One will need a handle, reprofiled and sharpened. Looks like it hasn’t been used in a very long time. The other maybe developing a small crack just back from the cutting edge. Looks like where the soft steel was forge welded to the harder steel.
One will need a handle, reprofiled and sharpened. Looks like it hasn’t been used in a very long time. The other maybe developing a small crack just back from the cutting edge. Looks like where the soft steel was forge welded to the harder steel.
If the crack is where the harder metal was forge welded to the softer portion of the head you might find a blacksmith who could forge weld them back together, however I thing there would be big concern in trying to forge weld a portion that may have rust, dirt, or grease in it. If you don't do it right, you could make the crack worse underneath but it will have the appearance of being one solid piece again. This could lead to injury or at the very least the ax head breaks and its just wasted effort at this point. I am no blacksmith but I have tinkered around a forge and anvil a bit.
There isn't much info detailed info listed. No pics, commercial or home builds, modern, antique? There are dozens of basic broad head axe head shapes over the centuries. Is value + refurbishment cost better then outright replacement?
The handle should be a DIY unless there is some unspecified complexity involved. If your intention is to put them back in use, then DIY is within you ability. If your gonna swing them it makes sense to learn how to sharpen them too IMHO.
The possible crack is not a big deal IMHO. Your smacking wood not another metal tool so there shouldn't be a brittle fracture throwing shrapnel, if it breaks off: trash the axe.
This does sound like it would be a pretty cool DIY project. I do agree with you, wildrider, using the ax as it shouldn't be a problem. It's when you start heating up the metal and trying to fix it, that is where I see potential issues. I have seen several attempts to try and weld two pieces of metal together that were not prepped enough. Whether it was rust, oil, or whatever, the attempts usually failed and the blacksmith was unable to get a quality weld.
Yep, IMHO you can attempt to grind it off and prevent the crack from growing (longer/deeper). I'd clean and flush the suspected crack and view under a microscope and decide from there before grinding. I don't think it would be worth the cost to have it dye-penetrate or magna flux tested. If it appears deep and long: grinnding may not be practical due to the large amount of material that may need to be removed. Filling/welding the void will not restore it to origional strength/integrity. This brings us back to: just sharpen it and wack wood till it fails. Lol
Thanks for all the input. I was just shooting in the dark that there was a seasoned blacksmith around. I’ll give it a DYI try and see how it turns out.
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