New life for an old hatchet

[RonW]

During these dark winterdays I have taken up on another restorationproject. I love lowbudget, so I re-use as much as possible.

This time I took an old hatchet, which started life as a cheap DIY-store hatchet.
During its early days it has taken quite a beating as a gardenerstool, hitting more that just wood!
After a while it ended up in the shed, where it has been lying around for quite some time.
Eager as I was to get started I forgot to take pictures at the start, so I will give you a small discription;

Originally the head was painted a bright red, with a golden undercoat. The unprotected parts matched the red with a bright orange rustred..:yikes:
The tip of the edge once came into a violent contact with a hidden rock (Sparks flying around and hand and wrist useless for a few minutes!). The rest of the edge didn't fare much better and neither did the handle for that matter.

I sanded the head and handle bare by hand. I deliberately did not use tools, just to get the feel of it. After that I took a file to take care of the damages in the edge, followed by a treatment with a sharpeningtool to get some shape back into it. It's the one in one of the pictures actually. I didn't sharpen it yet. That will come last.
The handle was sanded bare too and the grippart was sanded a bit deeper, because I want to wrap some paracord or leather around that part. I like the idea of leather more....
The hatchet looks like this now;

The hatchet did not have a pouch, so I made that one myself. I used one of those old Dutch military canteenpouches used in the 70's.
One similar to this;

I tore the thing completely apart, removed the liner and the stitching and put the whole thing back together again, so that it took the shape of the hatchet's head.
The top is straight, because I added a little bonus; a storagepossibility for a sharpening tool. That's the dark green strip at the bottom of the pic, which is upside down.
At the back I added a loop, wide enough to fit an army webbingbelt.

Hatchet in its'cover;

The colour of the cover was really faded, so I tried dying that with a natural dy; ironsulfate.
I boiled some water, chucked in the cover added the sulfate and now I'm waiting for it to dry, so I can see what it turned out like...

Total costs for this project som far; €0!
Workinghours not included.

What still needs to be done;
drilling a hole at the bottom of the handle to fit a loop,
Treating the head and handle with lineseedoil,0
adding the grip itself,
sharpening it. I might even learn that too and this is a great exercise for that, isn't it?

 

[Radix lecti]

Thats a great bit of restoration there Ron and i like the water bottle cover modification,never thought of using them before. Tidy. I had a cheap bahco axe in which i polished the head and stripped all the paint off the handle.Cheers. Thanks for sharing.

Darren

 

[RonW]

Thanks for the comment Darren.

I finished the hatchet.
I oiled the handle twice and wrapped paracord around the grip. I'll be using the leather for a redoing of a Coldsteel kukri machete.
The dying of the cover failed, because I did the cookingprocedure wrong. I will be redoing that, too.
I also wanted to darked the metal, but I have no idea how to, because it is attached to the handle.
Here it is!

Thanks for looking and maybe someone else has some nice ideas on how to reuse some old gear.

 

[Broch]

I also wanted to darked the metal, but I have no idea how to, because it is attached to the handle.

I love restoring old tools especially axes. One way that I have used to darken carbon steel is to apply photography fixer - make sure the metal is very clean before you start or it will come out blotchy but it gives a nice dark gun-metal grey to bright steel.

Cheers,

Broch

 

[flexo]

hatchet looks good,even if i can't see the point of lainyard,that's personnal... the mask, sorry ,is ugly,but i can see the point,it is making live again some bottle cover and idea is great,but result is poor looking (to be honest)...
but i'll get use to it! just writing this i recall one of mine made out off bike tire held in place by car tube,efficient and strong but crappy....

 

[Shireman]

You made a good job of it ,nice one

 

[RonW]

Thanks for the replies guys!
I know the cover isn't a beauty and it isn't supposed to be. Its job is to cover the blade and that's what it does.
In the future I might give a leather one a go, but for now this will do.

I got a tip saying I should try mustard to darken the head, so I will try that and show you what it turns out like...

 

[WeThePeoplexfbm]

thats a good idea use a old canteen pouch for the cover , good job ^^

 

[Highbinder]

I got a tip saying I should try mustard to darken the head, so I will try that and show you what it turns out like...

I'd have thought mustard would just patina the metal much like garlic?

 

[RonW]

That's what I meant!
It didn't work out though, so the head is probably stainless steel....

 

[flexo]

if no mustard,try vinegar or oignon.

 

[RonW]

Well....

The little axe died in the line of duty last weekend!
While splitting wood, from pallets, the head broke off. So much for this project. Now I need a new one... and I will not reuse the head.

 

[Everything Mac]

what's wrong with the head?

 

[RonW]

I guess it's some sort of stainlesssteelalloy, which means it's a bit hard for me to sharpen it, especially by hand. It also has a tendency to get stuck in wood, too. But most of all I just never really liked it. Didn't feel or handle right for me.
I do not throw away the head just yet, though. Maybe I'll use it to learn how to refit a handle someday.

What's the best way to get the remaining wood and wedge out?

 

[Ivan Owen]

I think drilling is meant the work best. How come the haft broke? what wood is it?

 

[Hedgehog]

Well I guess you are a strong chap & either put a bit too much force into your splitting, over shot & struck the handle below the head, or perhaps levered it sideways when it was stuck? - knock it loose with a wooden mallet/baton against the poll. It may have been weakend in the past of course.

The head looks to have a little rust so I doubt it is stainless. Binding/sticking in the wood can be solved by adjusting the grind angles around the cheeks. Hand files are very good for reprofiling & removing metal swiftly before moving onto stones.

Drill some holes in the remaining wood & knock it trough with a lenght of wood narrow enough to fit through the eye.

I am fond of this pattern of head - very versatile, a real shame the handle broke after all your hard work. I'm sure you'll enjoy fitting a new handle though.

Did you find the cord wrap comfortable in prelonged use?

All the best.

 

[RonW]

I have no idea what kind of wood the handle was made of.
And no, I'm not a strong guy, but the hatchet has seen a prolonged use as a gardentool, chopping up roots and such, hitting the occassional rock and dirt. It has had several hits below the head, too, during that time.
And yes, it broke while levering it sideways. I admit....
The head isn't rusty, really. It's more of a staining, because I had been playing with mustard/vinegar hoping to achieve a patina.

As far as the cord around the grip is concerned, I will use this again, because I found it to be comfortable and it improved the handling, too.

I downloaded a book, called "an axe to grind". (Downloaded, because I can not find the original. If someone does, please let me know!) and I will use this book to see how to refit a handle and how to properly sharpen it, again.
And while I'm at it, I might as well make a new leather pouch for it, too.....

 

[Hedgehog]

I still doubt the head is stainless - you mentioned rust when taking off the paint? Ok some stainless will rust but I can't see a stainless head being economical from a production point of view. Paint often serves as rust protection.

'An Ax To Grind' is a superb book indeed.

The Ax Book: The Lore and Science of the Woodcutter is another good read & easily available in print.

All the best.