I only needed a section of the rotor, but grinders are fun. So I set to cutting out what I needed, leaving this.

The piece I cut out neede to be cleaned up and shaped. So, I used my grinder to shape the edge. I cleaned off the rust with the grinder and a wire brush.

Next, I had to learn about hardening different kinds of steel. You can spend lots of money making a forge, which you need to heat up the metal until it's red hot and loses magnetism (test with a magnet to verify if it's hot enough), quench it in oil (I used vegetable oil), and thereby harden it.

I didn't want to spend a lot on a forge, so I gutted my old rusty barbecue. I bought some fire bricks and a bag of lump charcoal (apparently briquettes don't get hot enough).

To get it hot enough, I had a hair dryer blowing into the box non-stop. Watch for sparks!

But finally I checked and saw a nice red glow. I lifted out the blade with pliers and checked it with a welding magnet; Yay the magnet didn't stick! So into the oil it went. Be sure to wear welding gloves and don't get scared if the oil catches fire a bit!

Once the blade was cooled down, it needed to be tempered; so it doesn't shatter when you hit something. So I put it in the oven at 450 degrees for a couple hours.

Then, I used a piece of square metal tube, which I ground out a notch in, and I welded it on to the blade as a handle. I did mention this all started from me wanting to WELD something right?

Almost done, just need to test it out. Will it split wood!?

It goes through campfire wood beautifully! Logs cut and dried will fly apart due to the wide angle on the blade.

I decided to give the handle a slight bend. I added a coat of tremclad to clean it up... And a hockey tape handle grip...because this is Canada!

So, would it work on a Zombie? I am sure you'd at least end up with some "axe-body-spray"! ;)