Oriental Clever Found this when I was deer hunting.

F

From Tennessee

Joined
Dec 2, 2011
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Found this in a field the markings make me believe it either Japanese or Chinese. The wood is not rotten but the finish is peeling the white is the finish that is lifting, ts a thin layer of some sort of varnish. I think another hunter was carrying it and lost it since the case shows no signs of deteriorating. I'd like to clean it up but dont want to damage it either. Can anyone identify it? It weighs about 4 lbs. It was laying partially covered with an old piece of tin roof and the nearby cabin long fallen dawn. We had a lot of Civil War skirmishes in this area and I found an old cannon ball not to far from where i found this clever. I think it was brought from another area of the world and was part of someone gear and lost recently though the finish shows no one really cared for it for a long time. I think it was in the case for a long time in someones basement. The case is wood leather wrapped and strapped.

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It's a Japanese garden hatchet or machete, like a small cross between a machete and a belt axe and intended for those type of jobs. Japan Woodworker in Alameda CA is one vendor that sells them. Probably made from decent carbon steel and not hugely valuable. I'd clean it up and put it to work
 
If it were super old I imagine it would have rusted away by now. I'd get some flitz, clean it up and use it.
 
Mahoney said:
It's a Japanese garden hatchet or machete, like a small cross between a machete and a belt axe and intended for those type of jobs. Japan Woodworker in Alameda CA is one vendor that sells them. Probably made from decent carbon steel and not hugely valuable. I'd clean it up and put it to work
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My very thought. Shame not to put it to work again. Its heavy and will be a great addition to my garden. Half the length of my machete and it has a real good heft. I'll clean it up. It looks like the tang runs about half the length of the handle with the two pins near as I can tell. Its still pretty sharp and shows no signs of having been sharpened or used for quite some time. I was pretty jazzed when I found it.
 
FWIW, which isn't much, my wife (Chinese but her reading in the old language is pretty rusty) translates the side without the number as saying something to the effect of "best product, handmade". She thinks the mark with the number 18 is the manufacturer's mark.
 
Well that was really enlightening. Thanks for that I appreciate it. Wish I was a blacksmith! Well a knife smith would be extra nice.
 
I have one and it was called a carpenter's hatchet .It does have it's uses. My sheath is covered with nice red/brown bark.
 
The other characters (靑入) means that it has a core or cutting edge of blue steel (as opposed to white, etc.).
 
I would carefully remove the wooden handle and use electrolytic rust removal to clean it up then put it back together. Nice find!
 
I bet someone had a case of the redbutt when they realized they had lost that! Finders keeps losers weepers! Remove the handle and clean up like Pat said and you got a nice piece!
 
It has really been interesting. I put it on my list of things to get done! Ill look into the eltro rust removal and see who does it or what it takes. Id like to leave as much as the original finish as possible though most is history. Any good tool is a hard to live with loss. I'll do it justice. The wood is in good shape too I didn't see but very minimal decay if any. I wonder if the handle is epoxied? Wouldn't want to ruin it. Any suggestions on its removal? Thanks
 
It has really been interesting. I put it on my list of things to get done! Ill look into the eltro rust removal and see who does it or what it takes. Id like to leave as much as the original finish as possible though most is history. Any good tool is a hard to live with loss. I'll do it justice. The wood is in good shape too I didn't see but very minimal decay if any. I wonder if the handle is epoxied? Wouldn't want to ruin it. Any suggestions on its removal? Thanks
 
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