Broad Hatchet

[Dave Lehnert]

Don't get out to rust hunt much.
Anyone have an opinion on the two Broad Hatchets linked below? Just looking for something inexpensive.

https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-207-01-Broad-Hatchet-28-Ounce/dp/B00G0PLPKI/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1518838629&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=Broad+Hatchet

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Plumb-36-oz-Broad-Hatchet-T11554/205073315?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cTHD%7cG%7c0%7cG-BASE-PLA-AllProducts%7c&gclid=CjwKCAiAn5rUBRA3EiwAUCWb2wGM6gEiBw2_lFpmmIOE FR8u4-RUpTRCFPRb-Er_q6f9iu_0qBcTDhoC59cQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=COO_v-GDrNkCFQNTwQodTusACA

[Grant Aldridge]

I don’t have experience with a broad hatchet but I love my fiskars x7 for general hatchet duties!

[Tom M King]

Flip a coin. I have one of each, although they are older ones, because I actually use them, and it's nice to have one facing each direction. I mainly use them on knots when hewing a beam.

[ernest dubois]

Flip a coin. I have one of each, although they are older ones, ...
It's a pretty significant distinction. The older ones, in terms of material, production and finish will be much better than what's on the shelf at the box store and which just came off the ship.

[Bill Houghton]

Both respected brands. There's also: https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Bushnell-SB2-Broad-Hatchet/dp/B00004Z2XL/ref=pd_sbs_469_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00004Z2XL&pd_rd_r=F9QYQ1665V7X8WKPCF3C&pd_rd_w=6GfZv&pd_rd_wg=Hk1At&psc=1&refRID=F9QYQ1665V7X8WKPCF3C&dpID=31a%252BcISi2yL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=detail

[Matthew Hutchinson477]

It's impossible to tell without looking at each in person. There are a number of things to check for, and though I could go into detail on those things, I think this guy says it better than I can:

https://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/2012/12/13/the-endless-look-at-hewing-hatchets/

In my limited experience with hewing hatchets, paying particular attention to the details in the second and third pictures is important.

I have two hewing hatchets--one that has a slight convexity along the edge as shown in the second picture and one in which the edge is dead flat. On the latter I rounded the corners which does help but it's still hard to keep it from biting nearer to one or the other corners. The other hatchet is a lot easier for me to use. It's similar to camber on a plane blade.

As for the slight convexity across the edge as shown in the third picture, it seems to help the hatchet pop out of the cut-like a scooping action-rather than digging in too deep. I put a slight curve on one of my hatchets on my own and it wasn't difficult, so I wouldn't be too worried about buying a hatchet that didn't have this feature already. Just make sure the leading edge is still close to flat and not convex like on a felling axe.

In the end I would think you'd be better off buying an old hatchet off of ebay. There's still a good chance you'll have to do some grinding yourself to shape the edge exactly how you want it but I would bet a lot of older hewing hatchets would require less work than a new one.

[Matt Lau]

how will you be using it?

If it's for true broad hatchet work (hewing), i vote ebay.
For just hatchet work, I like the husqvarna hatchet

[ernest dubois]

Yes but these (once) respectable brand names have little to do with the products that they are now attached to, don't be fooled. There will be none of the features that made the old ones work, most importantly the geometry of the back-side with its curves toe to heel and you definitely won't be able to verify that when you get it off amazon.
The cutting edge geometry will determine the kind of work the axe is suitable to do. The straight edge along the hatchet's length is for working a piece of wood smaller than the length, toe to heel, of the blade. The curved edge is for working wood larger than the length of the blade.

[Bill McDermott]

Ironically, I have a vintage Plumb that has the same lines as the new Vaughan. The steel tabs along the handle are there to provide a better hold on the handle. That's one advantage. It's also configured so that you could handle it lefty or righty. I also see "made in the USA" on the Vaughan. For those reasons, I'd go Vaughan. In either case, I'd encourage you to modify to suit. Some time with a file might smooth some of the roughness and make it more pleasing to the touch and eye. Seems like a fast and easy way to get started with a reasonable broad hatchet. If you find it wedging itself into and sticking into the work piece, rather than slicing off stock, you might ease the face that is flat with a very small bevel. Easy does it. That is often recommended and a very little bit of bevel on the flat face made the tool much more effective for me.

