Alot of people commenting on how much faster and easier it would have been with power tools. Some people don't have power tools and specifically search out videos like these. Also, when you get finished with a project like this it is so rewarding when done by hand. Some people just enjoy the aesthetics of doing it this way. Lastly, some people love having one arm look like Popeyes and the other arm looking like Olive-oil's!
i found a big 2.5" anchor bolt at the tesla plant going up in austin TX. im wanting to do this with it and use it as a paper weight. could not have made a better video myself.
I completely agree. If I’m doing it for someone else or doing it knowing I’m going to sell the finished product, I’d prefer to use a buffer machine. But things I plan to keep in the collection I like to do by hand I enjoy knowing I put the time and effort into it more.
@@Biggchad for sure. When I ‘restored’ my first couple of pieces I only had hand tools. Later, I acquired some power tools and did a few and it was quicker but not as satisfying.
Just a little tip, always fold your sandpaper in thirds. It keeps it from sliding around all over the place, as well as giving three surfaces to sand with as it is difficult to apply pressure at the edges of the sand paper.
Thats impressive i repair and restore axes for friends and family and ine guy asked me if i could do a mirror finish. Knowing i do everything by hand i just loved to see this video.
It was good of him to share a part of his life that is important to him and to hand us knowledge and the act of patience - in a way his biggest lesson was the ability to stick to the task once started - and he was doing it for others - to show how it is done - to polish by hand - a true labor of love - so much better to see a hand filled with sandpaper than a smart phone or all the other gizmos that have led us away from meaningful things - I might use power tools now - but if the power should ever go out for any length of time - this video and others like it - with all the additional bits of personal information regarding the how to will come in handy and make life feel useful when their is no internet nor phone service and the ability and knowledge of how to do this might be a good barter skill to own. It is sort of a Zen vid.
This is absolute madness. Ever since I polished my first knife I wanted to do it on an axe head too , but knowing how much work it will take I never did. Thanks for sharing it with us. I would love to see the shine after a buffing wheel. Only then all this work with the sandpaper will pay of.
it really is quite time-consuming when you do it all by hand. whenever I'm watching TV at 10 to sit and sand one, it takes a lot of the bore out of it LOL.
You wore me out on this. You can make the handle with power tools. It'll take me a week to get over the Axe polish. Thanks very much for your time and effort.
Nice job. In my experience, normal cloth towels and paper towels are abrasive to mirror polished surfaces. I think that's why you had scratches in the end. Try to buff off with clean microfiber with gentle pressure if you can and see the difference.
He needed to buff with Tripoli after sanding and before polishing. It removes the fine scratches that sanding doesn’t get unless you go to 15 or 20k grit. I do this at my job.
@@lydiaajohnson do you have a good outlet for higher grit paper? I usually only find stuff that goes up to 7 K maximum, I've never found anything higher than that except for a few on Amazon that seem like crap quality.
I am a man with a lot of patients but you put me to shame lol... Your efforts are worth it in the end. That's a beautiful polish. I have a double bit axe I want to fix up. Maybe I will try this. Thanks again for sharing your video with us.
@@phantomcreamer It's better that he is in his shop and being useful somehow than to be one of those child "men" who play video games all day and are being totally useless around the house with zero practical skill- or/and knowledge - or even worse, one of those men that are being unfaithful or use drugs and what not. A handy man will at least be able to build things around- and inside the house. A man is not made to sit around his wife all day and braid her hair so to speak. It's a big misconception about how a relationship should be like - that a man and a woman need to have everything in common in order for a relationship to work - and one of the reason why many fall apart today. It's all lies pushed by dumb feminists and beta males. Marriages lasted much longer when men and women married without having anything in common, when each knew their place. A man is a man and should do man things, a woman is a woman and should do woman things, a plant is a plant and should do plant things.
I agree with the process, that is, up until the polishing. the mag polish is for magnesium, not steel. if you change to a German metal polish like Semichome, as well as, keeping your polish stokes straight and not going around in circles, it will produce a clearer reflection. The thing to also take note of is for people trying to do this, make sure you remove "ALL" the scratches caused by the previous sandpaper. If not, you will get a distorted reflection (kind of like a carnival mirror). If you would like to keep the polish, you will need to seal with a metal lacquer to prevent it from oxidizing. However, for me personally, I would have used machines, it's just a little faster.
Agreed. Though, I wouldn't bother to polish the whole axe head in the first place, just the primary bevel with the cutting edge. The remainder would be fine with a 600 grid finish. But I guess the video still fits its intended purpose, except for the use of an unsuitable polishing compound.
It sounds light the paste and/or cotton wheel could be too coarse, or you are applying too much pressure when applying it to the buffing wheel. Make sure your buffing wheel is clean and you are using a very small amount of your paste and let the bracelet bearly touch the wheel.
If you look at the video though, the container says "for polishing all metal" right on the front of it. I think he got the intended result and the product seemed to work just fine!
