Restoring an old hatchet

[Hannibal]

I noticed that my FIL had a couple of old hatchets lying around so I asked him if he wanted them. Turns out he only wanted one and gave me the other. I'm pretty sure it's nothing special but I thought I'd strip off the rust and slow rust blue it after cleaning it up and sanding it down.
I'd like to reuse the handle that's in it now and was wondering if someone on here knew a trick to removing it without damage to the handle? Yeah, I know a new handle would be much easier but I don't want to do that unless I have to.

Thanks for any suggestions.298980 298981

[farmbif]

you need to gently persuade those wedges out of the end. maybe a good quality, like snap-on, hydraulic seal pick would be helpful. first thing might be to make sure wood is good and dry.
once the wedges are out. chuck it in a solid vise and with a flat face drift punch the wood out of the steel.

[JoeJames]

I have heard that you could stick it in a bucket of water for a spell, the water soaks the handle. Then let it dry and hopefully the wood will have expanded as much as possible and compressed - should be able to remove it after it has completely dried out.

[wilecoyote]

chucked in a solid vise as said above,
if really stubborn to do,
gently heat the metal surrounding the handle.
the wood will loose some humidity/water, if any = shrink_
the steel will loosen some rust, if any, between the inner surface of the metal ring and the wood_
with a flat face drift punch etc. as said by Farmbif.

[imashooter2]

After you destroy the old handle trying to get it off, a carpenters half hatchet is better with a straight handle replacement.

[cwtebay]

Do you have access to an oscillating saw? Taking a kerf from the center of the wedge, then heating the head should make the handle more amenable to removal. The wedge removal can also be facilitated with an end mill but or drill bit in a drill press. Make sure all of the sawdust is out before starting with an air compressor before starting.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[HWooldridge]

If it is tight now, about the only chance you have to get it out in one piece is with a hydraulic or arbor press using another piece of hardwood that's slightly smaller than the current handle. Anything smaller will just splinter the wood. You'll also need a block under the back end to keep it level. Obviously, pulling the wedges will help if you can get them out.

However, like Imashooter2 wrote, a straight handle is generally more useful. All of my hatchet handles are longer than normal (some people might call them short axes) so I can reach up into a tree and trim suckers. I also use "Goop" when I assemble a head so it stays tight on the handle.

[Bmi48219]

Hannibal, you have a shingling hammer. It’s possible the handle has been replaced already as a primary use for the tool is to drive roofing nails, which would be awkward with that handle. The ‘blade’ would be used to split wood shingles and also to pry up shingles. As such the edge would be thinner and flat / knife ground as opposed to beveled like an axe / hatchet. The hammer head may have at one time been magnetized. Please post pics of your restoration project.

[Hannibal]

Hannibal, you have a shingling hammer. It’s possible the handle has been replaced already as a primary use for the tool is to drive roofing nails, which would be awkward with that handle. The ‘blade’ would be used to split wood shingles and also to pry up shingles. As such the edge would be thinner and flat / knife ground as opposed to beveled like an axe / hatchet. The hammer head may have at one time been magnetized. Please post pics of your restoration project.

Ah. Obviously I don't know anything about hatchets so the existing handle will be removed without any particular care for that handle.

I'll post pics when it's done. Thanks for the replies.

[gwpercle]

Just soak the rusted head in Kerosene , every few days ...or once a week gently scrub the head with steel wool to remove the surface rust after a few weeks and a couple steel wool rubbings you will be left with a gunmetal-black finish that resists rusting just as well as any other finish and better than most . I've used this method to save several tools over the years ... certian family members would leave tools lying in the grass ...stayed out there for year or two and totally covered in heavy rust .
Kerosene soaking was old school method .
New school would be Evapo-Rust ... but I like the cold blue rust type finish the kerosene soaking method leaves on a tool ... it still looks like an old tool !
Gary

[Bmi48219]

Ah. Obviously I don't know anything about hatchets so the existing handle will be removed without any particular care for that handle.

