Just wanted to share some pictures of my current tinkerings. I bought the rusted and pitted Norlund voyageur a few years back, and finally had the time to work on it.
Here it is sitting in a vinegar bath to help loosen the rust out of the pits. You can see the very deep temper line. Don't mind the metal wedges, I don't plan to use them unless the heads come loose.
Here's another angle:
It came out very dark when I pulled it out the next day. This is what it looked like after brushing it with a brass bristled brush:
I also worked on the edge a bit and thinned the cheeks near the edge for a deeper bite. The steel feels a bit soft. From my understanding, this came out of the same factory as Collins and Mann so I assume they knew what they were doing:
I will try to mirror polish the edge in the future, but I was impatient and hung it on a vintage slim Collins boy's axe handle cut down to 19":
Yes, dangerous length, but I really enjoy using a hatchet head on a longer handle. I've handled a Wetterlings large hunter axe (similar to GB SFA) and the head (1.5lbs) felt too bulky and heavy for the 19" handle. I thought a hatchet head would feel better balanced on a that length. Slimmer vintage handles are a pleasure to use and lightweight for the pack. Here is the Collins boy's axe I took the handle from, picked up at a flea market for $5:
Here is the Norlund next to a Wolf Creek Forge camp hawk with a hardened poll:
As you can see, the hawk looks significantly smaller, but the weight feels about the same and this is why:
There's a lot of meat around the camp hawk's eye, which ensures that it will last after centuries of use (including throwing?!). Now I'm going to soak the Norlund head in boiled linseed oil before I start using it, which I've never done before. Can anyone recommend a duration? I'm thinking a couple weeks at least.
In a survival situation, I would take the hawk because it's so much easier to rehandle. However, I much prefer a small camp axe for practical use. The handle feels a lot better in the hand, it's overall better balanced, and the head has more cheeks for splitting.
Questions? Criticisms? Where's your hatchet head on a long handle? I would love to try one of the West Woods handles in the future.
Here it is sitting in a vinegar bath to help loosen the rust out of the pits. You can see the very deep temper line. Don't mind the metal wedges, I don't plan to use them unless the heads come loose.
Here's another angle:
It came out very dark when I pulled it out the next day. This is what it looked like after brushing it with a brass bristled brush:
I also worked on the edge a bit and thinned the cheeks near the edge for a deeper bite. The steel feels a bit soft. From my understanding, this came out of the same factory as Collins and Mann so I assume they knew what they were doing:
I will try to mirror polish the edge in the future, but I was impatient and hung it on a vintage slim Collins boy's axe handle cut down to 19":
Yes, dangerous length, but I really enjoy using a hatchet head on a longer handle. I've handled a Wetterlings large hunter axe (similar to GB SFA) and the head (1.5lbs) felt too bulky and heavy for the 19" handle. I thought a hatchet head would feel better balanced on a that length. Slimmer vintage handles are a pleasure to use and lightweight for the pack. Here is the Collins boy's axe I took the handle from, picked up at a flea market for $5:
Here is the Norlund next to a Wolf Creek Forge camp hawk with a hardened poll:
As you can see, the hawk looks significantly smaller, but the weight feels about the same and this is why:
There's a lot of meat around the camp hawk's eye, which ensures that it will last after centuries of use (including throwing?!). Now I'm going to soak the Norlund head in boiled linseed oil before I start using it, which I've never done before. Can anyone recommend a duration? I'm thinking a couple weeks at least.
In a survival situation, I would take the hawk because it's so much easier to rehandle. However, I much prefer a small camp axe for practical use. The handle feels a lot better in the hand, it's overall better balanced, and the head has more cheeks for splitting.
Questions? Criticisms? Where's your hatchet head on a long handle? I would love to try one of the West Woods handles in the future.
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