Wooden handled tool care

 If you have any older wooden tools or have accidentally left new wooden tools outside for too long then you need to know how to revive the handles.  It is a very simple process and it will make your tools last much longer.  First you need to smooth out the wood.  If it is  really bad, then take some sandpaper  to it until it is pretty smooth.  If it isn't too bad, then steel wool should do the trick.  Once it is smooth, apply 3 coats of teak oil or whichever type of oil it is that you want to use.  I like teak oil because it is

durable and environmentally friendly.  Between the coats of oil, go over the handle with the steel wool again.  That's it, good as new.  Ideally you want to go through this process every spring when you first take your tools out for the year.  It doesn't hurt to apply an additional coat of oil every month or so.  This should keep those handles in great shape for many years to come.

Tool sharpening

When I moved into my current house, there were a large amount of tools left behind in the garage.  They had not been used or cared for in a while.  They continued to sit unused until recently when I decided that I wanted to be a farmer.  I had no money so the old beat up tools came out and I used them as they were.  Very ineffective.
I had a brainstorm this year, thanks to another blog.  What if I were to clean up and sharpen all the tools so they were like new again.  I still wont have to buy tools, but they will be in perfect working order and will last me many more years to come.  So I decided that they first step was to learn how to sharpen everything.  I had a huge stump in the yard that needed some axing, so we started with that.

First clamp the axe down to a bench vice.

Then go over the blade with a file.  This is a rough sharpen that takes all of the larger nicks and dents out of the blade.  Like a rough sandpaper does to a piece of wood.  Whenever you use the file, go over it with a wire brush to keep it free of metal pieces and in good working condition.
Next get out your two sided sharpening stone.  Go over the blade with first the rough side to take out the smaller nicks, and then the fine side to give it a nice smooth finish.
If you keep up on the sharpening stone, doing it briefly every time you use the axe, the axe should stay nice and sharp.  You shouldn't have to use the file hardly ever.  Only if you hit a big rock or something else that would damage the blade beyond normal use.  This new sharp axe is going to be a million times better than that old dull axe.
For a much more precise version of tool sharpening, try this website.