Making A Handle & Restoring A VINTAGE AXE!

[@RagnBoneBrown]

AD - Try READLY for 2 months free of charge for access to over 7000 magazines and newspapers at readly.com/ragnbonebrown My friend found this vintage felling axe head in a garage when he moved in to his new home, and in this video, I restore it sympathetically and make it swing again! Leo's wax: www.hand-i-craft.com/store-1-2/p/style-03-g2rtt-swnxd Want to be a CONTENT CREATOR like me? I have an online Content Creator Course - featuring 2 hours of content covering video ideas, thumbnails and titles, monetisation, filming, editing, FAQs, sponsors, earnings and loads more! Includes exclusive access to a forum where you can share ideas or ask for help, advice or feedback from a community of other video creators. Available now at bit.ly/b_h_c_c_c 🔨 MY TOOLS 🔨 For links to the tools I use, plus some of my favourite consumables, finishes and more see links below. As an Amazon associate I may earn from qualifying purchases UK affiliate store: www.amazon.co.uk/shop/ragnbonebrown US affiliate store: www.amazon.com/shop/ragnbonebrown 🤝 HELP SUPPORT THE CHANNEL 🤝 Support with KZbin channel membership: kzbin.info/door/VyE_6jEtVZGmYGXtUOL5FQjoin Support with Patreon: www.patreon.com/ragnbonebrown Support with PayPal paypal.me/ragnbonebrown Shop With Amazon using my affiliate link: geni.us/iWD3K 💰 SHOP 💰 Etsy: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KeithBrownMaker teespring.com/stores/rag-n-bone-brown-merch 🎧 WORKSHOP BANTER PODCAST 🎧 kzbin.info Also available on Spotify, Apple, Google and most other podcast platforms 🔗 LINKS: 🔗 Website: www.ragnbonebrown.com Facebook: facebook.com/ragnbonebrown Instagram: @ragnbonebrown Email: [e-mail] Second KZbin Channel (non woodwork videos): kzbin.info

[@mags8014]

That handle, Keith, is a thing of beauty. Well done for such a creative effort - and result.

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Thank you

[@Hand-i-Craft]

Thanks for the mention Keith and the finished axe looks fantastic 👍👍. Wax has really popped the grain nicely 😀

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Cheers Leo, great product 👌

[@bespokefencing]

Looks like an Elwell No7 bottoming axe. Nice find!👍

[@victor58010]

I am sure you are correct. Made in Wednesbury Forge by Edward Elwell.

[@bigpete4227]

I find myself doing big batches of things that I sell. Then little projects like this in-between for myself. It's good therapy.

[@bluecurlygirl]

It really is. Food for the soul.

[@SoftwareInTheWoods]

Recognised "Wednesbury" as the town and found a very similar axe on Ebay ("Vintage 6 1/2 Lbs Wednesbury Felling Axe Elwell forge")

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Fantastic!!! Thank you ♥️

[@TheErador]

Nice. I thought of wednesbury too, good hunting!

[@allongshanks940]

I have an Elwell axe, it's stunning and also a barn find.

[@funddesexgluma]

Very cool restoration! I saw a tip elsewhere on yt to make rasping easier - shove a T-bolt through one side at the end of the rasp and attach a star knob at the end of the bolt on the other side. Then your top hand can hold the knob, not the rasp itself. Cheers!

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Cool idea!

[@bluecurlygirl]

I never realised before how much I love watching people restore tools. Cool axe and that handle you made is fabulous. Very interesting and I learned a lot from this. Thank you Keith. We've had a few good days here in Ireland - temp around 22C so I spent the other evening sharpening all my card scrapers out in the garden. Thoroughly enjoyed it and enjoyed even more using the newly sharpened card scrapers on a set of mid century dining chairs that I bought for €5 each on fb marketplace a few months back. The glue is shot on all on the joints and the finish is well and truly finished. I have one of them completely stripped and reglued and I have to say that I have never been as proud of a job as I have with this. It's gone from being wobbly af to solid as a rock. Just waiting on the rubio monocoat to arrive now so I can finish them all off and start to use them. Can't wait. There's a real joy to giving new life to something of age. Bit like meself!!

