Going to work on a TruTemper hatchet (vid)

[HeavyHanded]

Hello, I posted this on MT&E but figured I should put it up over here as well. As the title says, I changed the geometry on a $20 hardware store hatchet (made in USA) to get it working the way it ought. Have done a bunch of thinning/convexing on my Fiskars hatchets, but am limited to how far I can go by the flat cheeks. Figured a more traditional head might yield better results, looks fantastic and should chop like a beast (for its size/weight), but will have to wait till Spring to really test it. If it handles hard chopping at least as well as my Fiskars I'll be very happy - the traditional handle is a better fit to choke up on for smaller work, so would be a step up for how I use my hatchet when backpacking. Sound and video part company for a minute or two at 12 minutes in (of 16). Thanks for watching!

[video=youtube;zgNNBHMed1c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgNNBHMed1c[/video]

 

[300Six]

I admire your persistence!

 

[HeavyHanded]

I admire your persistence!

All in an afternoon's work! I had everything I needed on hand, just a matter of using it. Upside is a US made hatchet that really should perform as well as something 4 times its price - plus I got to grind it according to Mr E Kreps. Normally I just thin them out overall and convex, but decided to try his recipe for applying the grind thinner at the heel and bit less thin (though still a lot worked down) at the toe. I find his quote from Camping in the Old Style to be pretty humorous, as most axes (and hatchets) off the shelf are still "of no account til they have been ground well back..."

Have to try it on some of my longer pieces around the wood pile and some smaller jobs before making any grand statements, and no substitute for actually hiking with it. Also, it really is in need of a sheath now or I'm not carrying it anywhere.

 

[HeavyHanded]

I found the quote that inspired me to make the modifications.

Axes, as they come from the factories, have a decided bevel near the edge and a new axe is of no account until it has been well ground. The proper way to grind an axe is to start well back on the blade and grind it out to the edge, or until all of the bevel has disappeared then it should be well whetted with a small smooth stone. The thickest part of the blade should be not exactly in the center, but somewhat towards the outside corner, that is the corner farthest from the axeman when the tool is in use. An axe so shaped will spring the chip nicely and will not bind in the wood.
For keeping the axe sharp when in the woods, I carry a small, flat mill file of six or eight inches in length and a small axe stone. A carborundum stone with coarse and fine sides is best for the purpose.

E Kreps, 1910

103 years later, still dead-on.

And another equally applicable today:

And just let me digress for a little chat on the indespensable hatchet; for it is the most difficult piece of camp kit to obtain in perfection of which I have any knowledge. Before I was a dozen years old I came to realize that a light hatchet was a sine qua non in woodcraft, and I also found it a most difficult thing to get.

Nessmuk, 1920