Mystery Axe

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phantomknives

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Mar 31, 2016
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I picked up a new hatchet for $22 today, I think It's a norlund due to the orange plastic that was around the eye, It popped out when i re-seated the head, but the handle's nice, the head has a nice shape, the blade has a great profile and its nice steel. I couldnt find anything close to this, obviously camp hatchets are close, but not in quality and the orange eye has me confused, It has no markings, Anywhere.
Pictures, the stick of gum is for scale http://imgur.com/gallery/682bF
 
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Soo, anyone of the hundred people that saw this have any clue what it is? sorry about sounding salty/rude
 
Sorry. Can't make an ID on it without some kind of stamp or mark. Maybe someone more experience can. Looks like many others to me. Seems the head needs a rehang to tighten up the fit though.
 
Unlikely to be a Norlund. Which isn't saying much unless that franchise is/was still out there flogging gear that was made by others.
 
It's about a dead ringer for a Chinese hatchet head that I picked up last weekend for 50 cents .
Look at the top of the head next to the poll and you'll probably see a berry faintly stamped 1 1/4
At the bottom face it'll probably be hard to see but I'm guessing it'll have a very faint and maybe even partially stamped CHINA .
Norlund hatchets were either double bits, a rare little tomahawk that looked like stone, or hudsen bays. That had orange paint on top of the head ( not orange epoxy ) and a dark maroon paint not black.

I hate to tell you this, but that's probably a cheap imported hatchet that was less than 20$ new 10yrs ago.
 
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Well, what ever it is, it's really nice, I still can't find any markings hickory, appreciate the help though. I did re-seat it better scrounger, the first time i smacked it with my hand a few times, this time i hit it with a hammer and drove the metal wedge about another 1/5" in. Anyway, i dont really care if its a norlund or not, i was just curios
 
phantomknives said:
Well, what ever it is, it's really nice, I still can't find any markings hickory, appreciate the help though. I did re-seat it better scrounger, the first time i smacked it with my hand a few times, this time i hit it with a hammer and drove the metal wedge about another 1/5" in. Anyway, i dont really care if its a norlund or not, i was just curios
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The one I got is extremely hard and It also looks similar to my harbor freight hatchet which holds an edge extremely well, so while you may have paid more than most would've it may turn out to be a decent tool. ( I'd take the handle off, scrape off the varnish, and rasp it to fit the head closer to the shoulder as it is certainly not on there enough )
every once In a while a good hatchet is accidentally created amidst a sea of crappy ones being cranked out and I seemed to have found 2 of them, so I hope that you lucked out and it serves you well 👍
 
I agree with others, it is Chinese. It may be a fine tool though if that is all that you are after.
 
jblyttle said:
I agree with others, it is Chinese. It may be a fine tool though if that is all that you are after.
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It's got flat cheeks and the head is symmetrical meaning it was made elsewhere than USA and could be hung either way without accusations of being backwards. The brand new school bus I drive has an almost identical hatchet on board and the paper decal on the head says 'made in Mexico'.
 
phantomknives said:
wait, hatchets come free with the purchase of a bus?
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They're part of the regular emergency kit (although some carriers shun 'weapon-looking' stuff and issue wrecking bars instead) and they're used daily for circle checks to wedge the brake pedal for checking the tail lights and for tapping the inside rear tires to see if they've still got air. Presumably you can remove window glass or force jammed hatches/doors in a hurry if there's ever a crash or rollover.
Up until a few years ago Council Tools supplied these hatchets and which featured scalloped-edge blades (sort of like a steak knife). These made chipping winter ice buildup off the stairs pretty simple. With the Mexican hatchets you've got to use the poll or you damage the stair treads.
 
phantomknives said:
never knew that, and jeez, a council tool? that's nice. also never heard of a serrated hatchet.
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It's true! International Corp (division of Navistar Trucks I think) makes 1000s of full size school-type buses every year, in USA, and elected to chinz on emergency-kit hatchets. I don't doubt that serrating an axe blade with a chainsaw blade-type grinder added another dollar to the cost but that's what cost them Council's business. 'You cover my back and I'll cover your's is no longer a business model in this current world of out-sourcing to absolute-lowest bidder.
What amazes me about the Mexican axe is it's 'domestic-looking', the handle is USA-sourced proper grain Hickory and it's professionally hung.
 
$100,000 for a new trash can on wheels and they save a couple bucks taking biz away from another North American company. Wow.
 
great thread so far.
i have a couple of the M
1/14 ....mystery hatchets. very good heat treat and i use one of them to whittle out wood wedges for axe hanging because it has flat cheeks.
also i believe some of the Chinese hatchets recieved a good heat treat, ( who knows, maybe by luck of the draw). get it!!!
 
Square_peg said:
I wonder if the serrations were something done after market.
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It's possible. A commercial Dremel type tool with a cylindrical stone could do that in fairly short order. I suppose this was done more to visually indicate that the blade isn't 'dangerous sharp' rather than make it more efficient at chopping through windows in an emergency.
Perhaps I should perform similar surgery on the bus axe I have now. And maybe I should Dremel tool diamond burr engrave 'hecho en Mexico' on it before the paper label wears off.
 
Fwiw, Norlund had orange vinyl tape over their wedge. Peeled of or chewed up, sure. It was nothing what would "pop" out.
"Norlund" was also proud of their name. They were always stamped.
 
jblyttle said:
$100,000 for a new trash can on wheels and they save a couple bucks taking biz away from another North American company. Wow.
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Certainly they retail for considerably less than a City bus but I'm quite enamoured with the Cummins 6.7 that they've starting shoehorning into these. Used to be the IC's featured their own International V8s. During the winter you don't need to plug-in a Cummins, even at -20 F.
 
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