Burning is definitely not my thing, but I do love to see the grain. I apply a coat on linseed oil and then scrub cigarette or fire ash in with more linseed. Just scrub off the excess ash after a minute or two which clears it from the harder wood and brings out the soft grain nicely, perhaps a little less so than burning, understated if you like, but it does not leave a 'blotchy' appearance. You can do the same with earth pigments like raw, or burnt, umber too. Each man to his own poison I guess. Keep up the good work buddy.
would like to see a video of you finishing ur heirloom axe although it coult be a few hours of just hand filing, since u dont have a milling machine to get the wings real accurate
Flaming the wood. Maybe not so "hot rod" afterall. I actually spent some time looking into this years ago, when I started flaming handles, make sure it wasn't hurting them. Historically very interesting! Seems quite a few folks in history would scorch wood as a treatment of sorts. Makes the wood surface a little tougher, as well as weather proofing, detering insects and gnawing pests, and making it warp and rot resistant. Shingles were charred on purpose for that reason in quite a few cultures. Japanese made an art of it (ua-cam.com/video/O8TbbRK4MDs/v-deo.html). Make 'em last a hundred years (this guys says a charred Japanese temple is over a thousand). Floor boards. Sides of cabins. Some Native American tribes (maybe all of them?) would straighten and toughen arrows by first biting them in places to straighten bends or kinks, making them "arrow straight," and then slowly turn them over a fire to set the straightening and harden them. So... just for reassurance, flaming ax handles, I like to think, is not just "hot rodding." Betcha it's been done. Though, of course, pretty much, like you, I don't go "full char" and just do it for aesthetics. Oh -- and I've noticed it also helps with smoothing the surface, a process we refer to in gunstock finishing as "whiskering" the wood (though it's usually done on gunstocks with a cloth dampened in water or turpentine or the like). Idea is, any fibers that were shortened and exposed as we shaped the stock will rise up away from the surface and can be sanded off, leaving a much smoother surface. Do you notice how "rough" an ax handle feels after you flame it? And a tip: put your first coat of BLO on it *before* you sand it. Freezing the burn in place. Otherwise you can gray the handle by smearing ashy wood all over it. I like to preserve the contrast that way between the charred grain and uncharred wood between the grain. Short story version is, I don't worry about violating 'tiquing rules by flaming because it's not totally unheard of to flame-treat wood "back in the day." And surely someone was doing that to handles. But of course, I'm not doing for any of those "valid" reasons to do it. I just like the look. :) PS: Your handles ROCK! -- None for sale I've seen anywhere else can compare. How in the WORLD do you keep your pricing so low???
Burning is definitely not my thing, but I do love to see the grain. I apply a coat on linseed oil and then scrub cigarette or fire ash in with more linseed. Just scrub off the excess ash after a minute or two which clears it from the harder wood and brings out the soft grain nicely, perhaps a little less so than burning, understated if you like, but it does not leave a 'blotchy' appearance. You can do the same with earth pigments like raw, or burnt, umber too. Each man to his own poison I guess. Keep up the good work buddy.
Great idea Grizz....never even thought of adding something to the BLO!
Good stuff!
would like to see a video of you finishing ur heirloom axe although it coult be a few hours of just hand filing, since u dont have a milling machine to get the wings real accurate
I'd use a 4.5" hand grinder for the wings
@@eastcoastlumberjack just give antique axe restoration a story how it belonged to ur great grandfather and see if he'll do it for free jk
Flaming the wood. Maybe not so "hot rod" afterall. I actually spent some time looking into this years ago, when I started flaming handles, make sure it wasn't hurting them. Historically very interesting! Seems quite a few folks in history would scorch wood as a treatment of sorts. Makes the wood surface a little tougher, as well as weather proofing, detering insects and gnawing pests, and making it warp and rot resistant. Shingles were charred on purpose for that reason in quite a few cultures. Japanese made an art of it (ua-cam.com/video/O8TbbRK4MDs/v-deo.html). Make 'em last a hundred years (this guys says a charred Japanese temple is over a thousand). Floor boards. Sides of cabins. Some Native American tribes (maybe all of them?) would straighten and toughen arrows by first biting them in places to straighten bends or kinks, making them "arrow straight," and then slowly turn them over a fire to set the straightening and harden them. So... just for reassurance, flaming ax handles, I like to think, is not just "hot rodding." Betcha it's been done. Though, of course, pretty much, like you, I don't go "full char" and just do it for aesthetics. Oh -- and I've noticed it also helps with smoothing the surface, a process we refer to in gunstock finishing as "whiskering" the wood (though it's usually done on gunstocks with a cloth dampened in water or turpentine or the like). Idea is, any fibers that were shortened and exposed as we shaped the stock will rise up away from the surface and can be sanded off, leaving a much smoother surface. Do you notice how "rough" an ax handle feels after you flame it? And a tip: put your first coat of BLO on it *before* you sand it. Freezing the burn in place. Otherwise you can gray the handle by smearing ashy wood all over it. I like to preserve the contrast that way between the charred grain and uncharred wood between the grain. Short story version is, I don't worry about violating 'tiquing rules by flaming because it's not totally unheard of to flame-treat wood "back in the day." And surely someone was doing that to handles. But of course, I'm not doing for any of those "valid" reasons to do it. I just like the look. :) PS: Your handles ROCK! -- None for sale I've seen anywhere else can compare. How in the WORLD do you keep your pricing so low???