Hytest Craftsman Hatchet Restoration - Opinions Please.

F

Flemm

Joined
Oct 3, 2020
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48
Hello,

So I found this axe on Facebook marketplace on Friday. I picked it up because it appears to be in original condition with the original handle.
I would like to get some opinions/advice on how people think I should restore it.
I was going to try and take out the handle so I can sand then rehang it however it is in really tight and I can't get it out.
The other issue that I have is I want to try and keep the original green paint but get rid of the rust. Would the best way be to just use some fine-grit sandpaper?
Let's hear some opinions!

Regards,
Flemm.






 
I’m sorry, I was skimming and misunderstood your intention to keep the green paint. 0000 steel wool and some kind of solvent is gentler than a wire wheel. My bad.

Parker
 
Thanks for that guys, I'll try the steel wool and wd40 first and then post the results
 
AR-Trvlr said:
I wouldn’t. That would take off the paint as well. I’d just clean it, lightly oil it, and use it.
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Yeah I used the wire wheel on the front of the blade. There wasn't any paint to take away but it polished it to a shine in seconds. I couldn't imagine the paint would survive
 
I would try to save the handle. You gotta get that metal out of the eye if you want to repair the haft. There are a couple ways to do that. One is to drill a small hole in the wedge and tap a fine thread screw into it. Another is to just pry up the wedge with a small sharp screwdriver. Another way is to drill a pair of holes on either side or either end of the wedge, then drive the points of a pair of needle nose vise grips into those holes. Lock on and pull out the vise grips with a large claw hammer.
 
Just put some mineral oil on the entire thing and throw it in a corner. If you want an axe to use then get a user, but old collectible axes in original condition should be kept as-found except for putting some preservative on them unless they have serious problems. If an axe has a handle that fits tightly then I don't see any problem with it. Some old original axes I have found that have been fixed by past owners driving many nails or whatever they can find into the top of the handle to tighten it I have worked on by pulling out all the offending metal and sometimes putting a new wood wedge in if it has been destroyed. With care you can use small drills and pointed probes to pick pieces of old wood wedges out. If an axe is really nice and original I don't care if the head is a bit loose, I am not screwing around with it. It is too easy and cheap to find nice user axes to put historical items into use. I found this out the hard way by using some old original axes to chop trees with and had the original handles break. Unless the handle was perfectly stored and has zero signs of any aging or dry-rot, it could break in use. Even if it looks good on the outside something may be going on inside a critical part of the handle out of sight.

If I find an old axe head to use I will make a handle for it using one of the old original handles for a pattern, then I can have a nice user with an old-style handle and nothing historical is being destroyed or altered. I have several old Craftsman axes from the early to mid 20th century that have original handles and I simply don't need to do anything to them at all because I have good users that I can use for felling trees etc.. The only important thing in collecting anything is history, we are not important at all, the collectible will be here after we are dead, money is not important as all it does is corrupts. Just keep the axe/collectible out of trouble and out of the hands of idiots until someday you can find a similar home for it and you will have done your job as good as it can be done.
 
I agree with some of that, but also think that experiencing a very nice vintage tool as it would have originally been vs one that's already been well used is not a common experience these days.

This axe has just enough age showing to be a good candidate for casual use.
It is not mint or NOS...ect.
If it's not going to live in a museum where others can see it, then it should be appreciated as intended when it was made.
G.W didn't chop down a cherry tree with it, so I say do what's necessary so it can be used but not abused.
 
I agree with a little of that (the mineral oil part, although a BLO mix is what I’ve got on hand). I think there’s room for a much wider view of axes, and tools in general, however.

Axes are designed as, and were always meant to be, working tools. The technology has not changed drastically like knife, firearm, and automotive tech has. “Elevating” them to some kind of wall hanging art form turns them into trinkets, IMHO. A Stradivarius fiddle in a glass showcase makes no music.

Consider how our buddy Ernest uses his tools. He uses them well, he takes care of them well, and does not abuse them. And he builds some damn cool stuff with them. When he is gone, somebody who inherits his tools will hopefully be inspired to add their own fingerprints to his along the handles, and build cool stuff of their own, such use becoming another chapter of that tool’s history.

I’m not saying it’s wrong to collect minty examples and hang them on your wall - if that’s your thing, go ahead on ‘er. But it only addresses half of what you need to do good axe work. Without the skills gained by using, your collectible axe sits there on display and is never useful until some future owner takes it up. If you must use an axe to develop the skills, why not use a quality tool in the process?

I’m also not espousing the abuse or neglect of tools - I cringe when I snap a head off as much as the next guy (more perhaps, cause I know how much effort it takes to rehang it. Which I will, in a similar way to my ancestors, i.e. carving a replacement handle from local wood. Because I enjoy it, not being compelled to be historically authentic. Nevertheless, my new handle, when hung, will become another chapter in the history of that particular axe).

All that pales next to this, though: when I buy a head or an intact axe, old or new, broken or pristine, it becomes MINE. I will decide whether or how much to fix or modify it, when to use it, when to sell or gift it. You don’t control the fate of my axes like you do your own.