[@leemurphy2082]

Keith......Fair play mate, that handle looks beautiful, what a lovely shape it is. Very nice job on the restoration ❤

[@TheWardagh]

Great job. Have made a few handles and ash is always my go to

[@RussellEaling]

I've watched your channel for a few years now and greatly enjoy your content, but never really had a need to comment, but this warrants a comment. It is hands down the most beautiful piece you have produced. Just stunning!

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Wow, thank you!

[@shaun30-3-mg9zs]

Hi Keith, Nice, you brought an old axe back to life and with a nice handle, this was so relaxing to watch, as always a great video Take care

[@LewHarriman]

Thanks for the useful spokeshave tip, namely: set the blade at a slight angle, so one can take deep cuts from one side of the spokeshave, and thinner cuts from the other. Very nice idea. I'm going to give that a try.

[@Ghettopixel]

just gorgeous it was lovely to see how you did this and it turned out fantastic

[@DrawBoySeanie]

Incredibly satisfying to see that handle emerge, I can only imagine how fun it was to work on! Great video Keith :)

[@markk5764]

Definitely one of my favourite videos that you've made. Would be really great if you could restore the etching and maybe infill with some black paint, would look nice.

[@benclark1123]

Beautiful Keith, I have an old axe head I found in my late father in laws shed, I’ve started the head restoration but never got around to making a new handle, you’ve inspired me. Thank you!

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Very cool!

[@c.a.g.1977]

Very cool find, Keith! That new handle looks great.

[@janebutz5375]

Beautiful! I love to see hand-tool joinery. I will never forget making my first mortise and tenon joint and tapping those square pegs in!

[@koolkar55]

AWESOME. Another classic thing saved. All too often these things just get disguarded as people don't realize there worth or the heritage of where they were made & used... Thanks for sharing, Keith. Cheers Billy J.... Queensland, Australia. (long time viewer of your channel)

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Thank you!

[@MartinMurrayWoodDesign]

That looks like a nice relaxing afternoon. Can't imagine you get many of those 👍

[@uktony1525]

What a fabulous job you made of the handle !!

[@davidsecker5161]

Beautiful craftsmanship

[@puddinggeek4623]

Excellent restoration of a fine axe. Great bit of Handtool woodwork, very informative video as always. Keep up the great work.

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Thank you very much!

[@johnrumbles3068]

Nice one Kieth, what a lovely way to spend an afternoon, and to get such a lovely looking tool at the end,its a winner all round !!!

[@andyc972]

Thanks Keith, a nice sympathetic restoration, good to see you getting hands on with the hand tools, the combination of the spokeshave and Shinto rasp was perfect for the shaping ! Personally I would have like to hear you describe the roughing out work with the saw and chisel, particularly on grain direction and choice of bevel up / down for the chisel work. I appreciate this has been covered by many other makers, but it's part of the story and I'd always be interested to hear what you had to say !

[@harrycallaghan22]

Excellent restoration. Nice one.

[@Tod_Unctious]

What a great video for a saturday morning with a cup of tea.🫖 Simple yet so enjoyable to watch. 👍👍

[@microheavy21]

Great job. The ash handle is like an Irish Hurley stick

[@jammymukka]

You’ve created a thing of beauty there Keith… stunning!

[@TheHkluivert]

That looked like a very satisfying job!

[@freakeystyley34]

Looks great! A note of caution though. I did almost exactly the same with some hickory, and added a little to the top of the handle to make it fit the axe head, even adding three dowels for strength, but it failed on me after not that much use. Hopefully yours will either see less use or have a more robust glue joint!

[@colindoesdiy]

Great job and a really useful Axe. I'm not sure I would have had the patience to do it all by hand 👏👏👏👏

[@blaugrana-jw3dd]

I restored an old plane once, on the blade, there were marks, I did some research, history of tools is amazing

[@kevanstreeter2431]

A true labour of love, really liked it Keith.

[@idlersdream826]

Fantastic job Keith, looks amazing 👌👍

[@grahamhughes9971]

Brilliant job KB. The most relaxing hard work I have ever seen 👍🏻

[@Dylanrutterford]

Great video Keith the vintage axe looks amazing 😃

[@FearsomeWarrior]

Getting close to Frank Frazetta’s Deathdealer axe. Legendary. Love seeing it cleaned up.

[@MCsCreations]

Really beautiful work, Keith! The handle came out amazing! Really well done! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Thanks, you too!

[@worstuserever]

That's an impressive chopper you're swinging around there, Keith.

