Flea Mkt tools today

[David Ragan]

My first Flea Market purchases:

The first, older drawknife below is for debarking logs. The trademark stamp I cant ID, and is below. The hatchet is similar to ones I've seen used in green ww, am not sure what that style of head is. The hatchet is a Vaughn.

My question I about replacing the handles on the drawknife and hatchet. (I think Mike H has foreseen this coming, though, and has already PM me about some wood secured for same handles even before he knew about these purchases.)

Hatchet has several nails to wedge the head on it, and both handles on the drawknife are loose.

319696

The next is the Greenlee. The edge is good and nick-free, with plenty of iron left; it is sharp as it is. Handles are tight.

319697

The stamp on the first, older drawknife. Is it noteworthy?

319698

Hatchet-very readable

319699

Yes, it's pretty loose:

319700

[george wilson]

The Vaughn hatchet is like my Plumb,which I have been advocating.

[Tom M King]

That Greenlee drawknife is a nice one. Good head on the hatchet too. Our local Ace has a good assortment of handles. I don't have time for making such, but it would be nice for those that do. For a hatchet handle, I like a flair on the end so you don't have to grip so hard.

[Len Mullin]

What you are calling a hatchet, is really a roofers hammer that's why the head is shaped the way it is.
Len

[Joe Bailey]

Your older drawknife's etch is "L. & I.J. White • 1837 • Buffalo NY" -- a firm, whose edge tools were the equal of any.

[David Ragan]

That Greenlee drawknife is a nice one. Good head on the hatchet too. Our local Ace has a good assortment of handles. I don't have time for making such, but it would be nice for those that do. For a hatchet handle, I like a flair on the end so you don't have to grip so hard.

Great idea.

But that would be ironic for me to not use the newly crafted shavehorse, and all the handtools and make it myself.



What you are calling a hatchet, is really a roofers hammer that's why the head is shaped the way it is.
Len

Roofing is too hard of work.

I bought that one cause seems like the blade coming down closer to the hand gives an ergonomic advantage?

Google images on ax head styles:

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=607224&d=1332457239 (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRxqFQoTCPb-wM6wrccCFcQ-Pgodk4kEyg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.treasurenet.com%2Fforums%2Fmy-collections%2F282841-axe-head-showroom.html&ei=_mPQVfaHN8T9-AGTk5LQDA&bvm=bv.99804247,d.eXY&psig=AFQjCNHx80ev1_XE8doXflu0lmI1sR9UZQ&ust=1439805777002131)






Your older drawknife's etch is "L. & I.J. White • 1837 • Buffalo NY" -- a firm, whose edge tools were the equal of any.

Thanks Joe. Always nice to have good tools

[Paul Saffold]

Tim Manney has a 4 part tutorial on his blog about shaping the head of a flea market hatchet to turn it into a carving axe/hatchet and making and fitting a handle.

http://timmanneychairmaker.blogspot.com/search?q=shaping+carving+axe

[george wilson]

I try my best to stay off of roofs!! I do know a shingling (shingle?) hatchet,at least. What purpose would this one serve on a roof?

Whatever it is,it makes a good shop hatchet.

[Pat Barry]

Cedar shingles? It looks to have a nail puller notch, the head fro driving nails and the hatchet for splitting shingles to size

[Tom M King]

Here's a newer version: http://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-14-Ounce-Shingling-Hatchet-Quality/dp/B00004Z2XX/ref=pd_sim_sbs_469_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=03AF9QS1WPAMSY8Z49T6

[Tom M King]

Looks like they still make that one too: http://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-22-Ounce-Carpenters-Hatchet-Treated/dp/B0002IGHAM/ref=pd_sim_sbs_469_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0GVWCXC6JPJVVFTEYC3C

Vaughn calls it a "carpenters half hatchet", so I guess that's the correct name.

[Tom M King]

And a slightly different version, all with their own names: http://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-28-Ounce-Builders-Hatchet-construction/dp/B00004Z2XT/ref=pd_sim_469_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1ZGGWS16VM9R639V7MA6

[Karl Andersson]

Hi David,
I have a similarly-aged drawknife and it has both handles (appear to be original and tiger maple) shaped like the one on the right in your picture, so that may be original to the tool. Mine has hefty thick square tangs, as I believe yours are, so I don't think you could just drill a round hole close to the final dimension and whack/ burn the handle on; judging from the fit on mine, the holes were cut square with a chisel, at least on the end closer to the blade where the tang is about 3/8 square and the handle is tapered so there's only about 3/8 thickness of wood surrounding it. If the hole were round, I think the handle would have split. The thin end of the tang is hammered almost flat, so it could have been hammered through a small round hole- then the tip was bent at 90 degrees and the whole end hammered over and into the end of the wood, like a clench nail. I've seen plenty of older drawknives with no washer or other metal button on the end of the handles, so this was a common way of attaching them. That handle on the left is some sort of chisel or other tool handle just pressed into service, as I'm sure you figured out. I think you could remove that handle, heat the end of the tang red and hammer it back straight before repeating the original process. If you want to make matching replacement handles, I recommend you split the other old handle to remove it, then heat and reform the end; if you try to straighten the tang with the handle on, it'll probably just snap off. George may have some insight on this process, as the style is just after his "period".

Incidentally, the knife looks twisted in the pic - is that how it is, or is that just a trick of the camera?
Karl

[David Ragan]

Hi David,
Incidentally, the knife looks twisted in the pic - is that how it is, or is that just a trick of the camera?
Karl

It's twisted.

Chisel handle? I had not considered that.

