Upgrading a Cheap £20 Axe into a Beautiful Bushcraft Axe
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- I bought this grotty little Magnusson chopping axe from B&Q, and despite it being the best of a bad lot… it was still pretty terrible to behold.
I therefore decided to film a “how to” video, detailing ways in which you can transform a nasty little axe, into a pretty beautiful tool.
Hopefully you enjoy, and find this useful!
Music: Bensound.com
That axe head has a really weird, but also very cool, sort of... reflective/glass like quality to its appearance. I do feel like the handle is a little too long for it though. Feels like it should be about half the length, in a more hatchet style. But another impressive axe refurbishment. Really makes me want to go out and buy the extra tools to do this myself. Just going to be a lot of work by hand...
Axe handle length is really dependent on the task you want it for. I kept the length the same as the original, thinking it'd work nicely as a small forest axe. The weight of the head would be good for this length as you could use it for limbing and splitting easily, as well as maybe even felling smaller trees. But again, it comes back to personal preference. You could definitely shorten it if that's what you wished to do. :)
Thanks! :)
Ohhhhhhh so sorry, my dumb thumb hit the dislike, did not mean that at all. I hit the like directly after that. Again, so sorry. Excellent refurbishment on this dull and originally plain axe. I like the cold blue treatment very much! The burned (charred) handle looks excellent as well. Great job!!!!
Cheers Wade! But I'm afraid it's too late, your thumb has spoken, and you shall never be forgiven. 😂😂😂
when clearing off the surface layer of char, i find the scourer side of a kitchen sponge works well
Great job Phil. I've refurbished a couple of shotguns using cold blue and it comes out really well. I found warming the steel up before bluing got a more uniform finish on the barrel but your axe head obviously didn't need it. It looked mint 👍
I'll try heating the steel next time, see if it works better next time.
Lovely stuff reminds me of when I started bushcrafting when I was twelve. I knew jack about axes and bought a cheapo one from woodies.
Deep down... I bet it's still a favourite. 😁
@@PJTForging nah that goes to my gransfors forest axe
Nice improvements to a cheap axe = you had me right up to the time you picked up the blowtorch. It now screams to me 'wall hanger' or 'weekend poser'
OK I'm old and clearly in the minority here, but back in the day when these tools were 'daily users' for many, many thousands of woodsmen, nobody charred handles except by accident. That said, I enjoyed the rest of your work
I grant you that I personally did it mainly for a stylised choice 😅, however there are a lot of woodsman who char their handles and swear by it.
It helps to harden the external fibers, whilst not preventing the core from being springy; and also helps prevent rot, whilst aiding the absorption of whatever preservative you're using. I'd recommend checking out some of Buckin' Billy Ray's videos where he talks quite in depth about his reasoning behind charring his handles. But at the end of the day, to each their own. I don't judge. 🙂
I've been into B@Q this morning and looked at this exact axe, now £25.
Does it hold an edge or should I just spend double and get a 900g Hultafors?
Depends if you want a project or not I guess? Hultafors is definitely the better option, but if you wanna have a play, get stuck in! The edge has held fine. :)
Speaking of harbor fright, have you seen the axes they have over here (US). It is embarrassing.lol. You guys do knives and axes way better over there. It sucks for us. lololol
Great video. I always char handles now too just love how it looks. Look forward to the next one 🤟👍
Thanks! Yeah I've been charring a few since this one, it looks so damn pretty! :)
That turned out 100% better straight away. Great work keep it up bro
Cheers Stephen! Glad you approve!
Nice chopper! ;)
Suit you Sir! 😂
Nice job 👏 👍🏻 I really like the blue , fits well with the chard handle 👍🏻
Glad you approve, cheers! :)
Nice job, mate, tempted to give it a go
Do it!
Cheers Chopper 😉
😂
When are you guys over there come over to the dark side, and start using normal measurements like lbs, inches, ft. Ect…….? 🤣🤣
Enjoyed the video
I think you'll find that we invented Imperial measurements... we just evolved beyond them after realising that they're awful... mostly. 😅😂
@@PJTForging 🤣🤣🤣 that’s called fixin what ain’t broke
How’s it holding up. Tested it out yet?
Yeah, I use it a fair bit as a splitter. Holding up really well so far.
Nicely done!
Thanks Andy! :)
came out fantastic. Well done Phil!
Cheers Ally! :)
Excellent job. Blueing worked wonders.
What the heck!! I can't believe how awesome that axe looks!! Great video!
It's not a bad axe at all
Nicely done - the charing came out a lot prettier than I thought it would!
For some reason I find it hilarious that you are using a poor old kitchen knife as a card scraper...
That poor old kitchen knife and I have a long and complicated relationship. 😂
@@PJTForging 😅