- Joined
- Nov 26, 2010
- Messages
- 7,567
Hello all,
I was going to save this till i had it finished, or leave it if it didn't work out, but a friend of mine on here wants to see it , so...hope I'm in the right forum.
I have had this Boyscout hatchet for a while now, bought it at Court Day last year as a possible re handle project because one of the scales was broken. I used it in the JK Viktim Passaround some time back as well.
I've been trying to learn how to re-handle knives since John of JK Knives started offering blade blanks, I've done two so far a JK LRK and a BK16, both worked out well enough and were good learning experiences. With some extra time (or need for distraction more like) at the moment I decided to go ahead and start on this hatchet.
Anyhow my "method," such as it is, and my tools are "works in progress," so far this is what I have:
1. Hands..clumsy but they're here
2. Small wood files (might use them this time)
3. Sand paper from 60-400 grit
4. A Dremel (I've been using it to rough cut the scales out but I'm thinking of moving over to a coping saw)
5. Drill press, small, cheap and for light work only
6. pen
7. WD40
so, here we go,
Step one: Cleaning
The first thing to note is that this thread might take a while, I cut the heads of the handle pins about 3 months ago and only got around to doing anything else to it over the Thanksgiving weekend. Just FYI.
I scrubbed it down with some sandpaper to clean it up a little until it looked like this.
I also washed it with soapy water and then gave it a vinegar bath because I had read that this can help to halt and prevent rust.
Boy scout logo
I thought about moving up the sandpaper grit and making it all shiny but decided I liked it better this way.
I did give it a good rub down with a cloth and some WD40 before I called it ready though.
One last thing, when you spend a good few hours over a couple of days sanding off the grime on a hatchet head, then wash it in the sink, be aware that you may have inadvertently brought it to a razors edge, and that metal gets slippery when wet
It doesn't look that bad, and it's not, but it's worse then it looks. It's one of those fine cuts that bleeds everywhere when you try to use the thumb, ho hum.
2. Planning out the scales
I chose walnut and brass because I like it, unfortunately it seemed hard to get much bigger then 6.5 inches of wood...ha ha ha, I'll let that sit with you for a while...so my original plan of having a full length handle went out the window. I did toy with the idea of using two pieces for each scale, but decided I'd better get good before I start making things complicated.
My first issue is that even at 6.5" the wood doesn't get over the top of the last hole.
So after some consideration I decided I needed a lanyard hole at the bottom of the hatchet, Might grind off the extra lip in the "railing," not sure yet, which brings me to the next "issue".
The handle, unlike the blade blanks I've worked with, has a "railing" I suppose I can call it. After some heart searching - and turkey - I decided I'd made life too easy on myself so far and that I needed to mark out not only the handle contour but the railing as well.
I made the mistake of laying the first one in the middle of the wood and not at the end (more cutting!) but since I'm stubborn I didn't change it but cut it out this way anyhow.
My plan is to cut a rough scale that fits over the whole handle, then sand a groove into the edges so the wood sinks down into it.
This, I think, will also make it easier on my hands because a hollow handle, might, vibrate more...that's my story and I'm probably going to stick to it as long as it takes someone to correct me (at which time I will probably have known that all along...or something)
Anyway, I've cut out the scales and the are ready to be "grooved"?, but I haven't take any more pictures yet. After that I'll drill out the pin holes, glue in the brass and start sanding, so long as I've made it that far.
Thanks for checking out the thread, hope it's not too bad
Hope to be back soon,
I was going to save this till i had it finished, or leave it if it didn't work out, but a friend of mine on here wants to see it , so...hope I'm in the right forum.
I have had this Boyscout hatchet for a while now, bought it at Court Day last year as a possible re handle project because one of the scales was broken. I used it in the JK Viktim Passaround some time back as well.
I've been trying to learn how to re-handle knives since John of JK Knives started offering blade blanks, I've done two so far a JK LRK and a BK16, both worked out well enough and were good learning experiences. With some extra time (or need for distraction more like) at the moment I decided to go ahead and start on this hatchet.
Anyhow my "method," such as it is, and my tools are "works in progress," so far this is what I have:
1. Hands..clumsy but they're here
2. Small wood files (might use them this time)
3. Sand paper from 60-400 grit
4. A Dremel (I've been using it to rough cut the scales out but I'm thinking of moving over to a coping saw)
5. Drill press, small, cheap and for light work only
6. pen
7. WD40
so, here we go,
Step one: Cleaning
The first thing to note is that this thread might take a while, I cut the heads of the handle pins about 3 months ago and only got around to doing anything else to it over the Thanksgiving weekend. Just FYI.
I scrubbed it down with some sandpaper to clean it up a little until it looked like this.
I also washed it with soapy water and then gave it a vinegar bath because I had read that this can help to halt and prevent rust.
Boy scout logo
I thought about moving up the sandpaper grit and making it all shiny but decided I liked it better this way.
I did give it a good rub down with a cloth and some WD40 before I called it ready though.
One last thing, when you spend a good few hours over a couple of days sanding off the grime on a hatchet head, then wash it in the sink, be aware that you may have inadvertently brought it to a razors edge, and that metal gets slippery when wet
It doesn't look that bad, and it's not, but it's worse then it looks. It's one of those fine cuts that bleeds everywhere when you try to use the thumb, ho hum.
2. Planning out the scales
I chose walnut and brass because I like it, unfortunately it seemed hard to get much bigger then 6.5 inches of wood...ha ha ha, I'll let that sit with you for a while...so my original plan of having a full length handle went out the window. I did toy with the idea of using two pieces for each scale, but decided I'd better get good before I start making things complicated.
My first issue is that even at 6.5" the wood doesn't get over the top of the last hole.
So after some consideration I decided I needed a lanyard hole at the bottom of the hatchet, Might grind off the extra lip in the "railing," not sure yet, which brings me to the next "issue".
The handle, unlike the blade blanks I've worked with, has a "railing" I suppose I can call it. After some heart searching - and turkey - I decided I'd made life too easy on myself so far and that I needed to mark out not only the handle contour but the railing as well.
I made the mistake of laying the first one in the middle of the wood and not at the end (more cutting!) but since I'm stubborn I didn't change it but cut it out this way anyhow.
My plan is to cut a rough scale that fits over the whole handle, then sand a groove into the edges so the wood sinks down into it.
This, I think, will also make it easier on my hands because a hollow handle, might, vibrate more...that's my story and I'm probably going to stick to it as long as it takes someone to correct me (at which time I will probably have known that all along...or something)
Anyway, I've cut out the scales and the are ready to be "grooved"?, but I haven't take any more pictures yet. After that I'll drill out the pin holes, glue in the brass and start sanding, so long as I've made it that far.
Thanks for checking out the thread, hope it's not too bad
Hope to be back soon,
Last edited:
but otherwise It came out okay, love the grain of this wood to)
