Skatchet

Just some thoughts;

The original tool was a casting.

Machining the threaded portion in a bar stock build would be tough to set up. You would need a good machine shop and the proper cutters.

However, a mold for casting such a tool will not be cheap either and you would need a shop that specializes in casting tool steels or the end product would be like the Taiwanese imports of the Skachet. The right shape and form but CRAPPY steel.
 
riddleofsteel said:
Just some thoughts;

The original tool was a casting.

Machining the threaded portion in a bar stock build would be tough to set up. You would need a good machine shop and the proper cutters.

However, a mold for casting such a tool will not be cheap either and you would need a shop that specializes in casting tool steels or the end product would be like the Taiwanese imports of the Skachet. The right shape and form but CRAPPY steel.
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I think you're right.. It might be easiest to go with a attachment approach more like the ATAX (I'll try to post some pics later) instead of the threads. The other thing that I would like to see is more of a hand grip, one of the real strengths of the Skakchet design is the hand axe/scraper/ulu feel... Just my .02
 
mneedham said:
I think you're right.. It might be easiest to go with a attachment approach more like the ATAX (I'll try to post some pics later) instead of the threads. The other thing that I would like to see is more of a hand grip, one of the real strengths of the Skakchet design is the hand axe/scraper/ulu feel... Just my .02
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Makes sense, perhaps just narrow, flatten, and/or lengthen the middle. Also, need to throw in a divot for bow drill socket.
 
Ditto. I wear the ATAX on my belt above my wallet pocket with a SAK in my front pocket. I use the the ATAX as a hand tool all the time, I consider its ability to be attached to a handle as a bonus.....
 
In hand:
mike435.jpg


You split the end of piece of wood (this is a piece of firewood..)
mike433.jpg


Than you bind with shoelaces, paracord, ties etc.. - very fast to put together..
mike434.jpg
 
I have been holding out on the Atax but the more I see it the more I like it.

I think a redesign of the Skatchet would be awesome. A melding of the two tools would be very useful.
 
orrey45 said:
I have been holding out on the Atax but the more I see it the more I like it.

I think a redesign of the Skatchet would be awesome. A melding of the two tools would be very useful.
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I'm right with you. I like the distance between the attachment and the blade of the Skatchet, the hammer head, and the shape of the edge. The ATAX has more user-friendly steel and a better attachment options. I can't draw for crap but maybe I'll give it a shot.... Anybody else gonna take a stab?
 
ProposedUlu.jpg

Here's my proposed one.
The blade is a half-moon, like an ulu but sturdy enough to be used as a chopper/ ax head. If another blade design would be more suited to this, say so.
The long part with the holes in it is the tang/ handle. When the blade was being used as a hand tool, wood or some other material handles could be attached using long screws and rivets. The handles would have to be fairly thick to work for the other purpose. The flared trapezoid at the end would be a hammerhead, and obviously would flare in four direction, giving more surface area. The way the blade when being used as an ulu would be gripped would be with the tang/ handle and hammerhead under the knuckles and hitting the palm for straight-up knife use and with the hammerhead over the knuckles when it was used as a hand-ax or scraper.
As I said, the long crossbar is both the handle and the tang. It is the tang in this sense: when you need a larger ax, you could use this tool as a hand-ax and cut a notch in the end of a suitable stick. You could then wedge the handle/tang into the notch and fasten as you saw fit. However, the holes are there for a reason and could be used as loops to pass cord through. Also, if you made the handle panels thick enough, their easy-to-unscrew screws could be used both as fasteners and augers for the ax-head when used as such.
I have no knife-making capability of mine own, nor much woods-bumming or knife design experience. Feedback would be much appreciated.
 
I'll post over in this one, since needham got slapped :D but - good callout, it's got me thinking back about this myself.

I had issues with the mass of the original skatchet and have been pondering....

I'll get some design photos up. I hate design sketches. I don't DO design sketches. I never draw! So - I have a couple drawings.....
 
Okay, there's 4 technologies for the 'problem'-

1: casting- as mentioned before, molds are expensive. And this isn't something most of us are set up to do. Someone wants to do bronze casting for fun, great- but.... not a real answer.

2: Forging- Forging you can do anything, but it might be an awful lot of work to get there from here. $300 and $400 tools, regardless of where you put the hole.

