Help choosing a hatchet

R

RedWolf4

Joined
Oct 20, 2019
Messages
181
Hi all,

I'm in the market for a hatchet with the primary use of chopping (both hardwood and softwood). I'm building a log cabin currently and the majority of the work (as of now) will be notching ~8 inch logs with the hatchet. I do not want to use a chainsaw or power tools and I prefer using a hatchet over a saw for notching logs like this. Anyway my budget is around $100-150. I'm looking for it to be around 16-18 inches overall and weigh 2-2.75 pounds (head and handle) I am in Canada and would prefer to buy something that ships from Canada if possible to avoid duty charges. Ideally something with a pretty decent steel and well made. And one more necessity is a hardened poll that can be (and is designed to be) used for hammering.

Thanks!
 
I would get a Vaughan & Bushnell riggers axe, great steel and a great utilitarian tool.

They're about $40 here in the US and I know they can be had up there in Canada though of course the price will be a bit higher.

I would definitely want something that's not too narrow in the bit, wider would be best but your typical single bevel broad hatchet that would be most ideal isn't going to have a hardened poll I don't think ( never thought to hammer on / with them so I don't know).
 
I also favor Vaughan riggers, especially the old ones (pre blue paint). I’ve used one for notching logs larger than yours, and found it useful to grind the straight edge into a more rockered one. At some angles I found the corners getting in my way. I thinned the sides of the haft and found it helped my accuracy.

For general construction use, I also JBWeld a small magnet to the left cheek.

Parker
 
I too recommend a Vaughan hatchet. Very affordable, excellent quality tool.
I have never done log building, so excuse me if my question sounds too ignorant.
The Vaughan riggers hatchet and the half hatchet have both 3.5” edge. The half hatchet has a 22 oz head vs the 28 oz of the riggers hatchet. Also, it has a shorter handle (13”), which combined with the lighter weight should allow for more precise strikes. Wouldn’t this be more than sufficient (and even less tiring) for notching 8” logs?
 
Not a log builder either, but for notching I’m thinking thinner and lighter would be better? You’re not trying to hog out material, you’re almost carving in a sense? Precision seems most important to me here.
 
I once worked with a guy who notched logs with a gutter adze. His notches were much cleaner than mine, but slower. We ended up with me hogging out to about 75% (sometimes cheating with a chainsaw), and him cleaning to the scribed line. Turned out nice.

He said he paid over 200 for that adze (back in the 90s), forged to his design by a blacksmith. I couldn’t afford it.

Parker
 
RedWolf4 said:
And one more necessity is a hardened poll that can be (and is designed to be) used for hammering.
Click to expand...
Makes me hesitate piping in bEcause I'd say first, get a hammer, but here goes


What's wanted in such a Pembrokeian undertaking like making a log cabin is an
Axe and not a hatchet at all.

I'll never know a thing more tHan I do now about this consensus hatchet mentioned again and again but it strikes me as a bit, underwhelming for the task at hand.

When it was a question of a more refined joining than a simple saddle notching than I'd go for something like the center carpentry axe below, giving a flexibility and added options like decent pairing. You've got the two-handed grip and the radius of the cutting edge. Such Joinery doesn't seem in the cards though in this instance.

So the other axe, left, is the more suitable and an axe that's good for notching with full power down to the lay-out. Only thing is, this is an axe that's been made by Johan Jonsson 1844 - 1929, blacksmith and Instigator of the forge at Hjatrum, midwAy on the old road twixt
Gotebourg and Trollhattan, and so nearly unattainable. Still, sufficient alternatives are available and I can't help thinking about a Scandinavian or Forest, one of those, though I couldn't say which. These axes pictured I only post up as illustrative of what I'd say's appropriate for the work.


p6260126.jpg
 
littleknife said:
I too recommend a Vaughan hatchet. Very affordable, excellent quality tool.
I have never done log building, so excuse me if my question sounds too ignorant.
The Vaughan riggers hatchet and the half hatchet have both 3.5” edge. The half hatchet has a 22 oz head vs the 28 oz of the riggers hatchet. Also, it has a shorter handle (13”), which combined with the lighter weight should allow for more precise strikes. Wouldn’t this be more than sufficient (and even less tiring) for notching 8” logs?
Click to expand...
Blue Sky said:
Not a log builder either, but for notching I’m thinking thinner and lighter would be better? You’re not trying to hog out material, you’re almost carving in a sense? Precision seems most important to me here.
Click to expand...
I generally just prefer larger and heavier hatchets to lighter ones. Also I should have mentioned in the original post that this will be used for general camp chores and trail clearing as well (some light felling, delimbing and splitting) so I do want this hatchet to be an all purpose tool - with it's main purpose as of now to roughly notch logs. Also - the cabin im building is pretty rough. The notches are not super clean and I'm okay with that. So I am kind of hogging out material rather than carving for the most part. But ya I agree if I was building a more professional cabin a lighter more precise tool would absolutely be better
 
Last edited:
catspa said:
I once worked with a guy who notched logs with a gutter adze. His notches were much cleaner than mine, but slower. We ended up with me hogging out to about 75% (sometimes cheating with a chainsaw), and him cleaning to the scribed line. Turned out nice.

He said he paid over 200 for that adze (back in the 90s), forged to his design by a blacksmith. I couldn’t afford it.

Parker
Click to expand...
That's interesting! I guess that would be a good tool for notching!
 
Ernest DuBois said:
Makes me hesitate piping in bEcause I'd say first, get a hammer, but here goes


What's wanted in such a Pembrokeian undertaking like making a log cabin is an
Axe and not a hatchet at all.

I'll never know a thing more tHan I do now about this consensus hatchet mentioned again and again but it strikes me as a bit, underwhelming for the task at hand.

When it was a question of a more refined joining than a simple saddle notching than I'd go for something like the center carpentry axe below, giving a flexibility and added options like decent pairing. You've got the two-handed grip and the radius of the cutting edge. Such Joinery doesn't seem in the cards though in this instance.

So the other axe, left, is the more suitable and an axe that's good for notching with full power down to the lay-out. Only thing is, this is an axe that's been made by Johan Jonsson 1844 - 1929, blacksmith and Instigator of the forge at Hjatrum, midwAy on the old road twixt
Gotebourg and Trollhattan, and so nearly unattainable. Still, sufficient alternatives are available and I can't help thinking about a Scandinavian or Forest, one of those, though I couldn't say which. These axes pictured I only post up as illustrative of what I'd say's appropriate for the work.


p6260126.jpg
Click to expand...
Thanks for the input and those are some beautiful axes! Definitely looking for a one handed hatchet in this case and not an axe though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top