Homemade hatchet aka scrapchet

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grip

Forager
Nov 30, 2009
160
45
here and there
Homemade hatchet mild steel with an en9 carbon steel bit welded on. This has been equal to anything i've needed to do not the best for splitting but for carving work its great.
The handle is from a downed ash tree and i thought i'd bung a ferro rod in the end always handy to have along. This was the first one i did ive done a few more and have refined things a bit now and all their owners are happy enough.
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
I'd like to try that one.
Next, from the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest, forge an elbow adze.
Turn the blade 90 degrees to the handle and cup the edge (bevel up) a little.
The edge length does not need to be more than 1.25"
The angle between the axis of the blade and the handle should be 55 degrees.
 

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grip

Forager
Nov 30, 2009
160
45
here and there
I'd like to try that one.
Next, from the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest, forge an elbow adze.
Turn the blade 90 degrees to the handle and cup the edge (bevel up) a little.
The edge length does not need to be more than 1.25"
The angle between the axis of the blade and the handle should be 55 degrees.
They are superb. Did you make them?
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
I buy the blades. One less skill that I don't have and don't need to devote any time to. Kestrel Tool is a maker with a big reputation here in the Pacific Northwest.
There are a few others but it looks like two good ones are out of business. One is silent and I know the other guy died and so did his successor.

http://www.kestreltool.com/

I make all the birch handles of a size to fit me. The hand grip areas are 7/8" x7/8".
The dry whipping is #18 tarred nylon seine cord, meant for repairing commercial fishing nets. The tension is high enough that the cord leaves an imprint in the wood.
The yellow is #18 surveyor's cord. Actually, the yellow marks the "Holm Constant" showing where to hold the adze to get maximum effectiveness. The brown on the planer knife is dacron that was gifted to me. Slippery. Had to paint it with glue to hold it. Should have used seine cord.
The snail on the D-adze is a reminder of the speed with which I do wood carving.
 
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grip

Forager
Nov 30, 2009
160
45
here and there
There are some lovely tools on the kestrel site and the videos are informative too. I think i'll give an adze blade a go with my own slant. Thanks for posting that. Oh i had to search up Holm Constantnever heard of it before. Every days a school day
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Easy for me to see your adze with a socket like your hatchet, just the edge turned 90 degrees. There's a blade smith south of me who does exactly that.

Kestrel puts out a 12 page booklet of information, photographs and handle template drawings, called "Adzes and Ends". I used Kestrel patterns for both the D-adze (minus the snail) and the Baby Sitka elbow adze. I have both a Kestrel Sitka blade and wood for a handle to assemble a full-sized Sitka elbow adze.

Bill Holm took it upon himself, many decades ago, to analyze the geometry found in the art, carvings and tools common to the First Nation of the Pacific Northwest. His text book is as exciting as watchin the mortar set around bricks.

Besides the Holm Constant for hand position, there's another dimension to be considered, one that I call the "Kestrel Constant." This is the size diameter of the handle, which can be fitted like the handle sizes on tennis racquets.

Palm up, fist grip, the tips of your second and third fingers should just touch the fat ball of your thumb. I started with a fat, soft, wood handle and cut it down 1/4" at a time. It became obvious what was comfortable. From 1" to 3/4" is my range. 7/8", I can swing all day and it isn't a "death grip", too skinny or too fat.

If you look closely at the adze handles, you can see just enough shadow to show where the hand grip has been thinned a little. I've seen dozens of elbow adzes, the handles are never made with much thought to the geometry.

I learned that making crooked knives. The one knife with a 3/4" handle still sports the laminate I made from strips of rosewood and mahogany. I always said to myself that I'd make a new handle. Lazy sod that I am, I bulked it up with VetWrap bandage and let a go at that.

If you got this far, you must be bored to tears. I'll make up a slurp of "grandpa's vitamins" and build my supper.
 
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