3: forge welding. I'm going to get to this one, it intrigues me.

4: stock removal. For this, with a waterjet or plasma cut blank, you can do a lot in a hurry. even with a bandsaw, you can get a rough profile and make either of the ones I've drawn pretty reasonably.

first, the big one:

2009-11-30-0001.jpeg


and "wrapped"

2009-11-30-0003.jpeg



This ain't small- OAL is about 7.5 inches, with an edge length of 5 measured vertically, 7 measuring the edge around. In this case, you are definitely doing a split haft attachment system. And your 'hammer' end is going to be your stock thickness.

I could handle 1095, but I think this is a design that's going to shine best in 3/16 or 1/4 5160 with an edge quench. And a convex grind, of course. Betcha I could still get a nice shaving edge on that. (Actually wouldn't be that far off from a bushbeater or boar knife)

The choppy line on the thumb ram is actually a one sided jimping. so you still have one sharp cornered flush side for rounded scraping.

For a designated flat pack type thing, I'd do this one in 3/16 5160- it fits into a 3x6 inch rectangle:

2009-11-30-0002.jpeg


cutting edge is still a good 4.25 inches, and in both cases the handle is based on the trail knife handle I do.

Both designs have a flat rear to the blade that can 'rest' on your haft.



Now- forge welding would be a nice answer. You take your basic blade whape out of two chunks of 1/8 1060, put a nice 1/4 inch piece of 1060 in the rear, and put a cutting bit of 1/8 inch 1095 in the middle fo the blade section. weld it all up, then use a drift to round and spread that center hollow section into a goo 5/8 or 3/4 x 2 inch oval. not much more you can ask in that- light weight, handle will be hand filling, and you have a centered val haft fitting.
 
riddleofsteel said:
....

Of course I can rail on about this tool forever but until you work with one you will never know. It is not a perfect design. The market decided a long time ago that the Skachet would fade into obscurity. However, I for one, am glad I have mine.
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well stated.

good explanation, brother. - thanks for taking the time.

an old friend has a skatchet that i have never gotten a chance to look at, but such things are close to my heart.

anything hawkish usually makes my ears perk up and the money fly out of my wallet.

:cool::thumbup:

vec
 
Here is a design that I did quite some time back that could be used as an Ulu, Knifeor attached to a stick and used as an axe or even a defensive spear type weapon, I guess it fits with this thread eh ?

design.jpg
 
pitdog said:
Here is a design that I did quite some time back that could be used as an Ulu, Knifeor attached to a stick and used as an axe or even a defensive spear type weapon, I guess it fits with this thread eh ?
Click to expand...

Can I take a few liberties with that?
 
Shotgun said:
I wonder if that's where Ron Hood got his idea for the ATAX?
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No, the ATAX was a "let's build a better mousetrap" idea based on the the "Survival Rescue Tool" of the late 1970s and into the early to mid - 1980s.

I have been looking for one for over ten years now. Like so many things I passed by saying, "I'll get one later," it disappeared. (If anyone has one, I'll swap you some good stuff for it, too.)

The Survival Rescue Tool, Ron Hood shows one in his Survival Kits DVD. He added other concepts to it, he removed the "knuckleduster" stigma of it and made it more like an Ulu as well as adding other features like the Ottomani Sun Compass, etc.

Perhaps he looked at the Skatchet and the Survival Rescue Tool and because the Skatchet was a little bit like an Ulu, combined them and then added more, but he never had a Skatchet in one of his DVDs that I know of. :)
 
Cool designs:thumbup: I think that we are getting somewhere here... Keeping with the concept of a Skatchet or ATAX as a back-up tool/scraper/blade/chopper, it seems to me that it should be on the smaller side (or else you could just carry a small GB...).

Pit - How do you see the dimensions of that tool?

Koyote - I like the smaller one.. How do you see attaching it to a handle for an axe function? Pararcord with a split-top branch?

Some attributes that the ATAX and Skatchet include:

- Hammer
- Nail puller
- Bow drill notch
- Guthook
- Wrench

The RAT HEST also has a pry tooth feature which is kinda neat.

If WS&S is re-designing this concept, are any of these feaures worth keeping? Any other features that are worth considering?
 
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