Update; Rehafted! China brand hatchet worth fooling with?

I have a couple like that and the ones I have are nothing to look at but they are very functional and hold a decent edge. My vote is clean it up sharpen it and use it.
 
If it seems pretty hard in the bit there would be nothing lost in making it ready to use. Even if it is a bit soft it will still be a decent enough tool, many have used much worse to built an entire civilization!
 
And the bit is so hard my file will barely cut it. Much harder than the estwings and GB I have. I had to belt sand it to remove a chip. I don’t care for that.
 
Try a 4” side grinder (with a light touch).

Your ash handle came out nice, probably a little stronger than my soft maple ones.

Parker
 
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catspa said:
Try a 4” side grinder (with a light touch).

Your ash handle came out nice, probably a little stronger than my soft maple ones.

Parker
Click to expand...
I don’t have a side grinder. All I have by way of motorized sharpening right now is a 6x48 belt sander. I do have a 6x89 oscillating edge sander but It don’t do so well for sharpening because 1, the table is in the way, and 2, the oscillation.

I want another 1x30 belt sander or similar. I got used to one for sharpening lathe tools and setting the secondary grind on knives.
 
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C catspa , I used ash because that’s what I had a scrap big enough for. I’ve never heard of folks using soft maple for handles. I’m interested in seeing those. How do they hold up? Red maple?
 
Bigleaf maple (acer macrophylum) and vine maple (acer circinatum) are the two maples that grow here in the coastal rainforest. Vine maple is tougher than hell, but small so it’s hard to get a good grain orientation.

I use more bigleaf than anything else, they’re a common yard tree until they get too big and develop heart rot (or the owner gets tired of raking up the leaves). When I see one being cut, I pull over and ask to buy or trade for the wood. I sort the most straight grain pieces for tool handles, and heat my cabin with the rest. I’ve also turned kitchen items from it, like rolling pins and such.

It does well for hatchet and hammer hafts, and I’ve hung a couple light limbing axes with it, but I question if it’d hold up to a 36” length for a heavy splitting axe.

The hickory handles I see locally are mostly dregs, and also I strongly prefer straight hafts to curved ones. If anybody has a source for straight hickory staves, I’m all ears. But bigleaf maple is what I’ve got, and I try to use it within its limitations.

The other haft-worthy species that grows here is pacific yew. It’s great for smaller tool handles, but tends to curve and branch a lot.

I guess there’s also pear and apple, occasionally I get in some.

Parker
 
I appreciate the detailed answer. Using what’s available is certainly the big limitation. I have used ash for hafts before, and since I use it for work I have it handy most often.

Maple works well for kitchen items because the grain doesn’t raise continually like some woods. I carve spoons out of various woods, and walnut for example will make a beautiful spoon, it doesn’t wear in as nice.
 
catspa said:
Bigleaf maple (acer macrophylum) and vine maple (acer circinatum) are the two maples that grow here in the coastal rainforest. Vine maple is tougher than hell, but small so it’s hard to get a good grain orientation.

I use more bigleaf than anything else, they’re a common yard tree until they get too big and develop heart rot (or the owner gets tired of raking up the leaves). When I see one being cut, I pull over and ask to buy or trade for the wood. I sort the most straight grain pieces for tool handles, and heat my cabin with the rest. I’ve also turned kitchen items from it, like rolling pins and such.

It does well for hatchet and hammer hafts, and I’ve hung a couple light limbing axes with it, but I question if it’d hold up to a 36” length for a heavy splitting axe.

The hickory handles I see locally are mostly dregs, and also I strongly prefer straight hafts to curved ones. If anybody has a source for straight hickory staves, I’m all ears. But bigleaf maple is what I’ve got, and I try to use it within its limitations.

The other haft-worthy species that grows here is pacific yew. It’s great for smaller tool handles, but tends to curve and branch a lot.

I guess there’s also pear and apple, occasionally I get in some.

Parker
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House Handle doesn't list them on their website but they'll sell ya' hickory rough-cut 2x4 boards. They're just HEAVY so the shipping costs almost double what the boards themselves do. They're 36" in length but often have about 2" of checking at either end.
 
Every 10 yrs or so, I travel to the Midwest, usually in the spring. I need to stay someplace long enough to make friends with an arborist, and haul back 10 yrs worth of hickory staves.

Parker
 
That turned out nice- good job on that handle!
I have a couple of old axe heads my dad found that need new handles, I will get to it eventually…
 
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Thanks Ernie1980 Ernie1980

C catspa , If you come this way, I could help ya with a few pieces of ash and maybe some others. Pends on what I got handy at the time.
 
Well, that’s very generous of you. I could bring you something in trade, like a maple rolling pin. If you know a woman who likes to bake pies.

That sounds kinda sexist. Maybe you bake pies yourself, I dunno. I like to eat pies, couldn’t bake one to save my life, but I can sure make rolling pins and pie servers that make it easier for those who do.

Parker
 
catspa said:
Well, that’s very generous of you. I could bring you something in trade, like a maple rolling pin. If you know a woman who likes to bake pies.

That sounds kinda sexist. Maybe you bake pies yourself, I dunno. I like to eat pies, couldn’t bake one to save my life, but I can sure make rolling pins and pie servers that make it easier for those who do.

Parker
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My wife would like any sort of kitchen gadgetry. She makes a heavenly biscuits and gravy, coupled with bacon and stewed apples. What am I saying, everything she cooks is like that. We like to eat, so, if you come this way it’ll surely be around time for vittles.
 
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