Yard sale Estwing

E

et10

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May 18, 2010
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I found an Estwing No.1 hatchet at a yard sale today. The leather cover looks brand new, and the hatchet doesn't look like it's ever been used. Still has the price tag and barcode on it, in fact. But the leather handle seems to have some kind of lacquer over the stacked leather, and that's cracked and chipped. Have any of you guys run into this, and have you had any luck with removing the coating? Or should I just ignore it, live with it, and use the thing with the chipped coating? I was thinking maybe thinner or some other solvent, but I don't want to ruin what's otherwise a new hatchet. Thanks for any advice you can give me.
 
I picked up one just like you describe. I used the edge of a wire brush on my bench grinder to take off all the lacquer off it. I was very careful to gently do it a little at a time, being careful not to bite into the leather. I then used some sandpaper to smooth it out. It came out rather nice. I then applied several coats of a leather treatment to it. It's fine and should last as long as I do.

I'll bet that you could just use some progressive grits of sandpaper and get the same results with a little more elbow grease.

I've been meaning to post pictures, but as of now I just have the before pics. I'll have to take some after and find the before ones on my puter.

Tom
 
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Thanks. I'll try some sandpaper and see how it goes. Other than the cracked coating the hatchet looks new, and for $15 I just couldn't leave it there.
 
Sandpaper will do the job fine. They actually use a belt sander to shape the handle at the factory. :)
 
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