I'll post pics when it's done. Thanks for the replies.

Don’t do it because I said so. Look for identification stamps, Do some research, ask the FIL about its history, then decide if you want to keep it authentic or repurpose it. One thing for certain, the thin blade won’t be of much benefit splitting firewood, but for a camper’s hatchet it may be useful.

[imashooter2]

Hannibal, you have a shingling hammer. It’s possible the handle has been replaced already as a primary use for the tool is to drive roofing nails, which would be awkward with that handle. The ‘blade’ would be used to split wood shingles and also to pry up shingles. As such the edge would be thinner and flat / knife ground as opposed to beveled like an axe / hatchet. The hammer head may have at one time been magnetized. Please post pics of your restoration project.

No he doesn’t. He has a carpenter’s half hatchet. A shingling hammer has a different blade profile and usually features for measuring the shingles.

[Alasgun]

298982

Swimming up-stream again; i have to ask. Why remove it? Any thing you do to ease removal will make a tight fit more difficult when you re- install it, Short of epoxy; which is a quite popular attachment these days.

I don't see that bit of rust as a problem and if lightly cleaned it would actually aid the look if you brown or blue the head. Steel wool will work wonders on both the wood and the metal to clean them without loosing too much of the patina.

You dont have anything there of great monetary value so nothing you do will hurt it. If sentiment is important to you, a light cleaning followed by either browning or bluing the head and an oil finished handle will take your “tomahawk” into the next century.

Imashooter2 has it correct. A shingle axe will also have a large square head that is coarsely serrated
And will really take a bite out of the flesh on your thumb when you miss a nail, making the remainder of your day go realllllly slow when trying to finish up a roof!

[NSB]

I found a hatchet like that at a garage sale one time and asked the seller why the price was so high on it. He told me it was George Washington’s hatchet, the one he used to chop down the cherry tree. I didn’t think it looked old enough to Washington’s hatchet and told the seller so. He replied that it was because of the amount of use it had gotten. He said the handle had been replaced three times and the head twice but he’d guarantee it was the original Washington hatchet.

[Hannibal]

298982

Swimming up-stream again; i have to ask. Why remove it? Any thing you do to ease removal will make a tight fit more difficult when you re- install it, Short of epoxy; which is a quite popular attachment these days.

I don't see that bit of rust as a problem and if lightly cleaned it would actually aid the look if you brown or blue the head. Steel wool will work wonders on both the wood and the metal to clean them without loosing too much of the patina.

You dont have anything there of great monetary value so nothing you do will hurt it. If sentiment is important to you, a light cleaning followed by either browning or bluing the head and an oil finished handle will take your “tomahawk” into the next century.

Imashooter2 has it correct. A shingle axe will also have a large square head that is coarsely serrated
And will really take a bite out of the flesh on your thumb when you miss a nail, making the remainder of your day go realllllly slow when trying to finish up a roof!

The pictures don't show it well but it has a hex head with 3 or 4 pretty big chips around the edges. No signs of mushrooming so I presume it's probably a bit too hard and someone beat on it with another hammer trying to cut something.
The plan right now is to run it under a wire wheel for a bit and look for any markings which I doubt I'll find. Assuming that is true I plan to soften it up enough to take enough off the head to get rid of the chips. Then I plan to sand it down to about 200 grit to remove any/all pits and then check hardness on both the cutting edge and hammer face. Heat treatment likely will be necessary, and once completed I plan to slow rust blue the whole head. Lastly I'll put in a new straight hickory handle, sand it down to about 1K grit and treat it with multiple coats of linseed oil.
I plan to carry it while bank fishing for various, light duty jobs.

Hence the need to remove the handle.

I know it isn't of any particular value and that's perfect. If something is too nice/rare/valuable for me to use then I don't want it.