Now that is beautiful!- Great job- I restore antique Military swords , bayonets etc. and know exactly how long it takes to do what you have done on this axe head. I just finished restoring a 1907 British Sword Bayonet and I'm tired. It's amazing how sore you get polishing metal by hand. When I restore I'm not in love with patina - I love the mirror finish look. Anyway great video
I use wet sandpaper as lubricant just water. I go through grits: 180/240/320/400/600 sometimes 800 but i find for knives i always use 600 is enough....there will be scratches anyway. I never go higher because i dont like mirrow polish....i think mirrow polish finish is for posers.....;)
Hardening (heating to red hot and quenching in oil) makes the Blade hard, too hard it will be brittle and can break. Sorry english is not my fist language i may used the wrong word i meant tempering. With tempering you heat the blade again but slower and not as hot as when quenching. So with tempering you get some "flexibility / softness " back so the blade can be used, it is than hard enough to hold an edge, but not too hard so it would chip. Annealing is making it soft again by heating to red hot, and letting it slowly aircool.
That's neat. But the fact that you can do that with a buffing wheel in about an hour makes it seem silly. Then again I just spent 20 minutes watching someone polish an axe...
You're the first guy that i see on youtube that really cares for a perfect final product. Great job on that axe! Please continue with your amazing work.
I appreciate the hard work that went into this, but a couple critiques that I would make is that you are using too much pressure. The sand paper will remove material no matter how hard you press, but pushing too hard will leave scratches. With light pressure you can finish in half the time. You can achieve a mirror finish using water and 2000 grit sand paper with light finger pressure. WD-40 has surfactants in it that will prevent you from achieving a good finish, so you should save that until the end after the buff. if you have any light scratches a little rouge will take care of it with a microfiber cloth. if there are any major gouges I'd recommend a bastard cut mill file. It won't cause deep scratches, but will take a little longer. Never change directions. if you're sanding from heel to edge do that the through whole process. Once the scratches disappear from the previous grit then go to the next higher. If you move the the next grit too soon you will have scratches though that won't come out. I normally use 60, 120, 220, 400, 600, 1000, 1200, and 2000.
Great job on the video. I purchased a tanto knife blank and want to polish it up. I dont have much time for hand polishing without power tools but this video gave me some inspiration. Thank you.
Wow, thanks man. For enduring all this although havin power tools available. And all the expertise. It helps in getting an intuition without having to go all the way yourselves which I think most of us are here for. Keep it up!
I feel your pain... I restore and sell norlund axes on ebay with exotic handles. Most polished.. I do use a flapwheel for primary grind, but i hand sand the rest. 60(flap) 120, 180, 220 320 400 600 1000 1500 2000 then black then white compound on a wheel. It takes me about 4 hrs start to finish on a polish.
I am polishing an axe head by hand as well, this gave me a great guide, as I have never done so before. Please make a handle, I havent done that either. Very instructive and helpful video, Thank you! I am also Canadian!
Thanks very much for posting this. I needed the instruction. I've got a table my GGrandfather made, 60,000 pieces of inlaid wood. The legs have steel slides on the bottom, one is rusted up badly (old cat pee that leeched through the carpet a long time ago), I discovered when i moved the table. The wood is fine, thank goodness, but one steel slide is about as rusty as your axe was to start. I can't find a replacement slide in the same dimension, so I'm going to restore this one. Goodbye wrists, hello sheen.
first off ....I`d like to tell you that you have about 1000 times the patience that I have Gilbert and that a big compliment because ask my daughter....I don`t give too many compliments....I love to see the axe handle with now power tools because....some time I want to make one with a sample J.P father gave me that come from his father which makes it over 100 years old and do it out of ironwood....when I come up I will bring you a piece of Ironwood if you want one....a friend of mine brought me a few big pieces.....CHEERS
Very nice work. I'm going to do the same with an antique sword. Maybe not as mirror finished as yours but it will shine again. Thanks for the lesson. Cheers from Montreal.
Well it seems that is the way to go, when guys use the grinders and power sanders you can really see waves, high/low spots in the metal that ax turned out perfect, looking forward to you making the handle.
Trick from a guy who restored a couple of medieval armor replicas: Let your 600 and 1000/2000 grit sandpaper clog up some as you work and get mirror finish in less time with the same car metal polish and no more than 2000 grit. Just keep sanding when your 600+ seems clogged up and see how it goes from there...
@@marcn8750 As it gets clogged up, it becomes smoother and the grit seems finer, as if it was a higher grit sandpaper, but broken in. If you go for a new sheet of higher grit paper from there, you'll have to break that one in while making the surface dull again.
@@Flashahol interesting. I’ve always wondered why my older used sandpaper seems to be more gentle. So it’s basically less aggressive snd will give a shine faster IF the surface cuts are “ready” for it. The slag on the used paper is basically steel dust mixed with the lubricant. The abrasive on the paper is either worn away or covered by this slag. Correct?
I was looking for instruction on polishing a cast metal part. This video was instructive on technique. I can apply this information to my task. I have some sanding to do!
