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Hardcore Hatchets (made in USA)

S

Steve Tall

Joined
Aug 28, 2010
Messages
5,431
A new line of hatchets made in the USA by Hardcore Hammers.
They are priced in the 40-something dollar range.

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"Midnight-Mare Blue, Curved: Just like the straight handle version, only for those that prefer the shape and ergonomics of curved handles when explaining to your daughter's new boyfriend just how important she is to you."
 
I'm curious too. These look sweet, are there any reviews out there yet? Id be willing to take a gamble on one for that price, if the specs look decent.


-Xander
 
woah, the minihawks on the website are pretty cool. 17oz is a nice weight for a pack tool. wish they had pix of the top and bottom surfaces. I'm not a fan of the octogonal hammer polls on anything. they make the tool look like a frankenstein of some sort, neither one nor the other. I'd also like to know if the polls are hardened and the hardness of them and the bit.
 
Not bad. I may order me one of those. They look to be rigging hammers. Just wondering about the heat treat.
 
DullKnifeTerminator said:
...what type of steel is used and what are the handles made out of?
Click to expand...

I saw a reference to 4140 steel being used for this company's main product -- hammers.
The handles are supposedly American hickory.

Another reference listed the hatchet head weight at 19 oz, on an 18" handle.
 
I have emailed them a question about the minihawks.
 
I would love them if they didn't have the goofy-looking octoganal poll. hatchets like that are a busybox of shapes. Flat, semi-circle, octogon! WTF!
Oh wait, I already mentioned that in this thread. *sigh* well now you know how I feel. :)
 
Look just like the Plumbs you can get at flea markets for $5. I wonder how these would compare. I can smell a comparison thread coming on. Would be a good thread.
 
The design looks interesting, but I'm stuck on all the pictures of handles with both heartwood and sapwood. I can almost hear Bernie Weisgerber's disapproval.
 
MagenDavid said:
The design looks interesting, but I'm stuck on all the pictures of handles with both heartwood and sapwood. I can almost hear Bernie Weisgerber's disapproval.
Click to expand...

That was my first thought...other than that, I like them and, (thanks Steve Tall), appreciate the post. The octogon poll is fine with me, it looks like it will transfer the hammer blow, and from the hatchet cutting face allows an nice taper all the way back, (like an axe), so may bind less when splitting. And made in America is a big plus.
 
Curved handles are relatively recent and decorative, not ergonomic or functional. (Imagine a baseball bat with a fawn's foot shape.)
 
Curved handles are a poor choice if you wish to use both sides of a tool but they're fine for one sided striking tools.
 
Opinions differ.

For millennia, axes had straight handles. The curved handle is a recent development. It creates an increased turning moment if you get off-line, and it's hard to see how that helps. But it's the style now for most single-bit axes. Yet the double-bitted axe used by loggers seems to get along with the traditional straight handle - or the two bits added enough to offset the supposed disadvantage of the straight handle according to the curved-handle school. Not all single-bitted axes, even for competition, have the fawn's foot (AKA "fawnfoot") curved handle. The following interested me, at least, when I was trying to figure out why all Grandpa's axes had straight handles, like his sledges, mauls, and hammers..


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Xz3rs-eaN3E

http://www.pcta.org/pdf/an_ax_to_grind.pdf

http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/aas.html

http://axeconnected.blogspot.com/2011/02/straight-versus-curved.html

Looks like a lot of heart wood in some of those handles too. Not a good thing. Wonder what's under the paint. Not that paint is good for a using gripping surface.

And some of the bevels seems mighty oblique for a cutting tool.
 
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