Hatchet find

[Bingy man]

Recently while digging a hole for a new fence post I pulled out what looked like a flat brick . Turns out it was a axe ( hatchet) head that had at some point been buried . Handle was long gone apart from the rotted bit within the axe head and some type of grey acrylic which I drilled out . The head was also painted green as remnants of this was still visible, apart from a notch for pulling nails there were no makers marks . Just wondering how it’s not completely rusted away given the fact the house owner does not do diy or gardening and his dad ( previous owner) passed away many years ago . Was old steel really this good or is it likely to be not that old . It was about 10 “ down in between a couple of shrubs .. I’m currently cleaning it up and hope to restore it to a useable condition. Thanks for reading .

 

[scockram]

How strange. Do you think it was intentionally buried? From what you say about the owners it sounds like it's old, but the remnants of paint and especially the acrylic would seem to contradict that. I've never seen that on old axes, and I've got a few and looked at far more at sales.

Based on all the old edge tools, billhooks and axes/hatchets, that I've got I'd say that the old steel really was that good, it takes and keeps an edge really well. I read somewhere once that that was due to the higher carbon content of old steel. That might explain why it's so well preserved. Additionally, the fact that it was 10" down probably helped: not much oxygen available down there.

It'll be interesting to see how it cleans up.

 

[AJBaker]

Interesting, nice find!
A lot of old steel was good, but it was a lot more inconsistent than today. These days they are able to make much better steel than back then (think of all those special steels used by Veritas etc.), but these days they're also capable of making much cheaper steel that'll just barely suffice (think of cheap chisels from a garden centre).
Also, these days most consumers care much less about the quality of the metal, and the producers make what they can get away with.

I don't think old steel is any more resistant to rust, however, unless it was made with stainless (which I doubt). Maybe the type of soil you have sealed it in a special way?

 

[johnnyb]

The old steel tended to rust badly having little chromium content. But an axe can be ground both sides so will live again! Wrought iron was good at resisting weather being low carbon and full of slag.

 

[Phill05]

Recently while digging a hole for a new fence post I pulled out what looked like a flat brick . Turns out it was a axe ( hatchet) head that had at some point been buried . Handle was long gone apart from the rotted bit within the axe head and some type of grey acrylic which I drilled out . The head was also painted green as remnants of this was still visible, apart from a notch for pulling nails there were no makers marks . Just wondering how it’s not completely rusted away given the fact the house owner does not do diy or gardening and his dad ( previous owner) passed away many years ago . Was old steel really this good or is it likely to be not that old . It was about 10 “ down in between a couple of shrubs .. I’m currently cleaning it up and hope to restore it to a useable condition. Thanks for reading .

Interestingly I dug one up very similar this time last year I found it buried under a dead privet hedge that would have have been about 10 to 12" deep, I cleaned it wire brushed it some deep pitting but re-shafted it and it works fine.

 

[Bingy man]

Interestingly I dug one up very similar this time last year I found it buried under a dead privet hedge that would have have been about 10 to 12" deep, I cleaned it wire brushed it some deep pitting but re-shafted it and it works fine.

Yes the new shaft arrived today but it’s a little bigger needed so I’ll be sorting that later - mom’s 80th birthday today so the home are doing her a party ..

 

[Bingy man]

How strange. Do you think it was intentionally buried? From what you say about the owners it sounds like it's old, but the remnants of paint and especially the acrylic would seem to contradict that. I've never seen that on old axes, and I've got a few and looked at far more at sales.

Based on all the old edge tools, billhooks and axes/hatchets, that I've got I'd say that the old steel really was that good, it takes and keeps an edge really well. I read somewhere once that that was due to the higher carbon content of old steel. That might explain why it's so well preserved. Additionally, the fact that it was 10" down probably helped: not much oxygen available down there.

It'll be interesting to see how it cleans up.

Not sure if it was an intentional bury but I’m thinking that the shrubs kept most of the water away and as you say less oxygen. The acrylic was strange if it was acrylic- wh wed n I drilled it out it was light grey in colour, didn’t smell nice but I could not compare the smell to anything I know . It’s cleaned up almost like new apart from the deeper pitted marks . I’ll post the completed job . I also need to test it on something chunky ..