swedish hatchet

[flexo]

 

[flexo]

i bought a hatchet in a carboot sale. first i believed it was chinese made because i camed with a red handle,then i saw the sweden stamp (actually:made in sweden,gba and a crown in a circle) i had a lot of work to make it shine again!

grain orientation:

the new wedge still exceed but i may have to drive it further in later on so i leave it like so for a few days!

 

[flexo]

how it came:

the wedge:totally screwed up (if you permess such a word game!)

but i manage to salvage the haft by triming both extremities, an driving a bigger wedge!
lenghth is 36cm 14,17 inch pretty reduced to 35 =13,77,weight might be 1 1/4 pound as it is stamped below.

i am impressed by the quality of the tool,good handle,well design an confy,well assessed,good orientation very dry,straight...
steel is hard; had to use only new files and a bit of dry power wheel with lot of care! of course 3stones and sand paper!

 

[udamiano]

Nice salvage job there mate

 

[RonW]

Nice job, indeed!
How does it handle??

 

[flexo]

it's an excellent tool as far as i tried it for now.tomorrow it'll see wilderness for some extended use.

 

[flexo]

as everybody asks himself about that hatchet here are some news!:

 

[rune-hammer]

i bought a hatchet in a carboot sale. first i believed it was chinese made because i camed with a red handle,then i saw the sweden stamp (actually:made in sweden,gba and a crown in a circle) i had a lot of work to make it shine again!

You know that GBA stands for Gränsfors Bruks Aktiebolag, right?
I think you did good
All the swedish manufacturers of the time used great steel, tho Gränsfors was not the same as they are today, in those days they did not focus on craftsmanship, but more on volume and price. Nonetheless if you score a swedish made hults bruk, wetterlings, gränsfors, säter banko or sandvik from the 50-70's, they are all great tools.