Early carpenters axe brought back to life

[can_slaw]

I hope I do not get crucified for posting this, but for me it was a no-brainer to do. About a month ago I found this hatchet head about 3" down at an 1888 permission.


I love old tools, and it broke my heart to see it in such shape. So with a little elbow grease I was able to turn it into the following.


I love it being in usable condition again, and plan to use it for camping with my kids for years to come. So excited to get a razor sharp edge back on this beauty!!

 

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[digger460]

Nice restoration! It will outlast anything you can buy now

 

[G.A.P.metal]

Good job on the restoration !
Gary

 

[miboje]

Nice work on that. Such a cool find!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

[dts52]

Great job! That is sweet!
HH
dts

 

[villagenut]

Awesome job

 

[can_slaw]

Thanks all, I appreciate the kind words!

 

[BosnMate]

Looks good. I'm thinking you have a "shingle hatchet." Has a notch to pull nails, hammer to drive nails and hatchet to trim wood shingles.

 

[can_slaw]

Looks good. I'm thinking you have a "shingle hatchet." Has a notch to pull nails, hammer to drive nails and hatchet to trim wood shingles.

I do. Some called it a shinge hatchet, and others a carpenters hatchet. I called it an axe by mistake, but I could not find where I could edit the title, just the context. Was an honest mistake, I promise.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Nice find and restoration!

 

[against the wind]

Well done on your restored Chop Chop.

 

[Digg Mo]

Great restoration on the hatchet/axe. I found one years ago and now thinking about cleaning it up.

 

[RustyGold]

Excellent job! Living history.

 

[can_slaw]

Excellent job! Living history.

Thanks RustyGold!
My kids and I have already been making kindling with it in the backyard to try it out. I used square nails i dug over the summer as the metal wedges, and re purposed a 20" handle from a 1970's hatchet I had lying around, cutting it down to the proper 14'' length. That way I get a handle with character for the old hatchet, and all of the wedges are correct for the period. It really turned out better than I expected it would.

 

[Tpmetal]

ive found probably over 20 axe heads i keep meaning to clean up and never get to it. Seems like when i get time i just go dig more instead of cleaning.

 

[Kurios1]

This is a testament of how well they used to make things back in the day. Well done restoration of a really cool find.

 

[Duckshot]

I do. Some called it a shinge hatchet, and others a carpenters hatchet. I called it an axe by mistake, but I could not find where I could edit the title, just the context. Was an honest mistake, I promise.

The shingle hatchet and carpenter's hatchet are sort of the same but two different purposes. The shingle hatchet is for splitting wood shingles or shakertown siding. The carpenter's hatchet is larger, and used to rough split boards up to two inches for rough framing and concrete form work. Carpenters hatchets were pretty much essential to producton back before plywood (which was called laminate wood in the 1920s) was in general use.

If it is around twenty ounces or more it was likely used as a carpenter's hatchet.

Nice job on the restoration, great find and a very useful tool.

 

[can_slaw]

ive found probably over 20 axe heads i keep meaning to clean up and never get to it. Seems like when i get time i just go dig more instead of cleaning.

I think hatchet heads might become my new favorite relic to find. There are so many variations, and they are a lot of fun to refurbish!

 

[can_slaw]

The shingle hatchet and carpenter's hatchet are sort of the same but two different purposes. The shingle hatchet is for splitting wood shingles or shakertown siding. The carpenter's hatchet is larger, and used to rough split boards up to two inches for rough framing and concrete form work. Carpenters hatchets were pretty much essential to producton back before plywood (which was called laminate wood in the 1920s) was in general use.

If it is around twenty ounces or more it was likely used as a carpenter's hatchet.

Nice job on the restoration, great find and a very useful tool.

First off, thank you Duckshot! Now I wish I would have weighed the head prior to adding the handle. If I had to guess though, I would have to say it is probably a shingle hatchet based on those weights. Thanks for the heads up!!

 

[can_slaw]

This is a testament of how well they used to make things back in the day. Well done restoration of a really cool find.

You can't leave a new one unused in the garage long term unused and expect it be ok. This one was in the ground for a hundred or so years and all it needed was a handle and a good cleaning. The steel back then was on a different breed than what they use today.