Rusty Old Axe - Restoration

Hello! Thanks for stopping by.

In this video you see me restoring a very old and rusty axe. It was gifted to me by my friend from work which I greatly appreciate. The axe itself has a classic woodsman's axe shape so I was excited to restore it!
As I inspected the axe I noticed the handle had suffered from exposure and was rotten in certain areas. This was good for me as it gave me reason to craft a new handle for it. The traditional wood used for tool handles in my country is European ash wood so I contacted my local sawmill and they selected a choice piece of ash wood for my project, so thank you Central Scotland Sawmill.
This restoration was pretty complicated for me as I done three techniques I have never used before - axe handle making - leather craft and electrolysis.
The key was doing research and taking my time to complete each step and I think the end result of all three turned out well. There are improvements I would like to have made but I'm currently limited in tools and experience as a beginner restoration(ist) - restorer ??? Hopefully in the future I can dedicate more time to my current craft!
The electrolysis made a great job of removing rust and I followed it up by sanding and polishing the axe to a mirror finish. This process actually sharpened the axe as I sanded up to 2500 grit. I really enjoyed carving the axe handle. I tried to be as close to the original as I could but I couldn't resist making deeper curves at the foot of the axe handle and I think it looks better for it. Looking back I might have preferred to have stained the wood rather than just use linseed oil.
Overall I am happy with how the axe turned out, its certainly a massive contrast between the before and after images. I'll probably keep the axe for now but may give it to one of my subscribers in the future as part of a giveaway or something.

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WD40 - https://amzn.to/3MX8KUb

Gloves - https://amzn.to/3ldS4Ev

Sandpaper - https://amzn.to/3JiFViR

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Punches - https://amzn.to/3lgGUyT

Thanks for watching I really appreciate it!
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