[Bill Houghton]

What you are calling a hatchet, is really a roofers hammer that's why the head is shaped the way it is.
Len

I don't believe it is, Len. I've got a couple of roofer's hatchets, and they're distinguished by having an edge sharpened along the bottom edge (toward your hand) as well as along the traditional edge, for shaving or scribing shingles. The examples I've seen all had narrower blades, too. The fancy ones are "gauging hatchets," with a little knurled bolt/knurled nut that goes into holes along the top edge to set the exposure of the shingles. A gauging shingling hatchet is by far the fastest hand way to do shingles: get your starter course straight, then gauge every successive course off that initial straight line. The hatchet edge allows for quick trimming of shingles or scribing of composition shingles, and the hammer side will drive a roofing nail right quick. You just have to remember to turn the tool around for hammering...

The Vaughan is, as others have commented, a half hatchet (no idea of the name origin, unless it refers to the straight line along the top, implying that a whole hatchet would be curved along top and bottom edges both). It's been my understanding that it was traditionally used in rough carpentry.

[Joe Bailey]

The name "half-hatchet" refers to the fact that the tool is half hatchet and half hammer.

(true hatchet/axe afficianados will scold you for using the poll of an axe or hatchet as a hammer)

[Jim Koepke]

true hatchet/axe afficianados will scold you for using the poll of an axe or hatchet as a hammer

After making the stake, how else would you drive it through the chest of a vampire?

jtk

[Joe Bailey]

After making the stake, how else would you drive it through the chest of a vampire?

jtk

Hey, I'm with you Jim -- desperate times call for desperate measures -- I'm just telling you what those pesky axe people say.

[Mike Holbrook]

Nice finds David!

I just thought shaving a few rough tool handles might provide good drawknife experience. I bought a few handles at Tractor Supply the other day too, unfortunately a couple are too small for the axe heads I need handles for.

The Greenle drawknife looks like it could be put into service now. I know a guy who use to be a farrier who now forges and bends iron for gates, fences, decorations. He lives north of you and might be able to rework that other drawknife.


I won a few auctions:

319973

The axe head came with a handle but the head was black & rusted so I soaked it over night in Evapo-Rust, which revealed what looks like multiple colors in the head. I am wondering if it is from heat treating or something. I was looking for axes to use for splitting small logs or pieces from split logs. One is a splitting axe head that looked like it might make a good heavy duty wedge, at least worth a try at -$5.00. The wedges on the far right are Gransfors Bruks wedges that I sharpened, turns out when used properly they do a great job.

[David Ragan]

Nice finds David!

I just thought shaving a few rough tool handles might provide good drawknife experience. I bought a few handles at Tractor Supply the other day too, unfortunately a couple are too small for the axe heads I need handles for.

The Greenle drawknife looks like it could be put into service now. I know a guy who use to be a farrier who now forges and bends iron for gates, fences, decorations. He lives north of you and might be able to rework that other drawknife.


I won a few auctions:

319973

The axe head came with a handle but the head was black & rusted so I soaked it over night in Evapo-Rust, which revealed what looks like multiple colors in the head. I am wondering if it is from heat treating or something. I was looking for axes to use for splitting small logs or pieces from split logs. One is a splitting axe head that looked like it might make a good heavy duty wedge, at least worth a try at -$5.00. The wedges on the far right are Gransfors Bruks wedges that I sharpened, turns out when used properly they do a great job.


Nice finds!

Love those wedges-looks like they are made to pound on.

[Stew Denton]

Hi All,

I've seen or heard two references to that type of hatchet. One reference was from an book on carpentry that I bought about 35 years ago. The carpenter who wrote it apprenticed to carpenters that had been around a long time and from the photo my guess is that he was in his mid 50s or so when he wrote the book, so this likely goes back about a century or so at least.

One use of such a hatchet was in framing where you had a 2X out of line because if was not very straight, in a wall or maybe a ceiling joist. What could be done was to make a series of chops into the 2X, at 90 degrees to the length, and then use the ax like a chisel to split off the chunks. In this way, you could take off a quarter or half inch and thus deal with a crooked framing member which as in a place that it would have noticeably bowed the plaster out in a lath and plaster wall, and thus you could get the wall straighter. In short, it was used a little like we use a plane to get things to fit better, only was used in the framing instead of the finer touches in the finish work where a plane is used.

The other use for such a tool that I have heard described was in rigging wooden oil well derricks. An old carpenter friend of mine from back in the early 80s had worked in the oil fields, building company housing for the oil field hands. He told me of watching the riggers build these wooden derricks, using these axes. He said they almost never used a saw, as virtually everything was done with the axes. He said that they used them to dimension the lumber, cut joints, everything....highly skilled with these. He called them rigging axes, because that is what they called them. This would have been back in the 20s and 30s.

I have a couple of the heads from these hatchets, that most likely came from one of the oil field hands back then, as that was the main use for them in that area.....there were a lot more riggers than carpenters from back then. I have restored one, put a good handle on it, and made a leather sheath for it....very nice tool now. The other one has not been restored, as I have never needed more than one....but now that I have a son in law that likes woodworking I may have to restore the other one.

To me, from the size of the nail pulling slot, these axes were made for framing carpentry, etc., as that slot is made for pulling a big nail. I have done plenty of roofing, although little with wooden shingles, and that kind of a nail pulling slot would be useless for any type of roofing that I have ever seen.

Stew

[Bob Glenn]

I used to have an ax that was used by Abraham Lincoln. The handle had been replaced three times and the head had only been replaced twice!