Madrona and the Craftsman hatchet

[CedarEater]

I gave my boy this Craftsman hatchet for his 10th birthday. It arrived just in time for his birthday without a haft. I have managed to sharpen it but it has been waiting patiently for a new haft. I decided to use some madrona for the haft so I broke out the hewing hatchets and this piece of madrona that looked good and went to town.

After hewing and carving for a couple hours I shaped it and fit the eye with the little sureform.

The cabinet scraper and a little sandpaper finished it off and now its ready for the kerf and to be hung. At 14 inches overall I think this will be a good little hatchet for him.

Being that I live in the pacific northwest I have been curious about using madrona for a haft for some time now. I have heard a few reasons why madrona isn't or shouldn't be used for impact tool handles and decided to give it a try anyway. I guess I just need to see for myself how it performs.

 

[Square_peg]

What a great gift for your boy!

And well executed, too. Madrona is such tough stuff. I can't imagine it'll ever fail as a hatchet handle. It may transmit a little more shock than hickory but for an occasional use item that shouldn't matter.

 

[chuxwan]

Nice job on that, looks great!

 

[trailmaker]

Fantastic. Let us know how it holds up over time. I've always been curious about Madrone, there's quite a bit of it around here.

 

[CedarEater]

Here is an update on the progress of this little hatchet.

The wedge got cleaned up.

I carved a "T" (my son's first initial) in the end of the haft.

The haft feels a little thin in the grip with not as much swell as I like at the knob. I think it should be good for a 10 year old though. I might drill a hole and add a leather strap to it so he can loop it around his wrist and hang the hatchet from a hook or something when not in use. I am a little concerned about the stability of this wood.

I am pretty happy with how it turned out so far and how the BLO really brought out the color of the wood.

I will probably put a couple more coats of BLO on it and then maybe some tung oil depending on how it feels once the final coat of BLO has dried.

 

[CedarEater]

So yeah, wanted to say that the piece of wood that I shaped that haft from was a two foot long piece I got from the very base of a windfall from this winter. It had a lot of color in it when I split it. Anyway, for some reason it wouldn't let me reply with much more than I was able to in the last post. So, here are a couple more pics of the finished hatchet.

 

[bearhunter]

That turned out fantastic
That wedge really adds a little 'flair' to it

 

[Deoje]

That looks very good.

 

[Crazyotter]

That looks awesome, especially with the stamp.

And please remember if your son loses his grip (thin hatchet handle + ten year old hands) then a lanyard would create a swinging arc of sharp steel.

 

[Square_peg]

That swinging arc might hit his arm but it's unlikely to hit his sister's head.

Jus sayin'.

 

[Deoje]

When you made the handle did you have a pattern, freehand it, or go off of another handle that you had?

 

[CedarEater]

When you made the handle did you have a pattern, freehand it, or go off of another handle that you had?

I had an old 18" haft that I used as a very rough pattern that needed to be blended into a shorter outline. Once I got the rough shape I could see better what the grain was going to allow and then freehanded the final shape and thickness to what looked and felt good. Its actually quite a bit thinner and straighter than that older haft.