All About Pocket Knives

Thanks Doglegg, I took it out playing with it. It's a good thrower. The head is a little heavy for that short handle. I made 8-10 throws and every one hit blade first, Every throw that hit on the top or bottom of the blade stuck. If it hit on the center of the blade it cut in about half an inch, but still popped out. Using an air dried Black Walnut slab for a target. I took it down in the woods and chopped down a little Gum tree, and it is sharp, and throws chips. After 15-20 rapid one hand swings I was panting. I need to make a sheath for it. I have it to where it will shave the hair off my arm, not trying whiskers on my throat. I'm a bit cautious carrying it around. Had a lot of fun turning a chunk of rust and a piece of firewood into a family heirloom, Joe.

rarefish383 wrote:I like the 3 in the middle, the one with red tape, the Plumb and the one with the nail puller and figure 8 on it. Can you read the maker on the one with red tape and the figure 8? Joe.

I was told by the fellas on Facebook/AxeJunklies that one with red tape (blue paint) is a Hults Bruk
The one next to it is stamped SAW
Kind of centered and above those 2 is a Plumb Boy Scout

rarefish383 wrote:Thanks Doglegg, I took it out playing with it. It's a good thrower. The head is a little heavy for that short handle. I made 8-10 throws and every one hit blade first, Every throw that hit on the top or bottom of the blade stuck. If it hit on the center of the blade it cut in about half an inch, but still popped out. Using an air dried Black Walnut slab for a target. I took it down in the woods and chopped down a little Gum tree, and it is sharp, and throws chips. After 15-20 rapid one hand swings I was panting. I need to make a sheath for it. I have it to where it will shave the hair off my arm, not trying whiskers on my throat. I'm a bit cautious carrying it around. Had a lot of fun turning a chunk of rust and a piece of firewood into a family heirloom, Joe.

Thanks for the update. It is nice that the satisfaction did not end in with the handle completed. Black Walnut for a target!!!!! Can't wait to see the sheath when you get it done.

One throw too many, cracked the hump under the poll, not sure if I'll try to fix it or make another, Joe.

Glued and clamped the cracked piece back on, clamped it for 24 hours, hit it with 300 grit and can't see the crack. Threw it 10-12 times, looks like it will survive.

Another little Plumb Hatchet. My cousin bought a box lot at an auction for a dollar, and this was in the bottom of the box.

Just added this Jersey pattern Plumb to the pile. Bought a couple big chainsaws at a sale and then had to wait almost 5 hours for the ax, but it was in my price range, $5, Joe.

I did not get a pic of the ball peen before this was started. Only thought of a pic at this stage, probably the fourth or fifth heat.
This is a 2# hammer and worked my shoulder/arm pretty well.
Final hammer work before grinding.
Ground and hafted.
This is my first one of these.
Needs some improvements, but is pleasing for a first go round.

Tony_Wood wrote:I did not get a pic of the ball peen before this was started. Only thought of a pic at this stage, probably the fourth or fifth heat.

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This is a 2# hammer and worked my shoulder/arm pretty well.

C115C55B-E49A-4AC8-9F35-31C23ECEAA39.jpeg

Final hammer work before grinding.

0BFEDADA-72E3-463A-B552-D7FF6567E4DA.jpeg

Ground and hafted.
This is my first one of these.
Needs some improvements, but is pleasing for a first go round.

29E67C90-213E-433C-A0D8-DB3A3473BF19.jpeg

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I would have been hard pressed to believe the before and after pictures if you hadn't included the middle ones. You must have Popeye arms. That turned out great. Impressed.

I'm going to have to show this to a friend. He wants to get into forging and that will push him right over the edge. That is nice, Joe.

What a thing to do. That's pretty impressive.
Nice job!

Great looking ax and I bet you need some truck driving arms to get that ball peen hammer metal moving.

Picked up four more. The one on the left is a Collins, the one on the right has Forged Steel stamped in it, but haven't found a name yet and the two in the middle are no names, paid $3 each, Joe.