Glad I found this video. I want to polish my hatchet, but I don't have any power tools. Actually, I'd prefer to do something like this by hand, it feels more satisfying.
For the heavy rust I just soak in white vinegar for about a day or two. Saves energy and time does all the work. Same with baking soda and water, good for touch ups on kitchen knives after use to halt corrosion and rust also very light abrasive.
I've been using this (and other videos) as a reference for trying to clean up the finish on a firearm from 1891 (don't worry, it's not an heirloom or rare/expensive, it's basically just a project) I'm in an apartment and besides the occasional dremel there's not much I can do besides hand work, it's some good exercise after a while I'll give it that lol
19:32 how do you take out those lines there what kind of buffing wheel do you need and do you need compound or just the mothers polish 🤔 . I mirrow polish my 1911 slide ,I did get it mirrow shine but there r some lines still there , so I use mothers and try to buffing it out but I'm wondering if I need compound instead to take then off
Nice work, congrats! It is always nice to see this kind of art, if we could say so. No power tools, but a lot of time invested. Unfortunately I don't have so much time to waste for that, for me an axe is just a tool, it only needs to be sharp to get the job done, and that's it. No bling, as the bling is hard to be maintained on a working tool, it is time consuming. Nice to see it finished though.
Little help for you on the sandpaper ..After a file you will want 80 for any shaping of the metal (edges etc) 120 should be used to rid yourself of any left over rust and remove file scratches and other heavy items 180 should be used against the way you used the 120 which will sand away the 120 marks and make any other deeper scratches much finer and removable with your next grit of 240 or 280 ether or Then on to ether 320 or 400 At 400 you can go dry then go back as a wet .. warm water and dish soap helps it slide better 600 Which you dont need to use along time 800 same thing 1000 grit Your doing to look at your work and see if any scratches stand out from the rest IF so go back to 400 wet over said area and follow grits upwards again ..If not 1500 or 2000..Now that you are at 2000 grit You can start using cleaner and steel compound and polisher ...I myself use wire wheels on a drill or dremel Sanding drums and polishes and far and few by hand
Great video. It has inspired me to have a go at polishing one. I am currently I between the fine emery cloth and a 240 grit. Lots of work but the end result will be worth it. If I am using a polishing wheel what grit should I end up with before polishing?
Good presentation! Indeed a polished axe will deliver more effective cutting force/impact because of lack of surface friction. However once a desirable high mirror polish is attained, I would recommend that the axehead be long term BOILED in HOT water for several HOURS. This will produce 'beneficial' rust on the surface - (black) ferrous oxide which is protective against (red) ferric oxide rust which is 'destructive'. Now you know why there were many more 'black' knights than 'white' (polished/silvery) knights. Also, for those of you who know what USMC KaBar knives are all about; this is why they were supplied with a 'black' surface finish.
Dip the blade in vinegar or "warm" vinegar. Boiling the axe will ruin the heat treatment, potentially annealing the blade and making it more susceptible to dents and rolls. You could etch the blade with vinegar or other chemical process instead of aiding the reaction with detrimental thermal processes.
-> @@Leviathanshadex The temperature range for process annealing ranges for STEELS is from 260 °C (500 °F) to 760 °C (1400 °F). 500°F/260°C is a loooooong way from 212°F/100°C. Hope this helps. BTW .... vinegar (5% acetic acid) 'reduces' (the exact opposite of oxidation) the steel - and NO protective coating by the ferric (black) oxide.
I did this with a Wade & Butcher 1830 (guestimate) hatchet, starting with 60 grit, thru to 2000 grit (the best I had available) ... then using cymbal polish nicked from my mad-drummer father. I could have pulled out a power tool or two, but was more interested in seeing what could be done with sandpaper and compounds. Mine has many pits and blemishes, but the shiny parts are awfully shiny ... even though the hatchet is basically blunt. I haven't tried to sharpen it yet. Great video. I lived the experience myself ... just not as meticulous or fastidious. Cheers $0.02
Thank you so much for this video I was actually wondering if I could polish my meat cleaver with sandpaper and you are going through the same procedures I was thinking if it could be possible so thank you very much for this video
Do you have to use a lubricant? I sanded a surface from 80 to 3000 grit. Then hit it with Flitz metal polish and still got a mirror finish. There were slight areas where I obviously didn't get to at a lower grit but it turned out really well. The only thing I did before using the polish was clearn the surface with a damp cloth.
I have my Grampa's axe head and the heel is badly peened over should I heat it up and beat the metal flat again and recontour the heel or just grind off the rolled over edges? I don't really want to remove so much metal if I can help it and I thought heating the heel up and moving the metal back as close to where it's supposed to be would save the heel better? Any help would be greatly appreciated :) The head is way over 100 years old and has no makers marks on it!
people may say Its a waste of time but it's quite fun to do when you have nothing to do at all, polished a super old knife from my grand parent's and yeah it's quite shiny
I have a knife made of D2 tool steel with fine scratches. And I'm trying to get it polished. With a mirrors edge. I think I'm down to the metal polish step. What metal polish should I be using? And will just a rag work? Also how long did you polish for?
