That would make a good band name. I bought this little 1.5# hatchet head when I was 12ish while at a garage sale with my Grandma, and hung it (beat it with a metal hammer till it was mostly on and wedged it with 3 nails) on a hardware store handle. I was not nice to this little guy. I must have stuck it in a campfire at some point, as there was no hardness left in the bit, which was very beat up. I also remember using it as a wedge to help split a few hedge logs for bowstaves, which accounts for the severe mushrooming.
I had forgotten it for years, until rediscovering it at my parents house this Easter. I never paid attention to the maker, but it turned out to be a Master Mechanic (True Value). Not the most exciting, but its about the memories.
First thing I did was fix the bit edge, top of the eye and poll on my 1x30 belt sander. Then I got re-acquainted with my hacksaw, taking material off the beard and bottom of the poll and leaving rounded ears.
The big question was: would I be able to re-acquire the bits hardness with a simple heat treat? I took the hunk of steel that came from the beard, heated one end up to non-magnetic and quenched in water. Did it work? Ill let the picture answer that.
I went ahead and removed a little more material to give a rounded ear-to-beard transition.
I was short of hands during the heat treat process, so no pics. Treated it the same way I do my 1084 knives, normalize a few times, take it to non-magnetic (~1500 F) and quench in 120F canola oil. Success! My file was skating like Michelle Kwan. I then tempered in my little toaster oven at 450-480F twice for 90 minutes, which left me with a dark straw/brown color. The final weight was 1# on the nose.
I thinned down (mostly just took off the lacquer) the original a handle a bit and rehung my revitalized hatchet head. I got a super tight wedge.
The finished product weighs 1# 5oz and is 13.25 inches long. Ive done a bit of chopping with it and the edge seems to be holding up nicely. Looking forward to bringing it kayak camping getting years of use out of it.
Thanks for stopping in.
Next to the Husqvarna
I had forgotten it for years, until rediscovering it at my parents house this Easter. I never paid attention to the maker, but it turned out to be a Master Mechanic (True Value). Not the most exciting, but its about the memories.
First thing I did was fix the bit edge, top of the eye and poll on my 1x30 belt sander. Then I got re-acquainted with my hacksaw, taking material off the beard and bottom of the poll and leaving rounded ears.
The big question was: would I be able to re-acquire the bits hardness with a simple heat treat? I took the hunk of steel that came from the beard, heated one end up to non-magnetic and quenched in water. Did it work? Ill let the picture answer that.
I went ahead and removed a little more material to give a rounded ear-to-beard transition.
I was short of hands during the heat treat process, so no pics. Treated it the same way I do my 1084 knives, normalize a few times, take it to non-magnetic (~1500 F) and quench in 120F canola oil. Success! My file was skating like Michelle Kwan. I then tempered in my little toaster oven at 450-480F twice for 90 minutes, which left me with a dark straw/brown color. The final weight was 1# on the nose.
I thinned down (mostly just took off the lacquer) the original a handle a bit and rehung my revitalized hatchet head. I got a super tight wedge.
The finished product weighs 1# 5oz and is 13.25 inches long. Ive done a bit of chopping with it and the edge seems to be holding up nicely. Looking forward to bringing it kayak camping getting years of use out of it.
Thanks for stopping in.
Next to the Husqvarna