Nice catch Rarefish. I seldom can find an axe under $10.00 or $15.00 unless it has been destroyed tho I did get a repairable hatchet yesterday for $2.00.

Woodly wrote:Nice catch Rarefish. I seldom can find an axe under $10.00 or $15.00 unless it has been destroyed tho I did get a repairable hatchet yesterday for $2.00.

Thanks I got 2 more for a buck a piece at another farm auction. The one with the duct tape on the handle is a Mann, Lewistown PA/True American, unfortunately it's been ground back quite a bit and the poll is smashed enough that the Mann stamping is deformed, Joe.

I guess it's bath time, I've got 7 new ones that are a little dirty.

Rarefish, do you use vinegar baths on those or something else?

Received another axe today from Coleman's Surplus-this one is the Russian one they sell. Its new and looks a bit like a weapon as much as a wood cutting axe.
Handle is 27 1/2inches and is different than what I'm use to as it has flat sides... It is raw wood and needs oiling or paint, whatever one prefers.
The head has a 6" cutting edge and is 7 1/2" long.
Different but certainly useable and for $29.00 aok in price... artificially aged it would look pretty cool as a wall hanger.
Coleman's advertises them as used but this one is brand new [head and handle].
Sorry I'm not posting photos now but will in the future of knives and axes which I own plenty

Bought a Plumb USA hatchet today for $5.00. Couldn't pass it up but I surely didn't need another

Woodly wrote:Rarefish, do you use vinegar baths on those or something else?

Sorry, I've been a little busy getting ready for mowing season. I use Evaporust. It's biodegradable and you can get it on your hands, even in your eyes and it wont burn. But, don't try the in your eyes part. Most of my friend use vinegar.

rarefish383 wrote:

Woodly wrote:Rarefish, do you use vinegar baths on those or something else?

Sorry, I've been a little busy getting ready for mowing season. I use Evaporust. It's biodegradable and you can get it on your hands, even in your eyes and it wont burn. But, don't try the in your eyes part. Most of my friend use vinegar.

Thanks for the response.

Tony - Very interesting photos of the ball peen hammer to hatchet transformation. I would never have thought of that as a possibility. That anvil you are using looks as if it has a bit of history behind it, too.

Woodly wrote:Received another axe today from Coleman's Surplus-this one is the Russian one they sell. Its new and looks a bit like a weapon as much as a wood cutting axe.
Handle is 27 1/2inches and is different than what I'm use to as it has flat sides... It is raw wood and needs oiling or paint, whatever one prefers.
The head has a 6" cutting edge and is 7 1/2" long.
Different but certainly useable and for $29.00 aok in price... artificially aged it would look pretty cool as a wall hanger.
Coleman's advertises them as used but this one is brand new [head and handle].
Sorry I'm not posting photos now but will in the future of knives and axes which I own plenty

Now that I've cleaned the Russian up and oiled up the handle my opinion is upgraded. It looks lovely and maybe next weekend I can get to use it some and see how well it works.
I'd buy a couple more but shipping kind of kills the deal.

I've been mowing grass in the rain for over a week now. Just had to take a break, so, yesterday afternoon I went down in the basement and started to work on another small ax. This is a Collins boys ax. It's the one on the far left.

If the pic above turned sideways, it's the one on the bottom. After I got the screws and nails out of the head it slipped right off the handle. The handle was still in pretty good shape, so I put a couple hours with a 4 in hand rasp thinning and reshaping it to octagonal. Then after sanding all the rasp marks out it was almost round again. The edge was in prety good shape too, I had it sharp enough to shave hair off my arm in an hour or so, and got all the nicks out.

I put a coat of Boiled Linseed Oil on the handle and stuck the head back on and called it a night. I'm going to make a Black Walnut wedge, tighten it all up, rub on a couple more coats of BLO and call it good, Joe.