Therefore, if you ever have occasion to tell me in person not to use my axe, my answer will be short, direct, and you will NOT mistake it’s meaning.

In return, I will not infringe on your right to wallhang anything that you own. That’s the very best deal I can offer you, take it or leave it.

Parker
 
My main point is that if you use an axe that has historical value, then you will destroy that. In use you will have to sharpen it, and so the steel disappears, and in use you will break the original handle so that disappears too. It is so easy to find old axe heads that are common and which are missing handles that nothing is lost in making a handle for one and using it all up. Old axes that have little wear and their original handles are uncommon though, and will become more uncommon as people who believe they are the center of the world, who believe that nothing is more important than they are, use them up. So yes of course it is your choice to do as you please with the things you "own" that were here before you and will be here after you are gone, but you can do what is very average in Western society and it's mindless self-absorbed consumerism, or you can do what is uncommon, support humanity as a whole instead of going through life thinking of nothing but yourself.
 
Brent Halverson said:
My main point is that if you use an axe that has historical value, then you will destroy that.
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That only matters if it hasn't already been used or if the person who bought it did so for it's value as a collectable and not as the useful tool it was intended to be.
Unless GW chopped down a cherry tree with it or LB murdered her family with it, how much " historical value " can a used hatchet or axe have?

" Humanity as a whole " ? " center of the world " ? " nothing is more important than they are " ?

How does somebody not using a tool that was made to be used which will likely eventually end up with a person who won't have any form of appreciation for it in any way effect or benefit others ?
 
Brent Halverson said:
My main point is that if you use an axe that has historical value, then you will destroy that. In use you will have to sharpen it, and so the steel disappears, and in use you will break the original handle so that disappears too.
Click to expand...
I think you’re way out on a limb with that statement. You seem to be saying that only pristine, unused axes have historical value (which I disagree with). But I disagree more with your claim that presupposes the destructive nature of use. Anybody’s use, of any kind or duration. Axes are not like fragile porcelain teacups.

I’m not destroying my historically valueless axes by using them. In fact, in the waning twilight of a career of earning my living with tools, I take better care of mine than most people I know. I use my axes, I clean and sharpen them, I store them in a safe place, and they are ready next time I take them up. I have axes that I’ve owned for 30 years, that are just as serviceable as the day I received them from someone who took good care of them when they were his.

I’ll top that: I have repaired unserviceable axes and put them to work again, thus adding to your imaginary “national (or global, if you prefer) hoard” of tools waiting to be destroyed by use.

But wait, there’s more! I have built axes (small ones, tomahawks actually) that were were merely a billet of steel before I put them in the fire and pounded them into useful chopping tools. Their history began with me, conceived in my mind, created by my hands. I looked upon them and found that they were good. And I use them with satisfaction, because that’s what I built them for.

…people who believe they are the center of the world, who believe that nothing is more important than they are, use them up.

This is just verbal diarrhea. It is intellectually dishonest to infer these things about a person’s beliefs on the basis of their axe usage. You can express your self righteous indignation better than this, surely.

…you can do what is very average in Western society and it's mindless self-absorbed consumerism, or you can do what is uncommon, support humanity as a whole instead of going through life thinking of nothing but yourself.

I can’t even decide where to start dismantling this sentence. You’re not even in my hyperbolic solar system, dude, much less on my planet. Why don’t you explain in 10,000 words or less how I could support the whole of humanity (which doesn’t interest me at all even if it were possible, BTW) by hanging one axe on my wall and using another so hard that I break it?

I hope I’m reading you wrong, but I’m starting to worry that you’re suffering from a severe case of group-think. I don’t choose to participate in your group.

Parker
 
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Dear Abby,

My sainted mother bought an old enamelware cup at garage sale decades ago for a quarter. It shows some wear, but still has the original store tag with “79 cents” faintly visible. I’d like to use it to scoop dog food from a bin on my back porch.

So I posted a pic of it on cupforums.com, hoping to find some info on where and when it was made, and how I should clean it out before scooping dog food. Members there were horrified at the thought, and insisted vehemently that it must be saved for future generations (possibly yet unborn), and that scooping with it would harm humanity as a whole, and show me as a mindless self-absorbed Western consumer. One member, Halve Brenterson, said that I believed I am the center of the world and nothing is more important than me. (I can’t figure out how he knew that just on the basis of my scooping, but he sure hit the nail on the head. I’m also shallow and superficial, glad I didn’t post two pictures.)

Anyway, my question is this: should I scrub the cup with Comet, rinse it gently with distilled water, or just put it in my propane forge and burn out the impurities?

Sincerely yours,

Scooping in Seattle
 
Hey, Bernie.

I have less and less time for being an online wack job this time of year - with the days getting longer and warmer, I spend more time outdoors using my axes. Wack job members with more resources or in different situations may have more options available, but I just do the best I can with what I’ve got.

I apologize sincerely to the entertainment seeking members of this forum, but my fellow wack jobs are just gonna have to pick up my slack as spring slides by and summer approaches. Can’t be helped.

Parker
 
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