Wellp. Scuffed a blade sharpening it which has a mirror polish. Think skip all coarser grits and try mag polish first before any sand paper…but if do end up needing to re mirror polish this sword by hand, thanks for the guide/demo of diff grits skipping me a lot of learning lessons. Wish me luck lol
can you tell me how to get rid of those dimples on a hardened steel surface? iam trying to polish a hammer head, but it would take literal ages for me to get all of it down with a file......
I use Mother's Metal Polish available in a red squirt bottle. People falsely claim that you can use toothpaste to polish metal, but aluminum oxide has been entirely eliminated as an ingredient in toothpastes in the US, and toothpaste doesn't work anymore.
What buffer and compound would take out the scratches ? Good to know about Mother’s mag. I kept reading it gives a mirror shine but that’s relative. Apparently not mirror.
I would like you to make an axe without any tools from iron ore, just a small fire, some clay to separate iron from ore, stones afterwards to shape the iron, than make a handle from a nose bone of a living rhino, which you have to steal yourself without any medicines, weapons, or tools, and you have to shape it into beautiful handle, than make a 1024 layer damascus steel, make damaskus axe using stones you find nearby, assemble it, and than sell it on e-bay for 10$, but you have to film selling it also, ok? Big fan of channel, looking forward to watching this video.
My partner decided to clean the kitchen stove while I was sleeping. When I woke up I found that he had used a Brillo pad on the metal piece in an up and down motion against the grain! It was hideous!! We buffed it out as best as we could along the grain and now the metal is super dull and almost white. How do I get it shiny again? Please help! Thanks!
After you sand, if you use Tripoli to buff, then rouge to polish, you will remove the finest stretches left from the 10,000 grit. I do this with bronze. Since you worked so hard, you should get some Tripoli and wool buffing pads and try it. Then polish with a super soft cloth-no paper towels or Terry cloth, too abrasive. Fine cotton cloth. Many micro fibers are too abrasive too.
Alot of people commenting on how much faster and easier it would have been with power tools. Some people don't have power tools and specifically search out videos like these. Also, when you get finished with a project like this it is so rewarding when done by hand. Some people just enjoy the aesthetics of doing it this way. Lastly, some people love having one arm look like Popeyes and the other arm looking like Olive-oil's!
i found a big 2.5" anchor bolt at the tesla plant going up in austin TX. im wanting to do this with it and use it as a paper weight. could not have made a better video myself.
Using mechanical equipment can be faster but doing something quickly dose not always mean it is done properly.
Olive Oyl* 😊😊
I completely agree. If I’m doing it for someone else or doing it knowing I’m going to sell the finished product, I’d prefer to use a buffer machine. But things I plan to keep in the collection I like to do by hand I enjoy knowing I put the time and effort into it more.
@@Biggchad for sure. When I ‘restored’ my first couple of pieces I only had hand tools. Later, I acquired some power tools and did a few and it was quicker but not as satisfying.
Just a little tip, always fold your sandpaper in thirds. It keeps it from sliding around all over the place, as well as giving three surfaces to sand with as it is difficult to apply pressure at the edges of the sand paper.
This guy has some serious patience and discipline. Well done!!! Make the handle!
Thank You. The handle video is made.
Thats impressive i repair and restore axes for friends and family and ine guy asked me if i could do a mirror finish. Knowing i do everything by hand i just loved to see this video.
Pro tip : I like to keep the head of the axe rusty so when You're out doing you're murderin' they don't see the moon shine off it and alert people
LOL'd a few times! thanks.
Good tip
Nice sharp humor. Idk why anyone would want to not use machinery.
🤣🤣🤣
Noted lol
There is something satisfying about hand polishing, total waste of time, but satisfying.
Spent 40 years as a tool maker and polishing was one of my jobs. I’ll be dammed if I’m going to polish something then stick it in a tree.
It was good of him to share a part of his life that is important to him and to hand us knowledge and the act of patience - in a way his biggest lesson was the ability to stick to the task once started - and he was doing it for others - to show how it is done - to polish by hand - a true labor of love - so much better to see a hand filled with sandpaper than a smart phone or all the other gizmos that have led us away from meaningful things - I might use power tools now - but if the power should ever go out for any length of time - this video and others like it - with all the additional bits of personal information regarding the how to will come in handy and make life feel useful when their is no internet nor phone service and the ability and knowledge of how to do this might be a good barter skill to own. It is sort of a Zen vid.
This is absolute madness. Ever since I polished my first knife I wanted to do it on an axe head too , but knowing how much work it will take I never did. Thanks for sharing it with us. I would love to see the shine after a buffing wheel. Only then all this work with the sandpaper will pay of.
it really is quite time-consuming when you do it all by hand.
whenever I'm watching TV at 10 to sit and sand one, it takes a lot of the bore out of it LOL.
