel is .5-.6% carbon
I am not sure what the carbon content of this axe head is, but I am guessing there is quite a difference in the carbon content in it and that of the mig wire.
Being a practice piece, I may check into case hardening with Kasenit to raise the carbon content prior to finishing it further. I still really don't know how all of this works exactly, so if someone with a decent knowledge of metallurgy happens to read this, please chime in.
Well, the patina project is a dead end. The axe head shows potential for a nice patina, but with the welds responding differently it is time to jump ship on it. Right now the axe head looks like I just fished it out of a pond.
In addition to the lessons learned about the welds responding to oxidation, another interesting,(to me), tidbit popped up. The patina revealed the heat treatment area on the bit. This makes me wonder if it is a traditional heat temper or if there was carbon added through a case hardening type process.
Edited: Wrong images the first time.
Lastly, after a brief USPS scare, I received the generous gift from @blues
Here is a token photo of the HB after basic cleanup and the Sager as I received it.
The Sager might be a challenge to hang. The eye is straight across the width, but the taper is reversed across the length. i.e., the bottom of the eye is larger than the top. I am going to try to seek cousel from a pro before I attempt to fit a haft.
I am still learning, but I am willing to help if I can. I have done a sledge and it was by far the easiest to hang compared to the axes.
I have always been a student of primitive survival skills. Not to sound wacko, but I believe that the fragile facade that we call society could be reduced to the stone ages in an instant by any number of incidents. I never want to lose touch with what it requires to provide my own heat, food, water and shelter. We hunt, process our own meat and garden every year. I have trapped in the past.
As such, I always want to be able to use, maintain and repair my tools to the best of my ability. When it came time to dive into axes, my dad told me a story about when he was working on the barges in Washington state. True or not, he was given a Swedish axe and was told that it was the only way to go because in an emergency you could use it to cut through cables without completely ruining the tool. He loved the axe, but when we moved to Colorado it disappeared. For father's day, I bought him a vintage Hults Bruk head to restore and bought him a haft from House Handle. During the research I did to figure out what was good and what is not, I kinda got bit by the cool factor. Axe heads individually hand forged and heat treated by a blacksmith, at a time where quality was the focus over quantity and bottom line. I decided that I wanted to restore some heirloom quality axes and use them. A hatchet, a camp or small forest axe, a single bit felling axe, a double bit axe and a Pulaski axe. Working on that collection now. The first head is not heirloom quality, but a practice piece so I can learn without wrecking something worth having.
I caved and bought a Hults Bruk hatchet. I had a coupon...