Hatchet restoration

[cmthunder]

Found these 2 hatchets about a month apart at an 1860 homestead in Cecil County Maryland.
Soaked in evaporust and some sanding.
Looking for advise on how to finish off the restoration. I do not plan on using either of these.
Thought about using black flat rustoleum.
Any recommendations welcome
Thanks Chuck

 

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[CrankyBuzzard]

You can use electrolysis to further remove some of the surface gunk, then wire brush the crap out of them with a wire brush on an angle grinder. Then you can heat them up a bit and wax them to help prevent rust. If you don’t have a torch, a HOT oven for an hour will be plenty for the surface to take the wax well.

For the electrolysis, an old PC power supply will work and YouTube has some good tutorials on making a system. However, be careful, it is electricity....

 

[villival]

I found an old hatchet last week. Mine is smaller and shaped more like a tomahawk. I had just gotten my very first rock tumbler the day before. So, I used it and I am hooked. The tumblers (I since purchased a double tumbler, so now I have a total of three) do an unbelievable job on all the old blacksmith made pieces.

When I pull them out of the ground around here, they are encrusted with sand, red dirt, rust and are as hard as cement. I've tried apple cider vinegar, evaporust, oven cleaning and degreasing spray, boiling in water, scrubbing with barbecue pit brushes, etc.

The rock tumblers, with pea gravel, water and a capful of Murphy's Oil soap has shown details I couldn't see after WEEKS of fooling around with the other stuff. And they are cheap. A single tumbler is about 49.00 and the double about 59.00; both at Harbor Freight.

 

[cmthunder]

I think you talked me into it along with the results Antiqaurian Dave gets.
I like the evaporust but it takes forever like you said.
Thanks villival!

 

[cmthunder]

Villival
I’d like to see the before and after of your hatchet. Post it here is good.
Thanks Chuck

 

[villival]

There is no before of the hatchet, but I can show you what similarly made items look like before.

I worked for hours yesterday figuring out how to load pictures from my Nikon, as I have so many cool pieces. Maybe later today.

The only drawback to the inexpensive tumblers is the size. However, you can buy larger ones for more money of course.

Evaporust is expensive as heck, but still a good product.

 

[cmthunder]

Completed the restoration on Hatchett number one. Found old wood at antique mall guy has buckets full for $4.

 

[devldog]

Great looking restoration job on the hatchet.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I think you talked me into it along with the results Antiquarian Dave gets.
I like the evaporust but it takes forever like you said.
Thanks villival!

Thank you for your compliment Chuck.
For those who are interested, here's a link to a post I made in January detailing the tumblers and the 'recipe' I use for tumbling.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/r...23998-next-batch-tumbled-2019-iron-finds.html

Also, here are some before & after tumbling results from 2017.

Love your results on that hatchet restoration too buddy!
Dave

 

[Johnnybravo300]

Wow I like to detect old cabin ruins and I'd be STOKED to find those!

 

[tamrock]

I found a hatchet head like that. Now I gotta see where I put it.

 

[Jamie Rullestad]

I’m pretty new at this metal detection thing, but hatchet restorations have been my thing for a few years now. If I can be of any help to anyone here, feel free to tap me on the shoulder.....