You wore me out on this. You can make the handle with power tools. It'll take me a week to get over the Axe polish. Thanks very much for your time and effort.
WONDERFUL job! Thanks for sharing with us and taking all the time/effort to make and narrate this fine step by step video!!!
Nice job. In my experience, normal cloth towels and paper towels are abrasive to mirror polished surfaces. I think that's why you had scratches in the end. Try to buff off with clean microfiber with gentle pressure if you can and see the difference.
He needed to buff with Tripoli after sanding and before polishing. It removes the fine scratches that sanding doesn’t get unless you go to 15 or 20k grit. I do this at my job.
@@lydiaajohnson do you have a good outlet for higher grit paper? I usually only find stuff that goes up to 7 K maximum, I've never found anything higher than that except for a few on Amazon that seem like crap quality.
I am a man with a lot of patients but you put me to shame lol... Your efforts are worth it in the end. That's a beautiful polish. I have a double bit axe I want to fix up. Maybe I will try this. Thanks again for sharing your video with us.
Excellent video, man!
Thanks for showing all this - it's handy knowledge to reference!
Have a nice sunday
Cheers.
very patient man you are , your wife must be happy .
U envy ? You want to be his wife or what?
@@tychus8219 no I don't envy him at all .
Nah man, he's in the shop all day. Women hate that
Hand polish it they said, its worth it they said.
@@phantomcreamer It's better that he is in his shop and being useful somehow than to be one of those child "men" who play video games all day and are being totally useless around the house with zero practical skill- or/and knowledge - or even worse, one of those men that are being unfaithful or use drugs and what not. A handy man will at least be able to build things around- and inside the house. A man is not made to sit around his wife all day and braid her hair so to speak. It's a big misconception about how a relationship should be like - that a man and a woman need to have everything in common in order for a relationship to work - and one of the reason why many fall apart today. It's all lies pushed by dumb feminists and beta males. Marriages lasted much longer when men and women married without having anything in common, when each knew their place. A man is a man and should do man things, a woman is a woman and should do woman things, a plant is a plant and should do plant things.
I agree with the process, that is, up until the polishing. the mag polish is for magnesium, not steel. if you change to a German metal polish like Semichome, as well as, keeping your polish stokes straight and not going around in circles, it will produce a clearer reflection. The thing to also take note of is for people trying to do this, make sure you remove "ALL" the scratches caused by the previous sandpaper. If not, you will get a distorted reflection (kind of like a carnival mirror). If you would like to keep the polish, you will need to seal with a metal lacquer to prevent it from oxidizing. However, for me personally, I would have used machines, it's just a little faster.
Agreed. Though, I wouldn't bother to polish the whole axe head in the first place, just the primary bevel with the cutting edge. The remainder would be fine with a 600 grid finish. But I guess the video still fits its intended purpose, except for the use of an unsuitable polishing compound.
It sounds light the paste and/or cotton wheel could be too coarse, or you are applying too much pressure when applying it to the buffing wheel. Make sure your buffing wheel is clean and you are using a very small amount of your paste and let the bracelet bearly touch the wheel.
Many thank for your advice, i will try
Why can't it be used for steel?
If you look at the video though, the container says "for polishing all metal" right on the front of it. I think he got the intended result and the product seemed to work just fine!
Now that is beautiful!- Great job- I restore antique Military swords , bayonets etc. and know exactly how long it takes to do what you have done on this axe head. I just finished restoring a 1907 British Sword Bayonet and I'm tired. It's amazing how sore you get polishing metal by hand. When I restore I'm not in love with patina - I love the mirror finish look. Anyway great video
This video should be called "Why we invented power tools!"
Hehe im making knives just for fun and i got no power tools. The most relaxing / fun part is hand sanding the hardened and annealed blade. =)
@@Sakuxxx1x May I ask what grits or wax do you use? Im up to the same hobby.
I use wet sandpaper as lubricant just water. I go through grits: 180/240/320/400/600 sometimes 800 but i find for knives i always use 600 is enough....there will be scratches anyway. I never go higher because i dont like mirrow polish....i think mirrow polish finish is for posers.....;)
Hardening (heating to red hot and quenching in oil) makes the Blade hard, too hard it will be brittle and can break. Sorry english is not my fist language i may used the wrong word i meant tempering. With tempering you heat the blade again but slower and not as hot as when quenching. So with tempering you get some "flexibility / softness " back so the blade can be used, it is than hard enough to hold an edge, but not too hard so it would chip. Annealing is making it soft again by heating to red hot, and letting it slowly aircool.
It should be title "Why climate change removed power tools"
That's neat. But the fact that you can do that with a buffing wheel in about an hour makes it seem silly. Then again I just spent 20 minutes watching someone polish an axe...
Jeremy C That's why God invented fast forward.
Yes we did ... lmao
Power tools are to fast, once the material is gone you can't go back.
Love this comment 🤣 tbf I love my hand tools its a good way to sit and consolidate your thoughts
Buffing wheel is one of the most dangerous tools in most shops
You're the first guy that i see on youtube that really cares for a perfect final product. Great job on that axe! Please continue with your amazing work.