[Alstep]

298982

Swimming up-stream again; i have to ask. Why remove it? Any thing you do to ease removal will make a tight fit more difficult when you re- install it, Short of epoxy; which is a quite popular attachment these days.

I don't see that bit of rust as a problem and if lightly cleaned it would actually aid the look if you brown or blue the head. Steel wool will work wonders on both the wood and the metal to clean them without loosing too much of the patina.

You dont have anything there of great monetary value so nothing you do will hurt it. If sentiment is important to you, a light cleaning followed by either browning or bluing the head and an oil finished handle will take your “tomahawk” into the next century.

Imashooter2 has it correct. A shingle axe will also have a large square head that is coarsely serrated
And will really take a bite out of the flesh on your thumb when you miss a nail, making the remainder of your day go realllllly slow when trying to finish up a roof!


Now that is a shingle hatchet. Notice the holes close to the upper edge of the blade. Those are for a stop tab. You lay the hatchet on the roof or siding, put the stop on the bottom edge of the course you just laid, and place the new shingle on top of the hammer head, then nail that shingle. That's how you spaced the shingle courses.

I've cleaned up a lot of old hatchets and tools with a wire brush on a small hand grinder. A worn out abrasive floppy disk works well too. Don't get too aggressive, and you'll have a nice patina. A disk will really put an edge on an ax in short order.

Leave that old hatchet as it is and just clean it up. If the handle is solid, leave it alone and go use it.

I have one just like yours from my father. It's done a lot of work over the years and still use it. Dad chopped off a lot of chicken heads when we butchered on the farm, and we still call it the chicken hatchet. Fresh chicken for dinner. That was a lot of years ago. The way things are going in this country, we may be going back to those times pretty soon.

Have fun & make lots of chips!

[beemer]

You do have a carpenter's half-hatchet and it has the wrong handle. That handle is for a camp hatchet. I have replaced a lot of handles on most anything that has a handle. I have never been successful removing a tight solid handle without destroying it, someone probably has but not me.

If your handle is solid and you just want a hatchet why bother replacing it, use it as is. The head does look like it is set too far up on the handle. Personally I would fit a proper handle, just because. A good cleaning and linseed oil will take care of the old one if you leave it. I usually take a wire brush to the head, sharpen and oil.

I am curious if there is a name on the head. It does look to be of good quality, some of the old tools had very good steel. A good carpenter wouldn't have fooled much with a cheap one.

Making and installing a handle can be quite a chore if done properly. I can and have but I prefer to buy a handle if I can. The hardest is a hand saw, I have done several fancy ones for good saws just to see if I could. The next guy that asks for a handsaw handle will probably get chased up the driveway with a hatchet.

Please excuse me for chasing rabbits but I do like old hand tools.

Dave

[Mk42gunner]

Regardless of what you do with the handle, (and I agree that the one in it is the wrong style) I would boil the head in water for twenty to thirty minutes and then card it off with either steel wool or a proper carding wheel.

You already have a good coat of rust, it may turn out with a good blue finish with only boiling. Why make extra work?

Robert

[Mr Peabody]

I found one just like that cleaning out my mother in laws garage. It's stamped Plumb. Steel wool cleaned it up enough to suit me, and a straight handle made it nice to use

[Tim357]

Evaporust is your friend..

[imashooter2]

I believe the Vaughan 64132 handle would be a good straight handle replacement. It’s cut for a 1 1/4 x 17/32 teardrop eye and the 13 1/2 inch length would be handy for your stated use.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I use one similar to that for chopping up lead cable sheathing.

[gwpercle]

If the head is affixed tightly ... Let It Be !
If loose ...then remove ... the handle that's on there is fine for a general purpose use hatchet .
Since the cutting edge is centered it isn't a special use wood shingle splitting/hammer tool ...they have a flat side with the edge all the way over to the side ... a tool with a center blade can be used as a general purpose camp hatchet with nail/hammer head and removal notch ...if the handle is in good shape and you like it ...use it !
Gary

[Scrounge]

Evaporust is your friend..

