So word got out amongst the in-laws that I have a certain lust for rust. Monsieur Jean-Claude came by for a visit one night and handed me a carrier bag full of hatchets and what might possibly be an executioner's axe. More on that one another day. Also in there was this beautiful bearded hewing axe which I was overjoyed to receive. 

One of the hardest parts of this kind of work now is just finding things to contain my parts in the vinegar. Luckily this piece could fit inside of an old cereal container. 

Look at that! I love that shape. There's a maker's mark stamped on the side that reads “DROUIN” but after a long search unfortunately I didn't find anything.

I measured along the top edge of the saw in the photograph so that I could scale it to the correct dimensions in AutoCAD then trace out the shape of the blade. I then created a shape for the handle based on some photographs of old school axes I found online. 

I made a template to sketch out by hand and ruler as I didn't have a printer that would plot something this long 

Then I cut the template to chop out of the log I'd hewn down to size 

I could have chopped this out with an axe but the jigsaw lets me keep the offcuts.

Now the fun begins making the section octagonal and continuing to refine the shape until it’s what I want it to be.

Unfortunately due to my choice of logs being the wood shed out back these babies have had a good 3? Plus years or so to dry out and crack. One of these cracks manifested right the way down the handle

So same solution as I tried last time. Pack it right full with wood glue, using thin pokey things to wiggle it as far into the crack as possible and tighten it up with clamps to ensure good contact.

So this is the handle rough from rasps and files, with the neck trimmed to one side so that the head has some clearance

I had great results using a shard of broken glass as a scraper to smooth out the handle, it worked much faster than sandpaper and left a lovely finish

I then went on to cut the kerf for the head and noticed a small hole from a woodworm, I started to cut it out and follow it, discovering a perfect path following the shape that i carved for the head, very odd. I’d also like to note how much I despise woodworms ruining good wood. 

I slathered the whole thing in a beeswax and linseed oil balm, left it for a few hours before buffing it off and adding another coat, 

Now for the wedge, a nice part of one of the offcuts from before, tapered at one end and liberally coated in my linseed balm for a silky smooth glide in. 

So I rammed it home with the hammer and trimmed off the outstanding pieces

And there we go! Nice and flat edged on the left hand side for slicing off a smooth edge to a beam or what have you

I decided that i’d give it a try with this log.

Bad idea as it was a very hard and old length of black locust and pretty much glanced off with every slice. Either way i’m happy with it, the handle might be a bit thick in places but I really enjoy how it looks and what I ended up with

Okay, so you have a set of brand new beautifully made rosewood handled chisels and you just can’t bear to start smacking them with a metallic hammer and destroy that pristine fresh face on the end. You need a wooden mallet in the next hour and you’ve got a plank of wood. No problem.

Here I have a plank of wood, 6cm wide and about a metre long, I marked out the following pieces

Two blocks 6cmx18cm

Two squares 6cmx6cm

One square 6cmx6cm (with handle)

Here’s the handle, I kept an extra cm on top and chamfered it for bonus style points then quickly rasped the handle smooth a little. This was just cut out with a jigsaw, the handle was traced from another hammer.

Now to cut out the two squares and the two blocks.

Assemble the pieces with the two blocks sandwiching the handle in the centre with the two squares filling the voids.

I then roughed up the surfaces with sandpaper and spread on a little wood glue to stick it together. Put something heavy on top or clamp it while it dries.

Once it’s dry I trimmed the faces with a mitre saw angled 5 degrees or so towards the handle then went swinging away hanging up doors. This mallet can be made to last a lot longer by drilling a hole or three through the side of the mallet body then hammering and gluing a dowel in to stop the pieces wiggling apart. But from board to hammer in under an hour and putting up a door quickly it’ll do!

Out back in the deepest corners of the barn is what I like to call the rust box. An old drawer that I assume used to belong to a very nice piece of furniture at one point in its life lined with rusted pliers, sécateurs, pruning knives and saws that haven't seen a spot of oil, care or attention in decades.

During a rummage through the box for some nice steel I found a beautiful large french pattern forging hammer caked in rust. I gave it a soak in my vinegar mix just in case there were any makers marks on the sides to reveal which there unfortunately wasn't. But not to worry, she’ll still look pretty all cleaned up.

I had saved a beautiful piece of wood from in between the rafters of a stable roof that I had fixed up, I knew there was something different about it as it was the only piece of wood up there not completely eaten to sawdust by woodworm. Apparently a bunch of logs were put up there to block the barn cats having kittens out of reach some 65 years ago, so I can be sure it's well seasoned. After I saw the grain and how it split I'm 100% certain this is a log of black locust which is a great springy and strong wood perfect for a hammer.

After splitting into a quarter I split out the pith and the outer corners then whittled down the bark side with an axe to make a rectangular section. There was a slight bend to the grain but none too serious.

With the handle rectangular I shaped the neck down so that it was just a little oversized for the hammerhead and decided to leave it at that for the moment.

Hidden underneath all this nasty red metallic bullshit, you’re going to find something beautiful.

High carbon steel.

As wonderful a material it is, holding a better edge over the inoxydable stainless steel, it does react with oxygen if exposed to humidity. Basically unless you oil your tools they’ll eventually go to shit. But not to worry! With just a quick look in the kitchen you’ll be able to find everything you need to bring back some life into those rusty pieces of steel.

before we continue let me get this out of the way, would it be better/easier/faster to use electrolysis/sanding/grinding/sandblasting? probably, but until I have the equipment to do that, this is the best way to go about rust cleaning with what most people have to hand. So! up above we have a good example of a before during and after

So what do we need? Well for a basic solution, you just need some white vinegar and salt. Ingredients? About a cup of salt per gallon of vinegar or just pour it in until it stops dissolving.

For this demonstration I have a pair of old old axe heads that my father in law had lying around in the barn. These axes came from a elderly gentleman who picked them up from his wife’s grandfather’s farm, so there’s a good chance they’re at least 50 years old. Lots of rust develops in half a century, but nothing that we can’t get off with a bit of chemical assistance.

Rust is essentially the reaction of the element iron and oxygen in the presence of water or humid air. You leave those shiny tools around with no oily protection and eventually the whole thing will rust to nothing. Soak the rusting object in vinegar and the acid will begin to work on the rust reacting with it and creating bubbles of hydrogen, the rust will dissolve and  weaken allowing us to scrub it off with much less effort. You can see above the pattern of hydrogen bubbles on the surface after a night’s bath.

So after it’s had a day or two take it out and give it a scrub in fresh water, use a scouring ball, scotch pad, just something abrasive to take off the rust flakes. You can see after a day this axe’s rust just isn’t coming off, so it’s back into the vinegar