Thread: Camp/kindling axe

I picked up this neat little axe head to make my own camping/kindling axe. I haven’t done any woodworking in a while and thought I would make my own handle. Does anyone have any good ideas on the type of wood I should use? Any idea where I would purchase said wood? Or even thoughts on the design? I would want it lightweight but strong.

Also if someone in the know could tell me what the markings mean I would appreciate it. Looks to say 50B steel, foreign.

American hickory or ash would be best

Leech wood products Doyleston might sell you a small scrap for it if you are coming through some time

Don't buff that head
Clean it up with decent files and stones
Keep the angles clean and sharp
For a camp axe you don't want it to be pathologically sharp !!

Kanuka works ok for handles

Originally Posted by akaroa1

American hickory or ash would be best

Leech wood products Doyleston might sell you a small scrap for it if you are coming through some time

Don't buff that head
Clean it up with decent files and stones
Keep the angles clean and sharp
For a camp axe you don't want it to be pathologically sharp !!

Thanks I’ll give them a bell.

Why shouldn’t I buff the head up? I’ll have to dig around to find some files. I do have some somewhere, they just don’t get used much

I have the same hatchet head, it can get sharp but honestly don’t like it as much as my other axes.
Step one: go and mug a big bottle of white vinegar, put the axe head in a dish, even chop up a 2L bottle of milk, and place the head in the dish and cover completely with vinegar, leave for a couple of days.
Remove, wash with soap and hot water, then go to town with rough sandpaper 120 grit will be fine, get rid of all the rust, then get a finer sandpaper and clean the head some more, finish with about 400 grit for an acceptable finish.
Step two: get some wood, hickory the best but ash is more available, or go to a hardware store and buy a ready made handle.
Step3: cut the handle shape,or if you bought a handle just use sandpaper to get the varnish off.
Step4: hang the axe, lots of you tube videos, take your time, don’t rush, it a journey not a race.
Step 5: sharpening the axe, files are ok, sandpaper better, small head so it’s capable of being controlled so get it sharp!
Step 6: oil the handle, linseed is what I use, go for one a day for a week, once a week for a month once a month for a year, then annually forever.
It’s a fun project take your time and you will enjoy it.

Originally Posted by mimms2

Puriri, manuka, totara, willow, ash, hickory... take your pick.
Easiest would be to buy one pre-shaped and just hang it yourself, but it's not impossible to make one from scratch.

500 Grammes?

Totara? That'd be a bit soft and free-splitting wouldn't it? Puriri would be strong, but probably not lightweight.

Tanekaha would likely be good if you could find a piece.

Originally Posted by Shelley

I have the same hatchet head, it can get sharp but honestly don’t like it as much as my other axes.
Step one: go and mug a big bottle of white vinegar, put the axe head in a dish, even chop up a 2L bottle of milk, and place the head in the dish and cover completely with vinegar, leave for a couple of days.
Remove, wash with soap and hot water, then go to town with rough sandpaper 120 grit will be fine, get rid of all the rust, then get a finer sandpaper and clean the head some more, finish with about 400 grit for an acceptable finish.
Step two: get some wood, hickory the best but ash is more available, or go to a hardware store and buy a ready made handle.
Step3: cut the handle shape,or if you bought a handle just use sandpaper to get the varnish off.
Step4: hang the axe, lots of you tube videos, take your time, don’t rush, it a journey not a race.
Step 5: sharpening the axe, files are ok, sandpaper better, small head so it’s capable of being controlled so get it sharp!
Step 6: oil the handle, linseed is what I use, go for one a day for a week, once a week for a month once a month for a year, then annually forever.
It’s a fun project take your time and you will enjoy it.

+1 on the above process.
I do a lot of axe head restores.
One minor, but faster method - after the vinegar - if the rust comes off and is not in deep pits. You can easily strip it off with a wire wheel. This leaves a nice rough finish.

Surface rust will appear quickly, so drop the head in boiling water - fish it out, quick dry, and whilst still near untouchable heat wise, spray with crc or something like that.
It will smoke slightly and appear to evaporate, but gives an awesome finish that lasts for a decent amount of time.

Most gums would be suitably tough, waaay better than totara that's for sure.
Once the head's cleaned up and sharpened, warm it up with a hot air gun and melt on some lanolin lube stick or use a lanolin spray, eg as sold by Farmlands. Lanolin sticks well and has long lasting anti-corrosive value.

The head is currently soaking in vinegar. Is there any reason I shouldn’t glean up the burrs on the back end of the axe?

Maybe this could work? Nz made tuatahi hickory. Probably not the best example of their quality, but could make a hatchet handle.


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They would be awesome man, pm sent

Measure the depth of the eye, I’ll see if there’s enough meat in this bit. Will be quite short.


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They eye is roughly 45mm long x 17mm at its widest. It is 40mm deep. It came up pretty good out of the vinegar. A little bit pitted, but the edge is still clean and sharp. No nicks or bumps at all.

Thats a cool little hatchet mate.I recently did a similar project on an old axe I found.It had "HB" stamped on it,did a google search it's a Swedish company that has made axes since 1697!.
I cleaned up the head and rehung the handle but I am going to make a new one (probably from kanuka)when I can so am looking forward to following your progress.

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All tidied up. Now need to protect it, and make the handle.

Do I need to get the rust out of the lettering? Any suggestions how?