Mighty Keen Kutter Challenge

C

cityofthesouth

Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Messages
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Guy from work found out I like to fiddle with axes, thought he remembered having one setting around and so he brought it in. It's uh, well it's rough. We thought it wasn't marked but it is in fact a Keen Kutter. Since the price was right .... zero .... I think I will attempt to cut a section off the top and off the bottom so long as I don't reveal any cracks. This will be a mighty challenge, but possibly good fun. Remarkably the eye does not appear to be deformed, other than the bashing it took. It had a neat octagon handle and is a shame to be in this condition. More updates after a very long soak in vinegar.

keenkutter_original by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

keenkutter_stamp by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

keenkutter_octagon by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

keenkutter_mushroom1 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

keenkutter_eye by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

keenkutter_chip by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr
 
That looks like a fun challenge, "at the right price". What do they always say? You have to see the diamond in the rough. ;)
 
Fun project! Is that last pic a chip out of the bit? Man, I wonder what they hit to cause that. The mushrooming can be taken care of, but that chip might take some creative refurbing. Sweet project for sure!
 
tanglediver said:
That looks like a fun challenge, "at the right price". What do they always say? You have to see the diamond in the rough. ;)
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SC T100 said:
Fun project! Is that last pic a chip out of the bit? Man, I wonder what they hit to cause that. The mushrooming can be taken care of, but that chip might take some creative refurbing. Sweet project for sure!
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I really hope there is a diamond in there somewhere. Just a few hours soaking revealed an easy 1.5 or 2 inches of bit, so there is at least some good news. That is a chip and they must have beat the poor thing violently to cause that. I want to cut right above that chip on just about the same curve and then straight back. Probably going to take close to a half inch off the bottom. If this works out though, I might start taking a harder look at mistreated axes when I'm shopping around.

I think this thing would be sweet with a 24 or 22 inch handle, but it has a full size eye and so far as I know, House doesn't make any handles that length. I think 19 would be too short for my liking, but that is the longest "short" handle they have.
 
Yeah, they must've hit a nasty rock, or a knot while they were pounding on the back of it. House has a "House Axe" handle that I believe is the same eye size as their full-sizers. It's 19" but it might work for you, especially of your taking some off the top and bottom. Haircut and shave as it were.
 
Out of the vinegar bath. Pics don't show but I could see where the hard steel up front is wrapped around the rest of the axe while I was cutting - pretty cool. The large bit area is sort of an illusion but it's still over an inch deep of hard steel up front.
keenkutter_afterbath by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

Here I cut the mushrooming off - no more KEENKUTTER. The pedigree may be gone, but the heritage is still in tack. Made in the USA!
keenkutter_mushroomremoved by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

First cut.
keenkutter_bottomcut by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

Second, and lots of grinding already done by the time I remembered to take another picture.
keenkutter_topcut by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

keenkutter_usa by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

This stamp was on the underside of the poll. Anyone know what it means? I think it is 2-29.
keenkutter_229 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

Here it is finished. I wanted to save all the cutting edge I could but I don't know if it was necessary or not.
keenkutter_finished by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

Some details. The bottom.
keenkutter_finalshape2 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

Here is the top. Still a dent, and a tiny crack. I think the crack is pretty short and hopefully minor.
keenkutter_finalshape1 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

I need to order a handle still so it'll be awhile before I have more. Thanks for lookin!
 
Wow that turned out pretty good! I'm curious to see the rest of the progress. I think saving as much of the bit as possible was a good call too.
 
Thanks! It sort of has an up-swept appearance and it seems like the center line is low. I might need to take another slice off the bottom from the eye back to set the whole thing a bit lower on the handle. Otherwise I am happy with it. I went ahead and ordered an octagonal handle for it - seemed appropriate since it had one before.
 
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You've put a lot of time and effort into this! Perhaps you can borrow a set of stamps to put Keen Kutter and 2-29 (betcha that's month and year of manufacture) back on there for sentimental reasons.
 
300Six said:
You've put a lot of time and effort into this! Perhaps you can borrow a set of stamps to put Keen Kutter and 2-29 (betcha that's month and year of manufacture) back on there for sentimental reasons.
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Thanks. That would be pretty cool, not sure where I would get the stamps but it would be great to restamp it. If that is the year it seems an even bigger shame it was in that condition.
 
cityofthesouth said:
Thanks. That would be pretty cool, not sure where I would get the stamps but it would be great to restamp it. If that is the year it seems an even bigger shame it was in that condition.
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Speaking of which; (2/29?) when exactly was the 'stock market crash'? What you've got is a 'mere' hand tool but if it proves useful to you then some sort of visible known history imparted on it won't hurt for when the next owner comes around. Or for a lark you could stamp 'Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada' (formerly Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories , Canada, a mere 15 years ago) to thoroughly confuse people.
 
300Six said:
Speaking of which; (2/29?) when exactly was the 'stock market crash'? What you've got is a 'mere' hand tool but if it proves useful to you then some sort of visible known history imparted on it won't hurt for when the next owner comes around. Or for a lark you could stamp 'Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada' (formerly Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories , Canada, a mere 15 years ago) to thoroughly confuse people.
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Haha. I think you're absolutely right. In fact I was thinking it might worth while to mark every axe I work on.

