So I have an old hatchet head that has the back entirely mushroomed and then has a crack going all the way from the top of the eye to the bottom and this crack entirely parts the axe so it can bend open I am taking it to my trade school to fix it today as it is the last day we can actually weld I cannot get pictures at this time as I spoke to my high school resource officer the previous day and he agreed to keep it in his office until I go to tech before I brought it in i ground the edge down to a quarter inch thick so it won’t be considered a weapon

My question is am I going to have to anneal the entire axe before weld this or should I heat it up then weld it while it is hot? I can always re harden the edge and what process do you think I should run? Or would it be best to braze it I could if necessary.

-Ryder

Just to be clear: are you saying that the crack is running vertically down the back side of the eye, opposite the edge? Or is the crack on the side?

It's tricky without knowing the specific alloy of the steel, but I think doing a good pre- and post-welding heat is probably your best bet. I wouldn't bother annealing, but you can certainly re-harden the blade after the welding is done.

If the back is that badly mushroomed, you might consider grinding it smooth to see where there might be any other cracks starting to form, grind those out, and welding them up while you're at it.

Good Morning,

I have done exactly what you are trying to repair. What starts out as 'A waste of Time', finishes up as a useful Camp Hatchet. It isn't big enough to do real Axe Work, but it splits kindling fine.

Neil