Today, I made...

"SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media" (silentbutnotreallydeadly)
03/25/2019 at 05:58 • Filed to: Sweden

...an axe.

About three weeks ago, I wandered past the tractor and my boot caught on something in the soil and eroded leaf litter beneath my feet.

Since we took over this place late last year, we have been picking up all sorts of crap and scrap that have been left where it was dropped by the previous owner. So kicking up something was less of a surprise, more just second nature.

This time, it was an axe head. I picked it up, banged the dirt out of it on the tractor tyre and gave it a quick look over. Something about it made me think ‘potential’. But as I was doing something else, it got dumped on the bench...for a rainy day.

Rainy days are uncommon things of late. Drought has taken hold. Grass is thin. Or non-existent. And many people are hanging on by the teeth of their skin. Fortunately, I’m not a farmer so this is not our burden. Whenever possible, we shop local so we can at least contribute in some way to a struggling local economy.

The last time I was at the local hardware place, I picked up an axe handle. One of our exes (a lovely Oz made casting restired by my uncle) seemed to have a crack in its handle. Replacing it would be a perfect rainy day job. And the Sp otted Gum handle is one of the best too.

Spotted Gum is a species of eucalyptus that grows on the Australian east coast ranges. The timber is hard, stiff and very straight grained. It makes for very good flooring and some of the best tool handles...second only to Mallet (another species of eucalyptus) from Western Australia.

Today...it rained. Not much. But it rained off and on for much of the day.

The cracked handle wasn’t cracked...just a lifted splinter. Quick sand and a little oil, back in business. Another axe had it s handle sanded and oiled so it feels like butter again. And my new Surveyors Hook ( combination brush hook and zombie dispatcher) handle got the same treatment.

But now I had a spare axe handle. So now I just needed a rusty old head to go with it. Yeah that one...

A very quick dress up with the welding brush showed that it had a nice shape and form and a very clear stamp.

Swedish steel. Turns out that this head is quite a bit older than I am since the factory that made it closed in 1966.

All I did was knock the worst of the rust off, filed an edge back onto it (not that easily I must say) and connect head to handle. It’s all a bit rough and ready but the weight and feel of the assembly is surprisingly spot on.

It’s lighter and thinner than a traditional axe that we would typically employ on Australian hardwood but, by golly, it can be swu ng and it does indeed cut. I gave it a slog at a dead Bloodwood (another sort of gum tree) and, despite the haphazard sharpening, it blew chunks out of it with ease.

So here's to a dead and abandoned piece of Swedish scrap that somehow got a restart and a new career after the most unlikely and yet timely rediscovery.

DISCUSSION (14)

TheRealBicycleBuck > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/25/2019 at 07:05

Very neat. When we were preparing my mom’s place for sale, I found the axe she gave me when we first bought the land. I was 11 years old. It’s in the garage now, awaiting a good cleaning, sharpening, and perhaps a new handle. I don’t have anything to chop, so it’s a project that will have to wait.

pip bip - choose Corrour > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/25/2019 at 07:08

nice find there.

functionoverfashion > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/25/2019 at 07:35

That’s a cool find. None of mine are as old, but it seems that the previous owner of our house was quite careless with leaving wood-handled tools around in the yard. We’ve found since we’ve lived here 10 years, an axe head, spade shovel, square shovel, and two rakes. All but one needed new handles, but all are still in use by me on a regular basis.

The Ghost of Oppo > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/25/2019 at 08:34

As an initia ted Axe Junkie myself, I am always glad to see new members.

Azrek > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/25/2019 at 09:36

Can I axe you a question?

Are you planning to polish it? I’d love to see what the steel looks like if you cleaned it up.

phenotyp > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/25/2019 at 10:25

That’s pretty rad. Polish it up!

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Azrek
03/25/2019 at 17:51

I am conflicted about polishing something that was unlikely to have ever been polished previously. That said I will likely put the wire wheel over the thing to try and even the finish out.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > phenotyp
03/25/2019 at 17:51

Just the wire wheel for this....

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > The Ghost of Oppo
03/25/2019 at 17:52

I seem to have gone from none to five quite quickly...

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > functionoverfashion
03/25/2019 at 17:53

This place was owned by a similarly careless individual....

BaconSandwich is tasty. > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/25/2019 at 23:43

All that talk about the various wood species makes me wish I could get my hands on some. Hardwood around these parts is quite expensive. Especially imported stuff.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > BaconSandwich is tasty.
03/26/2019 at 05:55

Honestly...it's not that cheap here either!!

BaconSandwich is tasty. > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/26/2019 at 09:12

Some things are worth doing in nice hardwood, though. Cost be darned!

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > BaconSandwich is tasty.
03/26/2019 at 17:51

Truth...I tend to use a lot of recycled hardwood from the days when it was used as house framing.

And g iven I’m now in a house made of an Ironbark (very dense eucalyptus) frame with native cypress roof frame and lining...and it needs an extension...I'm in for a lot of hardwood in the future!!