Sandy and the Temper-metal Axe

Hullo bears and not-a-bears! I have been a busy little bear the last few days. Back when we moved into this house, there were two broken axes in the shed. One was a pretty new axe and the other was old and rusted. Both had their handles still stuck in them. I decided to help Mama get the wood out! We started with the new axe... and it went pretty good it seems to me... see no wood!

But, it took a lot of effort! There was a drill and an improvised chisel out of a screw driver and another drill and a bolt to hit bits of wood out and a saw and a c-clamp...

And plastic! Yes!! The wood handle was topped up with plastic... that was fun drilling out. And no, Mama does not have a vice grip which would have made everything go much easier!

Look at all those bits of plastic and sawdust...

The second axe head was different. It was old and rusted and Mama smacked the snoosh out of the wood back in the summer and still couldn't get the wood to budge too much...

See? And somebody had but all sorts of nails in the other end to try to get the handle to stay on better so drilling wasn't really an option.

What to do?? Well, Gramma was here for a visit and said, burn the handle out!

Really, you can put axe heads in the fire??
Do I hear cries of "nooooooo!!!" from all you backwoods savvy bears?? Well, yes, Mama looked it up and it is not recommended as it can make the axe head lose its temper.

blink... blink... ha ha ha haha hah!!!!!

An axe head that loses its temper... ha hah hah ... (images of little bear rolling on the floor giggling like mad).

But it was an old axe head and so we thought we'd try it... there we go... axe head in the fire...

Now we just have to wait?? How long?? Good question... we waited about 15 minutes and then poked the wood bits out with the poker (that's why it's called a poker... hah hah!!) and then pulled it out...

Ooooohhhh... that's not photoshopped! Is that really glowing???

Oh Mama... I think that axe head got too hot and it may have lost its temper! I can see the headline now: "Hot Headed Axe Loses its Temper and goes on Rampage through West Coast city"...

Well, we won't know until it cools down... which takes a while...

Once it was nice and cold, we put it in a vinegar bath... and waited a few days...

Ooohhh.. that looks yucky!

Whoa! That vinegar took off a lot of the rust! And when you dry it off...

Look!!! You can see the temper line! That's the dark area near the blade of the axe... It looks just like how they look online...

Except not as nicely polished as others...
 
(Photo from another blog)


And this is the other side. So... if the axe has kept its temper (giggle) then it might be worth sharpening it up and making it a useful axe...

The head would need some work as it is all mushroomed out...

But the axe is made in West Germany so maybe its worth it? Whadde y'all l'il bears think???