N
Nomad
Guest
A while back, I got a Bahco hatchet to do some stuff at the allotment. It was cheap enough at 17 quid and did what I needed. Then I (re)discovered bushcraft and realised that it would be far too naff to be seen with. Lest other bushcrafters point, laugh, and kick sand in my face, I decided to tart it up.
It also came with a 'protector' thing that looked amazingly like a bit of soft, squidgy rubbery stuff. Suitably under-impressed, I toyed with the idea of becoming a leather worker until I realised that I didn't have the means to emboss a portrait of Galadriel on my handiwork. Disappointed, I went to the local Gransfors Bruks leather sheath shop, hatchet in tow, and tried a few for size. None fitted, but the GB carving axe sheath was close if a bit large. The proprietor and I mused on the possibilities and came up with a feasible plan for modifying it. Thus encouraged, I blew 13 quid on the sheath and scuttled off home.
Here's how things panned out...
The axe as supplied. Sandvik steel of some sort, ash helve (apparently), all beautifully set off with some orangey-red paint. The rest of the helve is lacquered, but that isn't obvious from the photo. Note the straight drilled-through hanging hole, and the squidgy rubber thing on the sharp end. Overall, it's blister central and not at all classy.
After a load of sanding and a wipe or three with the teak oil I had lying around, it's looking better already. Note that the hanging hole is now countersunk - much kinder to hands that do chopping.
After a ****load more sanding (and some scraping with an Opinel that I otherwise didn't like), it came up looking like this. Nice and shiny, except shiny isn't really all that nice in the bushy axe fashion scene. Time for the...
...mustard and vinegar treatment. Cheap mustard, cheap vinegar, mix in proportions to give a degree of gloop, coat head as shown, leave for 24 hours.
Wipe the stuff off and admire the much more socially and fashionably acceptable forged-look grey patina. Not just prettification, though - the patina should help a bit with corrosion resistance.
On to the sheath...
As you can see, the sheath does go around the head...
...but there's a big lump of empty space at one end.
This blend of two photos shows how much the sheath can rock back and forth. It doesn't come off, but it's not a very satisfying fit.
My first attempt at making things better was to cut along the marked line and drill out the furthest rivet. This allows the single layer of the flap to fold over earlier and thus make a more snug fit around the head.
Unfortunately, this wasn't quite enough. Here, I've pressed the leather down with my thumb nail to mark where the edge of the axe's beard is.
Some further trimming led to this shape. Note that there is a slit near the top where the empty rivet hole is, which allows the flap to fold in closer to the line of the second cut...
...like this. Trial fitting with the head in the sheath indicated that this was much better, so I pressed down on the area of the press stud and then marked a centre for putting a hole through the leather prior to fitting a new press stud.
Here it is with the new stud fitted and some lines added to mark out the trimming to tidy things up.
After trimming with the sheath fitted to the head. The line of the edge of the leather is now much closer to the profile of the beard area. The bit that looks like a mistake just above the rightmost rivet is deliberate. The way the leather lay when closed, the cut edge tilted up and became visible, so I made an undercut to hide this.
And here it is closed up.
An overall view of the refinished hatchet on its new sheath...
...and one with the sheath fitted. For easy before and after comparison, here's the as-supplied shot again...
I may have done a little tidying up after the last shots were taken, and may do a little more. Still have to treat the leather with something (from Le Prevo, probably). The fit is now pretty snug, albeit with a slight bit of play (can't get rid of it entirely). Never done anything with leather before, so I'm pretty pleased with this - a pretty tidy result for a spend of 30 quid, even without the embossed portrait of Galadriel.
It also came with a 'protector' thing that looked amazingly like a bit of soft, squidgy rubbery stuff. Suitably under-impressed, I toyed with the idea of becoming a leather worker until I realised that I didn't have the means to emboss a portrait of Galadriel on my handiwork. Disappointed, I went to the local Gransfors Bruks leather sheath shop, hatchet in tow, and tried a few for size. None fitted, but the GB carving axe sheath was close if a bit large. The proprietor and I mused on the possibilities and came up with a feasible plan for modifying it. Thus encouraged, I blew 13 quid on the sheath and scuttled off home.
Here's how things panned out...
The axe as supplied. Sandvik steel of some sort, ash helve (apparently), all beautifully set off with some orangey-red paint. The rest of the helve is lacquered, but that isn't obvious from the photo. Note the straight drilled-through hanging hole, and the squidgy rubber thing on the sharp end. Overall, it's blister central and not at all classy.
After a load of sanding and a wipe or three with the teak oil I had lying around, it's looking better already. Note that the hanging hole is now countersunk - much kinder to hands that do chopping.
After a ****load more sanding (and some scraping with an Opinel that I otherwise didn't like), it came up looking like this. Nice and shiny, except shiny isn't really all that nice in the bushy axe fashion scene. Time for the...
...mustard and vinegar treatment. Cheap mustard, cheap vinegar, mix in proportions to give a degree of gloop, coat head as shown, leave for 24 hours.
Wipe the stuff off and admire the much more socially and fashionably acceptable forged-look grey patina. Not just prettification, though - the patina should help a bit with corrosion resistance.
On to the sheath...
As you can see, the sheath does go around the head...
...but there's a big lump of empty space at one end.
This blend of two photos shows how much the sheath can rock back and forth. It doesn't come off, but it's not a very satisfying fit.
My first attempt at making things better was to cut along the marked line and drill out the furthest rivet. This allows the single layer of the flap to fold over earlier and thus make a more snug fit around the head.
Unfortunately, this wasn't quite enough. Here, I've pressed the leather down with my thumb nail to mark where the edge of the axe's beard is.
Some further trimming led to this shape. Note that there is a slit near the top where the empty rivet hole is, which allows the flap to fold in closer to the line of the second cut...
...like this. Trial fitting with the head in the sheath indicated that this was much better, so I pressed down on the area of the press stud and then marked a centre for putting a hole through the leather prior to fitting a new press stud.
Here it is with the new stud fitted and some lines added to mark out the trimming to tidy things up.
After trimming with the sheath fitted to the head. The line of the edge of the leather is now much closer to the profile of the beard area. The bit that looks like a mistake just above the rightmost rivet is deliberate. The way the leather lay when closed, the cut edge tilted up and became visible, so I made an undercut to hide this.
And here it is closed up.
An overall view of the refinished hatchet on its new sheath...
...and one with the sheath fitted. For easy before and after comparison, here's the as-supplied shot again...
I may have done a little tidying up after the last shots were taken, and may do a little more. Still have to treat the leather with something (from Le Prevo, probably). The fit is now pretty snug, albeit with a slight bit of play (can't get rid of it entirely). Never done anything with leather before, so I'm pretty pleased with this - a pretty tidy result for a spend of 30 quid, even without the embossed portrait of Galadriel.
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