I love EvapoRust. Enough to have bought a 5-gallon bucket of it. But OP wants to blue the head, and rust is the base for blued steel. If he uses EvapoRust he will strip the existing rust off, and have to re-rust it to get the blue. Doesn't make sense to me to treat it with EvapoRust in that case.

[bedbugbilly]

My guess is that someone replaced the original handle on this "shingling hatchet" with a regular hatched handle at one time - shingling hatchets normally have a straight handle on them - if you've ever used one to install wood shingles you know why. :-)

If you really feel the need to remove the handle - wedges are driven in. I have removed handles by using a narrow 1/8" to a 1/4" wood chisel (depending on the width of the head of the wedge. Start at one end of the wedge and carefully hold the chisel across the head of the wedge and gently drive it in to cause the wedge to split crosswise about an 1/8" to 14" on one end. I used a 1/8" chisel that I made out of a cheap straight blade screwdriver. Then work you way down the wedge and split about every 1/8: to 1/4" for a distance - then carefully use the screwdriver or even a scratch all to drive down in the split and pry until the piece comes out. If you get it up far enough, you can grab on with a pair of vise grips and pull it out. Just keep working until you get the entire wedge split into small sections and pried out and once it is out, the handle can usually be driven out of the head. When you reassemble after refinishing, simply put a new wedge in. Easy enough to make a wedge - I always preferred to use a piece of white oak or hickory for the wedge.

[toallmy]

Could someone share some epoxy recommendations ? What is goop ?
I'm actually right in the middle of replacing a ax handle .
Sorry for the drift .

[HWooldridge]

Could someone share some epoxy recommendations ? What is goop ?
I'm actually right in the middle of replacing a ax handle .
Sorry for the drift .

Goop is a multipurpose adhesive - you can get it at the big box stores or online.

[toallmy]

Thank you

[jonp]

Hannibal, you have a shingling hammer. It’s possible the handle has been replaced already as a primary use for the tool is to drive roofing nails, which would be awkward with that handle. The ‘blade’ would be used to split wood shingles and also to pry up shingles. As such the edge would be thinner and flat / knife ground as opposed to beveled like an axe / hatchet. The hammer head may have at one time been magnetized. Please post pics of your restoration project.

The notch is to pry up nails. To remove the handle try a not so hot fire to burn it out and set another

[jonp]

Could someone share some epoxy recommendations ? What is goop ?
I'm actually right in the middle of replacing a ax handle .
Sorry for the drift .

Do not use goop to hang a shaft. Shape it properly with a file or draw knife and take your time doing it. Hanging an axe is not a five minute operation if you want it done right

[gwrench]

I like how this guy did his hatchet.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhHuzlPO_mg

[gwpercle]

Could someone share some epoxy recommendations ? What is goop ?
I'm actually right in the middle of replacing a ax handle .
Sorry for the drift .

Epoxy Glue ?
The stuff I always grab is the two-part J-B Weld , two tubes , 1- black the other is white ... mix equal parts - it will be gray and the best (strongest) is slow curing ... sets up in 4 - 6 hours and fully cures in 15 - 24 hours .
The quick setting stuff is weaker and doesn't cure as hard .
Gary

[imashooter2]

Hang the head with a close fit, wood center wedge and 2 steel cross wedges and then soak the cut end in boiled linseed for a day. Glue will be a subject for regret the next time you break the handle.

[elmacgyver0]

If it were me, I would clean up the head best as possible to get the loose rust off then rub down the handle with multiple coats of Boiled Linseed Oil.
The BLO will swell the wood and make the head tight to the handle.
If you don't lie the results, you can always screw it up later with a new handle.299049
Yes, it looks old and well used but the it is.
It looked like it belonged in the trash before I cleaned it up.

