All About Pocket Knives

I do still exist. When you have as many varied hobbies as I do, and a house full of DIY projects, sometimes knives and whatnot get put on the shelf for a while. Anyways, tis the season where everyone in the office is on vacation and I need a place to kill some time during the day so you guys get to hear about what I've been up to since the last time I popped in (I still lurk around once or twice a week, but usually on mobile and not logged in lol).

I had a couple old Carpenter's axe heads I picked up at an estate sale a few years ago. They've sat in a bin for a while until a couple weeks ago when I was helping my old man with a bit of deadfall clearing on his property. One of the tools I happened to grab out of his shed was an old Craftsman carpenter's hatchet that has been used as a catch-all yard tool around his place for decades. Kinda re-inspired in me a love for a good hatchet.


Anyways, I took this old rusty Keen Kutter and reground it a bit to remove the nail pull and added some swedging to the bottom (cleaned up the swedges on the top too) to lighten up the head, re-profiled and shouldered the edge then etched off all the active rust with some white vinegar with an acid kicker (had the bonus effect of etching it a bit to show me all the hard steel still left in the edges). Now I've got a sweet little "bearded" hatchet. I left the EC Simmons logo intact because it's just cool
Still needs a handle replacement - this is the original, just sanded back, re-oiled with all the dents steamed out and a new wedge. It's serviceable but a bit "shifty" in hard use. There's a guy on Instagram I follow that does some downright amazing axe handle work, I might send it off to him

Lovin' the hatchet Adam, especially the re-shaping, and the Patina. What was the acid "kicker" you used... Hydrogen Peroxide?

I'm 100% with you on multi tasking projects. I have too many going but the fun part is they always seem to come to a finish at about the same point. Then I have more time to start more projects!

Lather, rinse, repeat!

WINK! rust remover (essentially dilute Hydrochloric acid) followed with a quick bath in Ferric Chloride for some color. (I find that a few days in vinegar will get rid of alot of the funk, then I add some additional WINK to clean off the hard stuff. This leaves it a weird matte/shiny/brite grey. Ferric dulls everything down really nice)

I found Wink a couple years ago while looking for a more efficient way to etch titanium clean for anodizing purposes (because Multi-etch while damn near safe enough to drink, is expensive and ends up expiring before I can use a whole jug). Somebody mentioned WINK, which was available at my local hardware store. Check the label, sure enough HCl. Super, super dangerous stuff to play around with (fumes, contact, disposal, etc) but so long as you're careful it works out just fine.

I thought you kept WINKing at me... Wink!
Now I get it.
I've never heard of it but I'll look for it, and give it a shot.
HCL is something I use almost daily. I use it to remove rust stains from fiberglass boats or actually everything except for un- sealed wood. I was just using it yesterday.

I regularly use Rust Free chelating agent but it's tricky on carbon steel. You either get carbon migration (black blades) or a LONG bath in diluted product to get that nice gray color you have developed.

I have a pile of 20-30 knives that need treatment so I'll have a fair sample group to learn your method on.
Thanks for sharing it! WINK!

Great to see what you are working on and hear from ya Adam !!!
Thats the best way to keep mind & body on the top shelf,, a lot of different interest that
keep you on the move and not in the bark-ko lounger so much
Very cool carpenters piece from a old outfit

Will
http://www.allaboutpocketknives.com/stagman

Great to see you are still playing with sharp things Adam and doing it so well.