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Another found head

upnorth

upnorth

Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Messages
7,038
I dug this hatchet head up in the yard of a demo'd turn of the century house, down south here. It strikes me as a local blacksmith job and the warp\bend is obvious. For a while I considered heating\bending as it was likely never tempered anyway. But it isn't old enough to be Fur Trade, too much hassle to bend back, and just not made of decent materials, from what I can see. It was an interesting find but I'm tossing it.


 
its not bent, its a hewing hatchet. it is made that way to flatten logs into lumber.

i am sure it was hardened and tempered.
 
Twoinch said:
its not bent, its a hewing hatchet. it is made that way to flatten logs into lumber.
i am sure it was hardened and tempered.
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You will definitely have to review your history of striking tools! This implement did not 'get all bent out of shape', it was specifically made that way. I'm not old enough to say whether it was 'right-handed' or 'left'. And as Twoinch (is that 'true' or lumber trade 'nominal'?) suggests it was veryy likely to have been heat-tempered (and if it's really old maybe even features a carbon steel blade insert). It could merely be old (hey, so am I) or it could be ancient but personally I figure hourly workers only took to casually throwing useless things away (duh, broken handle Boss?) with the advent of electric-powered tools during the mid to late 50's. Plus the specs for building studs and joists in around that time no longer did allow for rough-dressed lumber, which is when these 'babies' really shined.
Pull one out on a "cookie-cutter lo-bid rowhouse" jobsite today and everyone will either laugh or crowd around to inspect a puzzling antique.
Clean this one all up, Colour the head in Milwaukee red, DeWalt yellow/black or Makita blue, use plastic wood for a haft and attach a power cord at the base! Then you'll get some wide-eyed stares, especially if you make buzzing noises while vibrating the head back and forth.
 
the couple i have seem to be "reversible" or double tapered in the eye, so they can be mounted either left or right "handed"
 
Whoo boy. Double tapered. to me (I really don't know what you've got) says 'fashion conventional', in which case it could have been made yesterday, and in America, Sweden, India, China or Mexico. The original shape is unique enough that only collectors and purists would know what this is. The users of yore of these 'offsets' are mostly all dead or tucked away in 'old folks homes' by now.
I have a 'foundling' one of these (offset blade) found in a B.C. gov't storage shed in 1980 and is still clean and smooth and has no stamp and after 34 years of sitting in my garage has not been used either.
 
cant even say they are tapered at all really. id have to pull out the caliper to check. they definitely appear that they could by hung either left or right orientation.
 
So I'm on a thread jacking spree it seems but by pure coincidence my dad just tonight gave me that exact same head. Did these little ones not have offset handles? I'm gonna put a handle on it but I don't know what to use.
 
Wow, so this old girl is actually pretty cool after all. OK, she 's a keeper :thumbup:. My ignorance stung for a few seconds, but hey, I'm not that prideful. :D Any idea as to when these went out of use ? 1900ish ? I never intended on it, but I think that I have found another object category to collect from my metal detecting. I just wish that the old folding knives that I find weren't rusted to death, as some of them are quite appealing.
 
No, no, no!!! Don't listen to them! That is a worthless piece of garbage. If you send it to me (I will pay shipping), I will dispose of it properly for you.

All kidding aside you got what they said you have and have fun cleaning it up. Maybe do a hewing hatchet search on here if you are not too familiar with this particular type of head before you start messing with the bit.

cityofthesouth - I have 2 hewing hatchets. One Plumb that has the original straight haft and one old Craftsman that I put a custom made offset haft on. I don't believe the offset haft has too much of a benefit for this size tool considering the pieces that you would be working on with it. There really is not much risk of raking your knuckles accross the piece. I like them both and use them both when roughining out new hafts. Go with what feels right. Oh and that eye is already offset so a straight haft is easier and would be just fine.
 
I appreciate all info\opinions on this tool. And I find this piece to be really fascinating now ! Thanks all for the input. :thumbup::)
 
upnorth said:
I appreciate all info\opinions on this tool. And I find this piece to be really fascinating now ! Thanks all for the input. :thumbup::)
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In today's world you might find that blade quite handy for peeling bark on rustic wood projects. The fact that it's entirely flat on one side and with a single bevel means that it won't bite into whatever you're working on. It'll only take off high spots. Another forum member already discovered these make lousy choppers on large wood on account of the single bevel which wants to deflect but as a camping tool for saplings and branches and modest splitting it'll work perfectly well.
 
300Six said:
In today's world you might find that blade quite handy for peeling bark on rustic wood projects. The fact that it's entirely flat on one side and with a single bevel means that it won't bite into whatever you're working on. It'll only take off high spots. Another forum member already discovered these make lousy choppers on large wood on account of the single bevel which wants to deflect but as a camping tool for saplings and branches and modest splitting it'll work perfectly well.
Click to expand...

Okee doke. Currently I am unsure how I will approach this interesting tool. It is soaking, along with another found head, in vinegar. Hopefully, this and a brass wire brush will clean about a hundred years of rust off these pieces. I would love to bring the hatchet back to near pristine then sharpen it. Will it be a user ?, I have no idea what the future may bring, I have zero experience with such a tool. But I do have new found respect for this hatchet and wish to salvage it at the very least. Although I know that this piece is old, it is straddling the line between what I consider a relic and or a recoverable tool. I think that this will become a tool again. If not used, then at least kept and appreciated.
 
Don't get all worked up about perceived age. An impatient carpentry apprentice with a new-fangled Skil electric circular saw in the mid-1950s might have thrown it into the rubble pile when his superior wasn't looking. Wouldn't have been me though.
 
Okee doke, relic or not it is still an interesting tool to me. This looks like another winter project. I have two heads sitting in vinegar right now. And I am going to the Boreal in a week. I'll take a poke for more heads when up there. The area had serious commercial lumber camps at the turn of the century. I kind of wish that I hadn't left a few heads there, such as the big old worn double bit that I found and left on a stump. I have never put a shaft\haft, whatever, on an axe or hatchet. Maybe these are my test pieces this winter. It will be interesting for me.
 
300Six said:
Don't get all worked up about perceived age. An impatient carpentry apprentice with a new-fangled Skil electric circular saw in the mid-1950s might have thrown it into the rubble pile when his superior wasn't looking. Wouldn't have been me though.
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i agree.

these are still made today, and in the USA to boot...
 
Just received the Lee Valley Tools 'late summer 2014' catalogue and there on the very back page is a $59.95 Cdn "NEW" product; 1.6 lb Broad Hatchet. Available 'box-shape' hafted in Maple in left hand or right hand (presumably the head and eye are interchangeable from one end to the other) configuration and made from cast stainless. Doesn't say squat about where they're made but the included leather sheath has stamped on it 'Chestnut Tools, Almonte, Canada'. Almonte is a small Village just 15 miles up the road from Ottawa and many (or all) of the other novel products that that company features are made offshore.
However; they did have the gumption to commission, produce and try to sell something in hopes there might be a market!
 
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