Good on you for doing this completely by hand 🖐
That must have to some serious patience and dedication! It turned out fantastic 👍
I appreciate the hard work that went into this, but a couple critiques that I would make is that you are using too much pressure. The sand paper will remove material no matter how hard you press, but pushing too hard will leave scratches. With light pressure you can finish in half the time. You can achieve a mirror finish using water and 2000 grit sand paper with light finger pressure. WD-40 has surfactants in it that will prevent you from achieving a good finish, so you should save that until the end after the buff. if you have any light scratches a little rouge will take care of it with a microfiber cloth.
if there are any major gouges I'd recommend a bastard cut mill file. It won't cause deep scratches, but will take a little longer. Never change directions. if you're sanding from heel to edge do that the through whole process. Once the scratches disappear from the previous grit then go to the next higher. If you move the the next grit too soon you will have scratches though that won't come out.
I normally use 60, 120, 220, 400, 600, 1000, 1200, and 2000.
That came out nice. I have been picking up axes and hatchets at estate sales. I'm gonna have to try this.
Great job on the video. I purchased a tanto knife blank and want to polish it up. I dont have much time for hand polishing without power tools but this video gave me some inspiration. Thank you.
Wow. That’s dedication for you. Stunning job dude. Thank you.x
Wow, thanks man. For enduring all this although havin power tools available. And all the expertise. It helps in getting an intuition without having to go all the way yourselves which I think most of us are here for. Keep it up!
Thank You. Yes that was a long painful day. Lol
I feel your pain... I restore and sell norlund axes on ebay with exotic handles. Most polished.. I do use a flapwheel for primary grind, but i hand sand the rest. 60(flap) 120, 180, 220 320 400 600 1000 1500 2000 then black then white compound on a wheel. It takes me about 4 hrs start to finish on a polish.
after watching a couple of your videos i went out and bought a buffing wheel, compound, and other supplies. I want to polish my gransfors axes.
Waiting for handles. Great job, final product very inspiring
I am polishing an axe head by hand as well, this gave me a great guide, as I have never done so before. Please make a handle, I havent done that either. Very instructive and helpful video, Thank you!
I am also Canadian!
Evan Livermore I have made the handle. Look at the end of this video. There is a clickable link
French River Springs, just found it and watched it actually! Great job again!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and demonstrating the complete process in real time, just remarkable. !
Thanks very much for posting this. I needed the instruction. I've got a table my GGrandfather made, 60,000 pieces of inlaid wood. The legs have steel slides on the bottom, one is rusted up badly (old cat pee that leeched through the carpet a long time ago), I discovered when i moved the table. The wood is fine, thank goodness, but one steel slide is about as rusty as your axe was to start. I can't find a replacement slide in the same dimension, so I'm going to restore this one. Goodbye wrists, hello sheen.
this isnt sped up, he's just that fast.
Yup. He's the flash
@@n_ist_0326 lmao I’m watching that show rn and that I was gonna reply that
Yeah he had to slow it down because the original video at actual speed was only 3 minutes and 25 seconds
first off ....I`d like to tell you that you have about 1000 times the patience that I have Gilbert and that a big compliment because ask my daughter....I don`t give too many compliments....I love to see the axe handle with now power tools because....some time I want to make one with a sample J.P father gave me that come from his father which makes it over 100 years old and do it out of ironwood....when I come up I will bring you a piece of Ironwood if you want one....a friend of mine brought me a few big pieces.....CHEERS
Thanks gator!! If you have extra iron wood ya would take a piece. Cheers
When I go down I bring you a piece....should be around 5 or 6 of May....Syl will let you know
I love seeing videos where people use hand tools instead of power tools. Shows their true skills.
Very nice work. I'm going to do the same with an antique sword. Maybe not as mirror finished as yours but it will shine again. Thanks for the lesson. Cheers from Montreal.
Well it seems that is the way to go, when guys use the grinders and power sanders you can really see waves, high/low spots in the metal that ax turned out perfect, looking forward to you making the handle.
look at the end of the video. there is a clickable link of my video making the axe handle :)
I enjoy your dedication to your work.
Trick from a guy who restored a couple of medieval armor replicas:
Let your 600 and 1000/2000 grit sandpaper clog up some as you work and get mirror finish in less time with the same car metal polish and no more than 2000 grit. Just keep sanding when your 600+ seems clogged up and see how it goes from there...
Thanks for the tip!
@@frenchriversprings nice video. What’s the reason for changing the direction of the sanding?
What the reason that letting the 600 grits clog up gets a mirror finish faster ?
@@marcn8750 As it gets clogged up, it becomes smoother and the grit seems finer, as if it was a higher grit sandpaper, but broken in. If you go for a new sheet of higher grit paper from there, you'll have to break that one in while making the surface dull again.
@@Flashahol interesting. I’ve always wondered why my older used sandpaper seems to be more gentle.