ETA: Wow, my first google search brought up a complete alphabet for $15.00. Yes I believe I will get some.
 
many times, the numbers on the under side of the poll or other odd places, are code for who tempered it at the shop, or some other step in the process that may need identifying later. possibly the grinder, or the finisher.

some had dates, but the temperers code is the most common from my understanding.
 
Mail man just brought these to me. Time to get to work. They are House Handles and look great AND they both came with wedges wide enough to actually use (not always the case for me). The octagonal has some runout toward the bottom, but we'll see - it is nicely thinned so I suspect that makes it appear worse than it is though you can clearly see in the picture the stripe effect on the side. I ran across a blog last night with a picture of a handle that split during work. This handle had parallel grain that ran from top to bottom and it split the entire length of the handle - the whole thing right in half like it was cut.

I finally took the time to go get a scale! This head now weights 2 lbs. 6 oz. I think it might be pretty neat but it may turn out to just be a novelty.

house_octagonal by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr
 
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It's soaked up several coats of BLO over the last few hours, ready for pics. I like it. Head was 2lbs 6oz, final weight is 3lbs 5oz and it's just a hair over 26 inches long. The longest axe in these pics is right at 30 inches.

I'm really getting the hang of it. This is my best one so far.
keenkutter_fitdetail1 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

A little roll of wood all the way around the bottom.
keenkutter_fitdetail2 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

Before I cut the swell down.
keenkutter_sidebyside1 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

After I cut the swell down.
keenkutter_sidebyside2 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

All my projects so far. Left to right; Wards Master Quality (unmodified House Handle), Snow & Nealley (unmodified Link Handle), chopped Keen Kutter (octagonal House Handle), Gambles ARTISAN (hardware store House Handle), Black King Jennison Hardware Co. (full heartwood House Handle).
axe_group5 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr
 
those look great. your fit to the handle is perfect. many of mine are not that perfect, i dont take the time to get it exact. i just want the wedge tight. many times i have a small gap at the front of the eye.

i have found house handles wedges to be great. i have to thin out and trim the wedges from other companies or i cant get them half way in usually. the house wedges seem to be just about right in the taper department. my kerf is usually only 1/8" or 3/16" wide after fitting the head, so i cant use a fat steep wedge.

are you setting how open or closed the hang is when fitting the head to the haft? a couple of them look slightly open, but its hard to tell without looking at them bit down on a table.
 
Twoinch said:
those look great. your fit to the handle is perfect. many of mine are not that perfect, i dont take the time to get it exact. i just want the wedge tight. many times i have a small gap at the front of the eye.

i have found house handles wedges to be great. i have to thin out and trim the wedges from other companies or i cant get them half way in usually. the house wedges seem to be just about right in the taper department. my kerf is usually only 1/8" or 3/16" wide after fitting the head, so i cant use a fat steep wedge.

are you setting how open or closed the hang is when fitting the head to the haft? a couple of them look slightly open, but its hard to tell without looking at them bit down on a table.
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Thanks! My others aren't that perfect. I don't honestly think it's important, but I expect more from myself each time I do one. I split Hedge, Mulberry, Oak, you name it - they stay tight. Although, I just eyeball the fit, and for this KK I only actually fit it, and removed it 3 times. I have the same exact deal you're talking about with the gap toward the front on others. What I did on the last couple was to bring the front of the eye to a point, and do nothing else. I only take material from the back/sides from that point forward. It gets the perfect fit, plus it keeps the head seated forward so that I get that nice angle at the rear of the shoulder - just my personal preference. I don't like the look of an axe that isn't "shouldered up".

I agree about the wedges. My complaint is that they have all been cut too narrow (but I've hung 6 whole axes - not exactly a deep well of experience), by this I mean they are not as wide as the eye is long. Man, I have no idea how to put that into words. These two handles that came today had great wedges - they were both wider than the eye is long. I hope that makes sense. But I agree, with an axe you simply can't use a steep wedge.

I don't pay much attention to the angle of the head - a little open, a little closed I'm ok. I could tell when I cut this KK that it looked up-swept and I would say it really does look open (if I'm following your meaning), however, it actually came out better than I expected it to. I split some Hedge (nice straight stuff though) with it tonight and it worked great. I like a tall (knee high, maybe higher) splitting log so slightly open isn't an issue, particularly with these short handles. If I was chopping trees, I would probably pay better attention. I like to see the wood smears on the head after a cut running at an angle from the middle or lower portion of the bit, upward off the fattest part of the cheeks toward the poll. I know then that I'm less likely to get my handle involved if the piece doesn't split clean through. Of course it helps to make sure the shoulder on the handle is narrower than the axe head. I theorize that for splitting, a little open is possibly a benefit. I've been known to tackle logs that probably should be split with a maul with my axe, so you know .... I accommodate my own habits.
 
Nice plug for House Handle products. It would be fitting if these industrious folks were to recognize things like this and not charge forum members for 'pick of the litter' on orders. In 50 years I have never bought a handle 'sight unseen' only because of the huge number of variables that come into play in selecting an ideal piece for an axe. None are ever perfect (hey, it came off a likely-not-straight tree and then went through a mostly indiscriminate sawmill!) but at least there is some understanding of what you can get away with when you personally choose one. Few people re-haft tools just for a lark and the longer the hang lasts the more satisfied the customer. Problem with the 'presto consumer' society is they have no patience or knowledge nor memory of what is good, and what isn't, 30 days after they buy something.
 
It does seem a shame when they have the equipment and the access to the materials, all the ingredients for great handles sitting right there.
 
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