[Brandon Speaks]

In a hatchet size I use a gransfors carpenters hatchet. They also have a broad hatchet but the price goes up a lot. The gransfors carving axe looks close also but still the price is creeping up. I did see a reasonable priced counsel tool one but though it is called a hatchet it is more axe sized.

[Jason Baker IX]

how will you be using it?

If it's for true broad hatchet work (hewing), i vote ebay.
For just hatchet work, I like the husqvarna hatchet

Second the husqvarna hatchet. Hand forged in Sweden. Inexpensive.

https://www.amazon.com/Husqvarna-576926301-13-Wooden-Hatchet/dp/B00HC077GQ

[Patrick Chase]

It's a pretty significant distinction. The older ones, in terms of material, production and finish will be much better than what's on the shelf at the box store and which just came off the ship.

Errm, the Vaughan doesn't come off of a ship. Look closely at the head in the picture the OP posted.

Plumb is Apex/Nicholson, and like most of their stuff comes from overseas (most likely Mexico or Brazil IIRC).

[Patrick Chase]

In a hatchet size I use a gransfors carpenters hatchet. They also have a broad hatchet but the price goes up a lot.

Where "a lot" in this instance means $330 (https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/gransforsbruksright-handbroadaxe.aspx). Note the "twisted eye" that provides slick-like handle clearance.

[Roger Nair]

Of the two I'd choose Vaughan due to being 8 oz lighter, however the Husqvarna carpenter's hatchet is a similar price to the Vaughan.



https://www.amazon.com/Husqvarna-576926501-Wooden-Carpenters-Axe/dp/B00D74JBCY/ref=pd_sbs_469_5?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00D74JBCY&pd_rd_r=KTC7V6AX9CEN84QXY4AH&pd_rd_w=oAyNZ&pd_rd_wg=jKvIm&psc=1&refRID=KTC7V6AX9CEN84QXY4AH

[Wallace Brooks]

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This old Broad Hatchet (is that an oxymoron?) was sold to me by Patrick Leach: http://www.supertool.com/
The hickory handle was purchased from House Handle Company: https://www.househandle.com/
It was shaped with a rasp to fit the offset in the eye, then glass bedded in with Marine Tex fiberglass compound. The topcoat is Bullseye Shellac, which I prefer to BLO.
The steel edge is very hard. I periodically hit it with an angle grinder and a 120 grit flap wheel.

[Wallace Brooks]

I am not eager to buy a lower end hatchet or axe that was made in the pacific rim for the big box stores. The QC on the heat treatment is suspect, and sometimes the edge is too soft, other times it is brittle like glass. If I was buying a new hatchet, I would spend about 2x more for this: https://www.highlandwoodworking.com/biber-classic-carpenters-broad-hatchet.aspx The
Biber Classic Carpenter's Broad Hatchet is sold for $90 at Highland Woodworking in Atlanta. That is $39.00 below the price on Amazon.
It is a forged, heat treated and finished in Germany. You can always grind the ears off.

[ernest dubois]

A lot of hatchets and axes are getting confused, un-equal parallels drawn, apples and oranges getting mixed together here. As far as I can make out the two hatchets originally posed are both in fact single beveled and if that is the specific intention of Lehnert then the Fiskars, Hults Bruk, Gransfors, etc... carpentry axes simply don't fit the bill. When Lehnert was in the mood to hunt down a suitable side-hatchet on the second-hand market there are undoubtedly good reliable versions to be found, produced at one time by honest brokers for an informed client base. Such conditions no longer exist which makes the choice between the two proposed hatchets a bit of a gamble.

[John Sanford]

This is something that may be worth considering:

http://wood-tools.co.uk/tools/the-robin-wood-axe/

[ernest dubois]

This is something that may be worth considering:

http://wood-tools.co.uk/tools/the-robin-wood-axe/
This is an interesting case, (it contradicts also the generalization I made above). Wood has made an honest effort at getting a reliable axe into the hands of the ones not wanting to spend the money for a really good axe. I also like it because it goes in the face of the common notion that made in China equates with crap. It exposes not China as the origins of low quality and deception but the retail production and management organizations with big brand names attached as responsible for all this hoodwinking going on. Wood has taken the responsibility of getting the axes made the way he wants them made, in China. Still, it's no side axe so cannot fill the desire of that one posing the original question.