[@ianvicedomini2648]

Great job on that one Keith and a great video

[@rickycheadle4717]

Wow, such a satisfying video to watch. Great job Keith 👏

[@Supermuttt]

I just got a lot of tools from a flea market. Found a little harchet head in the bottom. I love cleaning them up and making a handle for them.

[@richardphillips3303]

Loved tat, great video and thanks for sharing 👍 😊

[@fuzzix]

Lovely stuff, thanks for sharing! Definitely appreciate your approach keeping the patina. Completely different thing, but I'm into old computers, and don't like the approach some restorers take in bleaching the plastics. I like to keep mine tobacco-stain yellow :)

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Thanks for watching!

[@trishblakely3476]

That is a thing of beauty! You might be able to make out more of her etching if you do a paper rubbing of it. Works on tombstones!

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Thanks for the tip! Someone in the comments has recognised the axe already though 👌

[@Smithb83]

Beautiful 👏🏻👏🏻😊

[@Tidda86]

What a great job

[@melissahislop5716]

Love a good restoration. This kind of work reminded me of @Eoin Reardon especially since you barely used power tools.

[@michaelwillson6847]

Nice job Keith axe looked great. Not sure I'd of had the patience to construct the whole handle by hand 😮 great job though mate hope your good 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Thanks 👍

[@anaestheticuk9867]

Great job.. Looks amazing indeed ❤

[@stevewhitelock9143]

I've just done the exact same job 👍

[@doczoff5655]

As commented by others, the markings look like Wednesbury Forge which makes that an Elwell axe. I've just restored a small 1lb Elwell axe head as a carving axe (main difference is that carving axes have a finer blade angle) and the best tool for rapidly rough shaping an axe handle is ironically a carving axe. Axe carving can quickly remove most lf the wight then refine with a spoke shave. I've seen recommendations to use softwood for the wedge, the theory being softwood can compress and expand if the handle swellls/shrinks due to humidity changes. Unfortunately, I'm concerned at how easily your file cleaned up the cutting edge. Typically felling axes have hardened steel cutting edges, and Elwell certainly used good quality cast steel. Your file should've just slid over the hardened steel, but the way it cut in suggests the blade has lost it's heat tempering and become softened. This can happen if the edge is overheated by aggressive sharpening on a grinding wheel, or the axe is put into a fire to burn out an old handle. If it has softened it will lose it's sharp edge very quicly when used, and the cutting edge might bend and squash down. The good news is a blacksmith could retemper the blade if needed, the bad news is the head will need to be removed to do this, which will probably destroy your beautifully shaped handle. Unless you need a good usable felling axe I'd suggest 'Enjoy it for what it is'

[@mikeenglish7063]

There's something therapeutic about using hand tools, when you've got time.

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Definitely!

[@alexcollins9513]

excellent work pal

[@eggycat]

Very relaxing this one!

[@Lord-Panda2112]

Really lovely, Keith. Very calming background music. Weird looking axe. Was that a bottle opener at the bottom?? 🍺 🍾

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Thank you! 🍻

[@ApolloWoodwork]

looks fantastic. I got a few left over log lap lengths a friend gave me after a summer house build, thought I'd ask the reclaimed master if there any small project you would recommend.

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Dog house? Hedgehog house?

[@Jason-o5s]

Cheer~~~feel or manipulate with the hands.😊

[@TheChipmunk2008]

Nice to see you slipped some Sapele in there :)

[@bosse641]

It's a beauty 💪

[@markduggan3451]

Very impressive.

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@FerAprendiz]

Long time since I enjoyed a video like this on 😂channel. Fancy job, lad!

[@szbyzan]

Beautiful job there

[@remog38]

Lovely job

[@bc3024]

beautiful

[@richsmart321]

looks amazing - what a worthwhile job! What file did you use on the axe for the cutting edge? I need to sharpen my axe, dont have any files so need to know which would be most appropriate for the job. Thanks!

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Thanks it's a bahco that I got from a car boot sale, but I don't know much about it... It's nice tho!

[@paulfindley89]

Looks very similar to an Elwell axe I have. Very hard to find the correct size handle to purchase! I've been putting off making one for mine

[@PatrickODonohoe-j7x]

Cracking little project, nice one

[@MoranGuyVideos]

amazing job , I enjoyed the video !