So it’s basically less aggressive snd will give a shine faster IF the surface cuts are “ready” for it.
The slag on the used paper is basically steel dust mixed with the lubricant. The abrasive on the paper is either worn away or covered by this slag.
Correct?
Love your dedication.
I was looking for instruction on polishing a cast metal part. This video was instructive on technique. I can apply this information to my task. I have some sanding to do!
Que gran trabajo haces mostrando ó mejor dicho, enseñando a las personas lo que sabes y te apasiona, te felicito
not every one has power tools so its good to know how to do it ..how long does it last before it needs another polish kept inside
Thank you for the education!!! This is a classic video!!!
Glad I found this video. I want to polish my hatchet, but I don't have any power tools. Actually, I'd prefer to do something like this by hand, it feels more satisfying.
For the heavy rust I just soak in white vinegar for about a day or two. Saves energy and time does all the work. Same with baking soda and water, good for touch ups on kitchen knives after use to halt corrosion and rust also very light abrasive.
It’s amazing how razor sharp a axe gets when you polish it up
Thanks/Merci, I have a big restauration project ahead and this video helped.
This is an impressive video how to transform iron-cost axe to gold-cost axe!
When he said ' This isn't perfect, I literally dropped my phone.
I've been using this (and other videos) as a reference for trying to clean up the finish on a firearm from 1891 (don't worry, it's not an heirloom or rare/expensive, it's basically just a project)
I'm in an apartment and besides the occasional dremel there's not much I can do besides hand work, it's some good exercise after a while I'll give it that lol
Excellent job, my axes will become your system. Thank you sir!
19:32 how do you take out those lines there what kind of buffing wheel do you need and do you need compound or just the mothers polish 🤔 . I mirrow polish my 1911 slide ,I did get it mirrow shine but there r some lines still there , so I use mothers and try to buffing it out but I'm wondering if I need compound instead to take then off
Nice work, congrats! It is always nice to see this kind of art, if we could say so. No power tools, but a lot of time invested. Unfortunately I don't have so much time to waste for that, for me an axe is just a tool, it only needs to be sharp to get the job done, and that's it. No bling, as the bling is hard to be maintained on a working tool, it is time consuming. Nice to see it finished though.
Little help for you on the sandpaper ..After a file you will want 80 for any shaping of the metal (edges etc) 120 should be used to rid yourself of any left over rust and remove file scratches and other heavy items 180 should be used against the way you used the 120 which will sand away the 120 marks and make any other deeper scratches much finer and removable with your next grit of 240 or 280 ether or Then on to ether 320 or 400 At 400 you can go dry then go back as a wet .. warm water and dish soap helps it slide better 600 Which you dont need to use along time 800 same thing 1000 grit Your doing to look at your work and see if any scratches stand out from the rest IF so go back to 400 wet over said area and follow grits upwards again ..If not 1500 or 2000..Now that you are at 2000 grit You can start using cleaner and steel compound and polisher ...I myself use wire wheels on a drill or dremel Sanding drums and polishes and far and few by hand
Sublime patience. Well done.
Very informative. I had no idea sand paper went down to such fine grits.
Beautiful work, always satisfying working the metal by hand, time consuming and takes it's toll on the body but worth it.
Great video. It has inspired me to have a go at polishing one. I am currently I between the fine emery cloth and a 240 grit. Lots of work but the end result will be worth it. If I am using a polishing wheel what grit should I end up with before polishing?
3000 grit
Thanks. Also, how do you protect it from rusting again after its complete?
Good presentation!
Indeed a polished axe will deliver more effective cutting force/impact because of lack of surface friction.
However once a desirable high mirror polish is attained, I would recommend that the axehead be long term BOILED in HOT water for several HOURS. This will produce 'beneficial' rust on the surface - (black) ferrous oxide which is protective against (red) ferric oxide rust which is 'destructive'.
Now you know why there were many more 'black' knights than 'white' (polished/silvery) knights. Also, for those of you who know what USMC KaBar knives are all about; this is why they were supplied with a 'black' surface finish.
Dip the blade in vinegar or "warm" vinegar. Boiling the axe will ruin the heat treatment, potentially annealing the blade and making it more susceptible to dents and rolls. You could etch the blade with vinegar or other chemical process instead of aiding the reaction with detrimental thermal processes.
-> @@Leviathanshadex The temperature range for process annealing ranges for STEELS is from 260 °C (500 °F) to 760 °C (1400 °F). 500°F/260°C is a loooooong way from 212°F/100°C. Hope this helps.
BTW .... vinegar (5% acetic acid) 'reduces' (the exact opposite of oxidation) the steel - and NO protective coating by the ferric (black) oxide.
Magnificent work sir, well done! Nice video!
Love this video, ive done fair few knive before. But never an axe! Fantastic.
who needs power tools when your hands move that fast lolol :) great job by the way
Outstanding polish work! Thanks for sharing.