[Jim Koepke]

For me the hunt is half the fun.

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The one on the right is marked Stiletto and the one on the left is marked True Temper Kelly Works.

The Kelley Works hatchet came from an estate sale where two would have been bought, but at the time they both were priced at $18 and there wasn't enough cash in my wallet so only the True Temper Kelly Works model was able to come home with me.

The Stiletto was purchased recently on a trip along the Columbia River in Oregon. There is a building that is usually closed up. When we went by the door was open so we stopped for a look. The folks were loading up for a big antique show in Portland. There was a display rack of axes and hatchets. This one was spotted as being set up as a left hand hewing hatchet. He wanted $40, haggled him down to $27.50. This is the same place where a dividers was bought about a year ago.

The backs:

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There is a little bit of bevel on the back of the Stiletto. It shouldn't be too difficult to work it down to a surface good for hewing.

This was a good day since we were headed to a place that calls itself, "The Woodworkers Candy Store," CrossCut Hardwoods in Portland.

jtk

[Kevin Hampshire]

Dave, I went through the same process two-years ago. I chose the USA made Vaughan SB2 Broad Hatchet over the imported Plumb.

Vaughan USA quality is still "old school" and basically unchanged. Kind of like Estwing's USA production.

At price below, it's low risk and you're not out too much.

This link is for a lower price:

https://www.amazon.com/Vaughan-Bushnell-SB2-Broad-Hatchet/dp/B00004Z2XL/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1519350800&sr=1-1&keywords=Broad+Hatchet


BTW, got to love a 1 star review for the blade only sharpened on one side! Then there are the complaints about having to sharpen the blade to use...

[Kevin Hampshire]

Bill, The Vaughan already has this very slight back bevel you’re describing.

Look at the user photos (not the OP link) in the Amazon link I posted.

[Patrick Chase]

BTW, got to love a 1 star review for the blade only sharpened on one side! Then there are the complaints about having to sharpen the blade to use...


Bill, The Vaughan already has this very slight back bevel you’re describing.

I particularly like the reviewer who complained about the amount of work required to make the back "perfectly flat". I'm sure he'll soon be posting an update complaining about how the corners seem to dig in a lot.

I don't see how you could go wrong at that price for a US-made broad hatchet with decent steel and a properly shaped back. It's not going to hold a candle to the Gransfors, but you could certainly do a lot worse.

[John Schtrumpf]

My Vaughan SB2 didn't come with a bevel on the flat side. But the flat side does have a convex curve to it from around the eye to the edge (more towards the edge), and a slight convex curve toe to heel. Along with a concavity on the front/bevel side. The factory bevel on mine, was a small 45 degree bevel that didn't fully remove the original forged edge.

I can't really say how good or bad the SB2 is, as I have no real experience. I have used it to knock the bark off a log, as well as some playing. The curve of the bit helps for hewing and slicing, but is not so good for other axe/hatchet work like chopping or splitting (the head is off balance to the edge for a straight hit).


eye to edge curve on flat side
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toe to heel curve on flat side
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concavity on bevel side
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[ernest dubois]

Now thanks for that information. It is the first time that I have seen this axe tuned for use and from what I see it looks decent. Of course the back has to be perfectly flattened in the same way a chisel or plane blade has to be if you want to get a good edge on there. The slope at the back-side just behind the edge helps counter act the tendency of the blade to cut inward by providing a pivot against the surface of the wood. It's something practice and good technique would just as well overcome when that slope was not there so I see this feature as a crutch and not really necessary and there to make the axe more friendly for the one who axes only occasionally. It is the second curve, toe to heel along the back side that is critical because absent this using the axe would truly be difficult in any kind of surfacing work. You don't show the edge in profile but it seems the toe and heel are rounded and the edge slightly arched. Again it makes it handy for all-around use and maybe that is the intention, separating it again from the carpentry axe with its straight profile, sharp toe and heel.