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Thank you!

[@hughoconnor9172]

I might have missed the reasoning but wouldn't a jigsaw make the initial cutting out be a lot easier and remove the need to add another piece to the head? Never heard of adding epoxy to wedges before!

[@kevinjackson5191]

Love these videos. Off topic though, can I ask what that red trestle table with the clamp is? I need one in my life. I looked on your tools page but it wasn’t there. TIA 👍

[@RagnBoneBrown]

I don't believe it's available anymore sadly but.you can get the same thing from other brands

[@ashleyag15]

Very cool!

[@mrquimshaw]

I know I’m late to the party man, but wow that is beautiful

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Wow, thank you

[@mrquimshaw]

@ absolutely welcome. New sub here

[@JohnColgan.]

Great restoration. Thats a wicked looking axe head. Have you a tree in mind to give it full test? 08:45 keith learns seagull impersonation !! New friends at the beach

[@allongshanks940]

Try the old paper n scribble trick. Put a sheet of paper on the text and scribble a pencil across it. It may help you decipher it. A draw blade might have been a good tool to use.

[@kjbenner]

That looks like an Elwell rounding axe. The markings should read ELWELL FORGE WEDNESBURY SOLID CAST STEEL WARRANTED. Rounding axes were used to chop back the root flare to allow the tree to be felled at ground level (to extract more timber than felling it above the flare). Because they were swung down at the root flare, they could be heavier than a felling axe, and were often 6 or 7 pounds. Yours looks like it has a pretty worn toe, which would be expected from a hard life of cutting at ground level.

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Thank you fascinating stuff ♥️

[@Akasazh]

Nice job mate! If you don't mind me asking, what is that foot clamped work bench holder tool you're using? Can't seem to find it with milwaukee.

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Thanks. Jawzilla, I don't think they sell it anymore

[@brindmusicnerd]

Loved it!! 👍👍

[@MokuzaiDesign]

Nice job and a great find

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Cheers Nick 👍

[@zeroy]

For the history, this is a 7 lb Elwell English pattern felling axe head marked with the "Wednesbury Forge Solid Cast Steel Warranted" stamp - Lookup Edward Elwell Ltd

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Cheers 👍

[@zeroy]

@@RagnBoneBrown actually 6 1/2 seems more accurate!! I see someone else found it too

[@j6216]

How us Brits use both imperial and metric to piss of everyone. "Says 32 to 36 inches so I'll do 900mm" lol

[@mygardenofthings]

I'd darken it a bit. Great video!

[@Handleyman]

I’m so pleased that you decided to leave the natural patina of the head. No it’s got a history to admire not a flashy steel look.

[@infinitelyexhausted]

Nice job

[@bearwoodcraft3591]

Elwell large rounding pattern head usually around 5 6 7 pounds custom onse could be 8 9 and have heard of 10s but very rare

[@nathanlucas6465]

8:45 That camera angle makes your chopper look huge!

[@RagnBoneBrown]

😱

[@raycarpenter2380]

Nice Job.

[@jasonhornby1753]

Between 32inch and 36inch, so I'm going with 900mm. 😂. Great vid and great work as always though.

[@gregmize01]

I love cleaning up old tools and finding text! Great job on this!

[@UnfittedNoise]

That seemed very therapeutic....

[@Extragonk]

that looks great :)

[@utilitarian]

Switching from inches to mm is like a reverse uno card. Took me a min

[@dan.w.hoover2556]

Nice!

[@RagnBoneBrown]

Thanks!

[@jameswheeler111]

At 8.25 there were some extreme edge gaps, then at 8.54 there all gone. How did you do that?

[@RagnBoneBrown]

The wedges and adhesive spread the wood apart

[@simonwalker8394]

Looks the "dogs".. recycling as well, ticks all the boxes + +

[@vintage5532]

If you want to read the text, try the old paper and crayon trick. If you rub a crayon onto the paper, which is over the text, it should reveal the text.

[@RagnBoneBrown]

It's been identified in the comments

[@davidtyers4903]

Boiled linseed oil on the handle once a day for a week, once a week for a month then once a month for a year is the "traditional" treatment for axe handles.

[@SrhMilki]

Also, my grandpa used to get stuff like this from a fleamarket in Poland and fix them, No need getting something ne when you can fix it up and use it for years to come.