I've Got An Axe To Grind!

[California Girl]

OK...you can stay and say stupid shit. Just don't ask what a man's ass tastes like again...That was disgusting.

If you leave tools out in the weather for over a year, you're an idiot.

Sober up and bring your shit into the shed, asswipe

You're an angry man, aren't you?

My 8,000th thanks is awarded to....... AVG-JOE.

 

[westwall]

It had been left out in the weather for over a year. Probably take an hour of grinding wire wheel buffing and hard stoning to get the rust off and make it sharp again..

Just sayin..

Discuss....

What? You're complete lack of care for your tools?

 

[Sunshine]

Enjoy~

 

[HUGGY]

It had been left out in the weather for over a year. Probably take an hour of grinding wire wheel buffing and hard stoning to get the rust off and make it sharp again..

Just sayin..

Discuss....

What? You're complete lack of care for your tools?

I've got thousands of tools. Probably a hundred thound dollars worth..maybe more..We are talking about one axe I forgot about and left out in the rain.

 

[Ernie S.]

Next time buy a stainless steel axe with a fiber glass handle.

Then you won't have to worry about it.

Stainless doesn't make a good axe. Ya it doesn't rust as quickly..it does rust a little surprisingly. But it actually gets dull quicker and it is WAY more difficult to sharpen. An axe is damn near useless unless it is as sharpe as your hunting knife. The fiberglass or plastic handles do eventually break and they are more of a pain in the ass to replace. I prefer the wooden handle..lighter and the "bounce" factor is lower and transfers less shock to the arms and elbos.

Get yourself a scotchbrite wheel you can chuck in a drill and clean the rust. Then go at it with a file. Sharpening an ax on a high speed grinder takes the temper out of the blade and basically turns it into a hammer with sucky ergonomics.

 

[HUGGY]

Next time buy a stainless steel axe with a fiber glass handle.

Then you won't have to worry about it.

Stainless doesn't make a good axe. Ya it doesn't rust as quickly..it does rust a little surprisingly. But it actually gets dull quicker and it is WAY more difficult to sharpen. An axe is damn near useless unless it is as sharpe as your hunting knife. The fiberglass or plastic handles do eventually break and they are more of a pain in the ass to replace. I prefer the wooden handle..lighter and the "bounce" factor is lower and transfers less shock to the arms and elbos.

Get yourself a scotchbrite wheel you can chuck in a drill and clean the rust. Then go at it with a file. Sharpening an ax on a high speed grinder takes the temper out of the blade and basically turns it into a hammer with sucky ergonomics.

Professional mechanics and machinists like myself usually go with a hand held angle grinder with an assortment of abrasive discs and wire wheels to resurface steel. I also have a nice big bench mount belt sander with a side disc sander. A spray bottle with water mist is all ya need to keep the steel cool enough to preserve the temper. Scotchbrite "grey" is maximum course but there are better materials to polish metal with. The pros in the machine shop use a rubberized woven cloth base with silica wheel for surface prep and polish. The wheel flexes nicely..only down side is an 8 inch by one inch wheel costs nearly 80 dollars.

But thanks for the concern. Ay least you have some knowledge and good will in sharing unlike some of the asshats foreign and domestic on this thread that want to make a federal case out of a guy that forgot his axe had been left out in the weather.

 

[westwall]

It had been left out in the weather for over a year. Probably take an hour of grinding wire wheel buffing and hard stoning to get the rust off and make it sharp again..

Just sayin..

Discuss....

What? You're complete lack of care for your tools?

I've got thousands of tools. Probably a hundred thound dollars worth..maybe more..We are talking about one axe I forgot about and left out in the rain.

My friend, if that's all it was, you wouldn't have posted it here, now would you! Admit it, you secretly felt the need for public humiliation because you care about your tools and you felt guilty. Go on admit it! CONFESS!

 

[Ernie S.]

I tend to use what I'm comfortable with. I've been sharpening axes for 50 years or so and would never use a high speed grinder unless I had really messed up the edge by hitting a rock or a hunk of steel embedded in what I'm chopping, then only with lots of water for cooling. I always finish with a file and then an oil stone or lately, a diamond hone. I can shave with my axes.
As for polishing, there is really little to be gained by polishing anything but the first half inch or so. The sides are concave, for one, and it would be rare for you to sink an ax more than an inch into anything you should be using an ax on. I'd clean up the rust, mask the cutting edge and give it a coat of paint.
Put your ax away sharp, but always hone it before use.
I think it was Lincoln that said, "If given 6 hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first 4, sharpening my ax."

EDIT:
I could have bitched about you being careless about your tools, but fact is, my 8 lb maul is sunk in a stump up in the back of the property where I'm building a road.

You left a chain saw out in the rain too?

 

[HUGGY]

What? You're complete lack of care for your tools?

I've got thousands of tools. Probably a hundred thound dollars worth..maybe more..We are talking about one axe I forgot about and left out in the rain.

My friend, if that's all it was, you wouldn't have posted it here, now would you! Admit it, you secretly felt the need for public humiliation because you care about your tools and you felt guilty. Go on admit it! CONFESS!

That is exactly all it was. I have to move the boat to a boatyard from where it is and I was going over it yesterday and found the axe. When I got back here it struck me as "funny" because usually "an axe to grind" means entirely something else which has nothing to do with axes. Some people just cannot take something at face value and insist on injecting thier own prejudices into a simple conversation. I work with tools at several locations all over Seattle. This isn't the first tool I have misplaced nor will it be the last. Stating "I have a wrench to grind" just isn't nearly as funny or ironic but then there are many with zero sence of humor or irony here on USMB. Just consider it a fair and lucky chance test of the character of those that ASSUME.