UKH

I have a wooden ice axe that I am trying to do up to turn into something ornamental.

I stripped the old paint and varnish off & attacked the small amounts of rust with some wire wool and got it looking like this:

http://www.spectral3d.co.uk/misc/axe_sanded.jpg

I am planning to get the metalwork plated with something shiny that will take a high polish.

The metal finishing firm I contacted are concerned that it may damage the wood as the process involves dipping it in a hot electrolyte for several hours, so ideally I want to get the head and spike off without damaging the shaft.

The rivets shouldn't be hard to drill out, and will be easy to replace if I don't need it to be load bearing.

What concerns me is that there is some sort of glue underneath the tangs, and presumably under the ferrule as well. I'm not convinced I can cut that away without damaging things.

Any suggestions?

Plan B is to varnish the wood, as they tell me it will offer some protection. They are going to do what they can to mask it as well.

In reply to davidbeynon:
You might have got a better effect leaving the wood with the old varnish, cleaning any rust off the metal work and applying a coat of varnish for protection. That's what I did with my old wooden Stubai axe and it's got a nice genuine old/used look to it.

In reply to mypyrex:

The old varnish was very light coloured, and there was a big sticky label on it. I definitely want to make it darker than it was.

In reply to davidbeynon:

I reckon it looks great as it is!

Perhaps linseed the wood, and buff up the metal.

In reply to davidbeynon:

OK, stain the wood and then varnish both wood and metal.

In reply to mick taylor:

If it was to go on my wall then I would leave it at that, but we are aiming to turn this into a trophy to hand out at an awards ceremony & it needs a specific look (hint: yellow metal.

In reply to davidbeynon:

Your patio needs a bit of work, never mind the axe

In reply to davidbeynon:

Would you think about having a shaft specially made for it after it's been made golden by the electro platers?

In reply to Timmd:

That has crossed my mind, although I would prefer to avoid it if possible.

In reply to davidbeynon:

There probably isn't any glue holding it together. When I've dismantled vintage axes I have found the heads were usually held on by the rivets alone (and the well-fitting shaft, which extends a surprising way up into the head on most axes).

In reply to Only a hill:

There is something under the tangs though. Maybe it functions more as a filler rather than a glue?

I'm going to try and drill the rivets out I think. I'll never get the replacements flush, but I was thinking of maybe making some using brass rod & they will look better low tech anyway.

In reply to 3leggeddog:



Welcome to euphemism corner!

In reply to davidbeynon:

In my spare time I refurbish old hand tools, I haven't done an ice axe though:

With hammers that use that method of construction just drilling out the rivets is usually enough, I haven't found a glued one yet. In the unlikely event it is glued then I would suspect a bit of gentle heat will help, how old is the axe. Re-rivetting isn't hard but you'll struggle to avoid marking the head. If you are gold plating it then I would probably remove the shaft, clean it up and then replace it and rivet it in place. Then mask up the shaft carefully and plate it with the shaft on. I can't suggest a good mask off the top of my head but I can ask around if you want? (I once made the mistake of using the phrase "you can't polish a turd" in the wrong company and got a very long winded discourse on lacquer selection for soft organic substrates)

In reply to davidbeynon:

It could well be filler.

I've used copper boat nails as replacement rivets in the past.

In reply to all:

Thanks to for the advice.

The axe is an interalp camp. Not sure how old it is, but I don't think it is an antique as wooden axes go.

I'll have a go at drilling out the rivets later this week and see what happens. At worst I will end up needing to make up a new shaft, which is the likely result of it getting impregnated with some dodgy boiling cyanide solution anyway.

Copper boat nails would probably look quite good.

In reply to davidbeynon:
You can get a good finish as it is, your almost there anyway, work your way through grits of wet and dry up to 1200, changing direction with each grit so you can see when you have removed the marks from the previous grit. then buff on a buffing wheel (the most dangerous part of the operation) then finish with a finishing wax to protect it.

1200 grit is close to a mirror finish anyway if you can get hold of 1500 grit that is really fine, alternatively use micro-mesh.

it is how I finish off the knives I make, it just takes time and elbow grease.

Steve D

Steve

Just read the thread again and note you want it plated, you're on your own there!

In reply to davidbeynon:

That axe is a bit short, isn't it?

In reply to davidbeynon:

I have exactly the same beast, but mine has a bamboo shaft, and I've added a few more teeth.

Still think they look classy!

JW

In reply to SteveD:
I will need to bring the plating up to a shine so it's still useful. And I might get another to go on my wall some time.

In reply to davidbeynon:

It turned out that the stuff under the tangs was epoxy. I would almost certainly trash the wood if I tried removing that, so on to plan B.

A few coats of outdoor varnish to try waterproof the wood, taking care to get it in under the metal. Plus whatever masking the plating guys can do.

If it fails then I'm pretty sure I am up to making a new shaft although it won't be ready for this year.

Frankly if it wasn't for a specific purpose and I just wanted it for the wall I would probably stop here:

http://www.spectral3d.co.uk/misc/axe_cleaned_revarnished.jpg

In reply to davidbeynon:

Could you do a giant heat shrink around the shaft (I don't know how big they go) ?

In reply to Timmd:

I'm confident that the varnish I have is OK in the middle of the shaft, which is where heat shrink would work best. The guys doing the work are going to wrap it up in their eletroplating masking tape as well.

It's stuff getting into the grain at the ends that they are worried about. Around the top of the ferrule, just below the head and around the tangs etc.

It looks reasonably sealed but you can never be 100% sure.

In reply to davidbeynon:
You could squash blue tack or similar into any gaps where it could get into the grain before the tape being applied?

It'd probably result in a long time spent with a pin removing it afterwards, but it might help?

You've started the vaguely obsessive part of my brain trying to think of the perfect solution now. Argh dammit.

The nice thing about being vaguely obsessive is things can turn out brilliantly. I'm off to think about yellow penguins as a distraction. ()

In reply to Timmd:

Vaguely obsessive is good. Whatever it is has to resist a cyanide solution at about 70C. Mildly alkaline I believe.

In reply to davidbeynon:

Note I said 'can' turn out brilliantly, sometimes I just drive myself a little bit nuts.