I did this with a Wade & Butcher 1830 (guestimate) hatchet, starting with 60 grit, thru to 2000 grit (the best I had available) ... then using cymbal polish nicked from my mad-drummer father. I could have pulled out a power tool or two, but was more interested in seeing what could be done with sandpaper and compounds. Mine has many pits and blemishes, but the shiny parts are awfully shiny ... even though the hatchet is basically blunt. I haven't tried to sharpen it yet. Great video. I lived the experience myself ... just not as meticulous or fastidious. Cheers $0.02
Thank you so much for this video I was actually wondering if I could polish my meat cleaver with sandpaper and you are going through the same procedures I was thinking if it could be possible so thank you very much for this video
Your welcome. You can polish almost anything using this procedure.
Do you have to use a lubricant? I sanded a surface from 80 to 3000 grit. Then hit it with Flitz metal polish and still got a mirror finish. There were slight areas where I obviously didn't get to at a lower grit but it turned out really well. The only thing I did before using the polish was clearn the surface with a damp cloth.
Looks fantastic, nice job! It definitely needs a handle to make it complete though ;)
I get it, long dark winter nights, trying to cope with cabin fever, so polish you ax by hand w/o power tools. I get it.
That was so satisfying to watch thank you for this video
you're gettin' wild over here doing it by hand...lol nice.
Awesome job 👍
Great results, persistence and skills.
I have my Grampa's axe head and the heel is badly peened over should I heat it up and beat the metal flat again and recontour the heel or just grind off the rolled over edges? I don't really want to remove so much metal if I can help it and I thought heating the heel up and moving the metal back as close to where it's supposed to be would save the heel better? Any help would be greatly appreciated :) The head is way over 100 years old and has no makers marks on it!
people may say Its a waste of time but it's quite fun to do when you have nothing to do at all, polished a super old knife from my grand parent's and yeah it's quite shiny
Beautiful finish.
I have a knife made of D2 tool steel with fine scratches. And I'm trying to get it polished. With a mirrors edge. I think I'm down to the metal polish step. What metal polish should I be using? And will just a rag work? Also how long did you polish for?
1000 likes for you, I really enjoyed your video and like it very much. I didn't feel time the 20 minutes went fast 👍🏼
Wellp.
Scuffed a blade sharpening it which has a mirror polish. Think skip all coarser grits and try mag polish first before any sand paper…but if do end up needing to re mirror polish this sword by hand, thanks for the guide/demo of diff grits skipping me a lot of learning lessons.
Wish me luck lol
can you tell me how to get rid of those dimples on a hardened steel surface? iam trying to polish a hammer head, but it would take literal ages for me to get all of it down with a file......
You made art. Beautiful.
awesome video! Love the time lapse filing!
I use Mother's Metal Polish available in a red squirt bottle. People falsely claim that you can use toothpaste to polish metal, but aluminum oxide has been entirely eliminated as an ingredient in toothpastes in the US, and toothpaste doesn't work anymore.
This is so satisfying to watch
What buffer and compound would take out the scratches ?
Good to know about Mother’s mag. I kept reading it gives a mirror shine but that’s relative. Apparently not mirror.
did you remove the rust from inside the eye?
XnMojo lol! IKR??
😂 😂 😂
I’d just like to hear this guy say, “uh, missus huwigginsuh, can uh you a come uh here uh just a minute?”
I would like you to make an axe without any tools from iron ore, just a small fire, some clay to separate iron from ore, stones afterwards to shape the iron, than make a handle from a nose bone of a living rhino, which you have to steal yourself without any medicines, weapons, or tools, and you have to shape it into beautiful handle, than make a 1024 layer damascus steel, make damaskus axe using stones you find nearby, assemble it, and than sell it on e-bay for 10$, but you have to film selling it also, ok? Big fan of channel, looking forward to watching this video.
Won a scout ax head in an auction. Had my dad take it into qork and light grind rust but there an lot of pit might have to try the method
Reminds me of when my dad had the whole family hand polishing extrusion dies in his machine shop. Wife and three kids were cheap labor.
My partner decided to clean the kitchen stove while I was sleeping. When I woke up I found that he had used a Brillo pad on the metal piece in an up and down motion against the grain! It was hideous!! We buffed it out as best as we could along the grain and now the metal is super dull and almost white. How do I get it shiny again? Please help! Thanks!
After you sand, if you use Tripoli to buff, then rouge to polish, you will remove the finest stretches left from the 10,000 grit. I do this with bronze. Since you worked so hard, you should get some Tripoli and wool buffing pads and try it. Then polish with a super soft cloth-no paper towels or Terry cloth, too abrasive. Fine cotton cloth. Many micro fibers are too abrasive too.
thanks for good video!
Can I shape with sand paper without power tools?
That axe shines brighter than my life.
Thank you for your hardwork!!!!😅
How do you "conserve" polished surface like this? Doesn't it rust very fast in humid enviroment?
A year late, but waxing it would probably be the best thing to do.
What a chad. Wow. His wife probably faints when she sees him shirtless with an ax in his hands.
that was wonderful, nicely done.
Impressive- learned what I needed to know