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This vintage C Hammond broad hatchet was a joy to bring back to life. It’s not a camp axe (but I wouldn’t hesitate to use it for light camp work like splitting kindling and smaller rounds for my stove). I picked it up at a local antique shop for $14! Still trying to narrow down the year of manufacture, but it appears to be from the late 1800’s/early 1900’s. The company closed its doors in 1920, so it’s at least that old. It has a beautifully forge-welded, inlaid bit that took a laser edge and a near-mirror polish. The head is a No. 3 pattern (bottom left on catalogue excerpt) and weighs 2 lbs 15.5 oz on my scale.
I gave it a vinegar bath and gentle scrub to remove the rust and grime, trued up the inside of the eye with a file where it had been struck, and reworked what appears to be the original(ish) asymmetrical, right-handed flat double bevel (with a very small micro bevel). The cutting edge has taken on a radius over the century+ that it’s been around, but I decided to keep it as such to avoid removing too much steel. Plus, I want to mainly use it as a carver and general carpentry axe, which it seems to be well suited for so far.
I would have liked to save the original handle, but had to rehang it. (I saved it for a future project.) I chose some figured maple and gave it a bit of curve, which I prefer in a carving axe. It has wonderful balance with the longer haft.
I gave it a vinegar bath and gentle scrub to remove the rust and grime, trued up the inside of the eye with a file where it had been struck, and reworked what appears to be the original(ish) asymmetrical, right-handed flat double bevel (with a very small micro bevel). The cutting edge has taken on a radius over the century+ that it’s been around, but I decided to keep it as such to avoid removing too much steel. Plus, I want to mainly use it as a carver and general carpentry axe, which it seems to be well suited for so far.
I would have liked to save the original handle, but had to rehang it. (I saved it for a future project.) I chose some figured maple and gave it a bit of curve, which I prefer in a carving axe. It has wonderful balance with the longer haft.
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