Rigbuilders hatchet modification

[samek]

Few years ago I buoght a Craftsman Rigbuilders hatchet.
It was like this:

Later I've changed the blade. Now it is one of my favourite hatchets and it performs excellent at chopping and splitting wood.
I thought it may be interesting for you to see it.

Samek

 

[LittleHairyApe]

That is very nice mod! You just answered a question I've been wondering about for several years. :thumbup:

 

[Gautier]

I much prefer the new beard to the original look. Excellent mod there. :thumbup: Doesn't it always feel better to personalize or build your own tools/gear?


Gautier

 

[Steven Penner]

Very nice

An interesting sheath too

 

[RoyalM]

A friend of mine recently gave me a hatchet just like that and I was thinking of doing a mod on it but had been reluctant until I saw this. Looks like i'll be breaking out the belt sander this week/weekend. Will post the pics sunday hopefully.

 

[Blue Sky]

Love it.:thumbup: I've thought of doing the same kind of thing myself more than once, it's nice to see someone actually do it.

If you don't mind a couple questions, there's a lot of material to remove, did you use a belt sander? How long did it take?

 

[sicily02]

Hi all,
samek that is a very cool mod you have done. I really like your sheath to.
I love hatchets and have bought my share. Buck, Gransfors Brunks, Busse, western, TOPS knives . But none really felt like I wanted and so this year I was able to make my own. With gloves on or not on this little hatchet is the one for me. I have put Orange G-10 scales for the handle in case I set it down or drop it I should be able to see it reall easy. I have not made the sheath like I want yet but I will here in a week or so.

Again great Job on the way you did you hatchet.

Bryan

 

[Hassilov]

Did it not perform excellent at chopping and splitting wood before?

 

[stockman242]

Great lookin' hatchet and sheath.

If I could I'd do something like that myself now.

Peter

 

[Rick Marchand]

Sweet mod...... nice sheath!!!!!!!!

 

[Diomedes Industries]

I like the fact that it has an actual hammer head on the back too - easier to pound in tent stakes or bludgeon Zombies with.

TF

 

[Smash05]

One of those craftsman half hatchets is in my future for a trunk hatchet - I really want the hammer capability that my fiskars just doesn't give me.

Where'd you score the sheath?

 

[chewbacca]

I have two of those half-hatchets, I think I may need to mod one like yours. how do you feel about the handle now? Do you think a more typical axe handle is in order, or does the straight handle work for you? i only ask, because at one time, when I was young, I couldn't find a half hatchet handle, and I fitted it with a standard hatchet handle...feels weird when using the hammer, but is more comfy when chopping.

 

[orrey45]

I like that a lot. I think about getting one of these hatchets every time I go to the hardware store.

 

[thundermoon]

Nice job, that looks great!! That's a keeper for sure!

Footnote to Bryan's post: Having been fortunate enough to see one of the hatchets he made I can attest to the fact that they are great cutters/choppers and you can't beat the compact size. Maybe he'll start a thread with a few pics of one.....I think you'll like it!

 

[RoyalM]

A little late but here goes. I was gifted this hatchet and it was an ok chopper but felt ugly in the hand, the balance was just off. So I had looked at doing something to 'improve' it. If you look closely you can see in the first couple of pics that I had drawn on the head and hatched the bits I thought about removing, I was torn between a traditional tomahawk and a kind of 'bearded' shape.

Went slow with an angle grinder and then a belt sander. Had a big bucket of cold water that I would dunk the head in every minute or so. Reworked the edge to, now it feels a lot better and despite loosing some weight it chops better now also.

All in took me 45 minutes to do and was a great way to spend some time on a sunday.