[beezapilot]

"Can't get the hang of it"- was a term about properly hafting or "hanging" an ax. Proper handle fit included the angle of the cutting edge to the handle itself- and a proper fit in the eye with wedge would keep it from "Flying off the handle". Hanging an axe is a good skill to have. If your local hardware store doesn't have what you need there is a great company on line that has handles for every implement on the homestead, "House Handle", in Cassville MO. Axes to adze to froe to scorp- and every farm tool known to man, should you order a handle spent the extra .50 to get it WITHOUT lacquer on it- and finish it with boiled linseed oil, your hands will thank you when you use it. Should you use goop / epoxy to fill voids rather than a proper hang you may spend some time trying to find the head down range being thankful that it didn't find a buddy. Good old steel that is not pitted will clean up to mirror finish, but that is rarely worth the time, should you take the time to really clean up the head you'll see the "temper line" and will see the different hardness in the steel depending on what it was designed to do. Emory wheels / bench grinders are generally a bad idea for sharpening- very easy to cook off the temper and make the steel soft, files and patience are a good way to go. The photo is a few examples hanging in my shop, the most interesting is the Shands and Mason fire hatchet on the bottom, imported from England in the mid 1800's.

Oh, well... can't upload. So it goes.

[HWooldridge]

299085

I’ll clarify with regard to using Goop or other adhesives. They don’t act as a substitute for proper fitting but as a method to keep everything in place, which means your wooden wedge.

I made up this axe on a head I modified by cutting away about the lower third of the eye, then I forged the edge wider so the cutting surface is about 5-1/2” across - the original was 3” wide. It was then hardened and retempered. The handle is 26” long and originally had a very small head on it that I hafted to a hatchet size handle. This little axe is great for delimbing felled trees, faster than a saw if I do my part. I made it about 8 years ago and it gets regular use cleaning up suckers from living trees and cutting up firewood.

So don’t use adhesives as a replacement for good fitting but the concept is perfectly sound to keep things in place after assembly.

[beezapilot]

Yeah, I'm with you on that, that's why I said fill voids. Picked up several axes over the years that had bondo surrounding the handle to hold things together rather than a wedge. I love old logging stuff, Darius Kinsey captured the "good old days" with photos, but I'd have loved to watch the masters of the old days wield an axe!

[jonp]

"Can't get the hang of it"- was a term about properly hafting or "hanging" an ax. Proper handle fit included the angle of the cutting edge to the handle itself- and a proper fit in the eye with wedge would keep it from "Flying off the handle". Hanging an axe is a good skill to have. If your local hardware store doesn't have what you need there is a great company on line that has handles for every implement on the homestead, "House Handle", in Cassville MO. Axes to adze to froe to scorp- and every farm tool known to man, should you order a handle spent the extra .50 to get it WITHOUT lacquer on it- and finish it with boiled linseed oil, your hands will thank you when you use it. Should you use goop / epoxy to fill voids rather than a proper hang you may spend some time trying to find the head down range being thankful that it didn't find a buddy. Good old steel that is not pitted will clean up to mirror finish, but that is rarely worth the time, should you take the time to really clean up the head you'll see the "temper line" and will see the different hardness in the steel depending on what it was designed to do. Emory wheels / bench grinders are generally a bad idea for sharpening- very easy to cook off the temper and make the steel soft, files and patience are a good way to go. The photo is a few examples hanging in my shop, the most interesting is the Shands and Mason fire hatchet on the bottom, imported from England in the mid 1800's.

Oh, well... can't upload. So it goes.

Thanks for that company. I didn't address it but you did, scrape the finish off the shaft, fit it then scorch the wood with a propane torch. Linseed it at that point if you want or skip the torch and go straight linseed. I sand all the handle i get whether axe, shovel or wheel barrel handles and linseed once a year

[jonp]

This guy does a pretty good job and his channel is decent for proper cutting axe or chainsaw. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oJKd3OWj9hI

[Hannibal]

I like how this guy did his hatchet.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhHuzlPO_mg

That makes two of us. Nice job.