Beerhippie
Well-known member
I stumbled on this trick while restoring an old Estwing Camp Axe a couple of years ago. I'd gone as far with electrolysis as I could without destroying the original paint on the steel handle but still had some rust to remove, so I moved on to phos acid. The resulting black finish was so nice I just decided to keep it!
It's fairly durable, too:
After four cuts through that branch. I've since split a fair amount of camp wood with the axe and the finish is holding up well.
I noticed that my Estwing Geologist's pick that lives in my rig was getting a little rusty yesterday, so decided that it was next:
I'm not sure what it is in the Estwing steel that makes for such a nice finish--manganese?--but it does. Most steels don't do this. The Estwing steel also bubbles pretty vigorously, which, again, most don't.
I'm just soaking the head and shaft of the tool in hot, dilute phos acid--between 10-20%, I'd guess--for a few hours. The weak acid won't hurt the rubber handles of most Estwing tools. Let the tool dry with the phos acid solution on it--don't rinse. Use some 4-0 steel wool to gently knock the whitish coating off, and you're left with a hard black finish. I use some preservative wax--Renaissance--on that to further protect and give it a little shine.
The steel will still rust if not kept dry, but not as prone to surface rust from storage.
It's fairly durable, too:
After four cuts through that branch. I've since split a fair amount of camp wood with the axe and the finish is holding up well.
I noticed that my Estwing Geologist's pick that lives in my rig was getting a little rusty yesterday, so decided that it was next:
I'm not sure what it is in the Estwing steel that makes for such a nice finish--manganese?--but it does. Most steels don't do this. The Estwing steel also bubbles pretty vigorously, which, again, most don't.
I'm just soaking the head and shaft of the tool in hot, dilute phos acid--between 10-20%, I'd guess--for a few hours. The weak acid won't hurt the rubber handles of most Estwing tools. Let the tool dry with the phos acid solution on it--don't rinse. Use some 4-0 steel wool to gently knock the whitish coating off, and you're left with a hard black finish. I use some preservative wax--Renaissance--on that to further protect and give it a little shine.
The steel will still rust if not kept dry, but not as prone to surface rust from storage.
