I spotted this sad little guy at a yard sale on the dollar table. My wife had picked up a couple things and the lady rounded down, basically gave me the hatchet. I'll clean it up and save it. The poll is not mushroomed and the handle is tight. The edge isn't bad. But the rust.
2 minutes with a flap disk on the grinder. More to come when I get to it. I have restored and rehandled several axes and I've got Collins, plumb, gransfors, but my hatchet selection was missing a small all purpose hatchet. This vintage Keen Kutter is going to clean up ok.
Nice! I love to find old tools like that and bring them back when I can. Getting harder to find them now though as so many others are on the look out for them.
Kingcreek Nice job of cleaning up the old Keen Kutter hatchet! I always liked having a small hatchet around to clear out old shrubs and small saplings along with trimming the branches on the yearly Christmas tree. I got this Nordlund hatchet from my Dad when he no longer needed it.
I never get to find cool things like that at yard or garage sales... Normally just find clothes for overweight women who got on weight watchers.
Long time getting around to it but it cleaned up good, still retains plenty of vintage look. I think I’ll make a leather cover with belt slots for it and put it to use.
Oh, and that is not the original handle. After I cleaned it up some more, I realized there were about 4 nails in addition to the wedge so it got a new stick.
I have one that I found somewhere, it says Solingen, Western Germany, on the side. Have a blessed day, Leon
I’m finding reference to Keen Kutter ownership by EC Simmons being 1900 to 1940, so it’s got some years on it. The rust looked bad but once cleaned up, its good hard tool steel. It has a good edge on it now. It’s going to get a leather cover and it might find a new home in the Jeep tool kit.
The Keen Kutter brand made some very fine tools. Good find and good save. There used to be some serious money spent collecting those by a guy that I worked with.
Maybe 20 years ago I found this Vaughn half hatchet head laying in the road. Turned around to go pick it up. The handle was completely broken off - just wood in the eye and it was in pretty rough shape. Got the eye cleaned out and the head cleaned up. Put the head on this fiberglass core composite handle. The kit included epoxy and chopped fiberglass to fill the eye and bond everything together. It's been super solid for years now. This tool saw a lot of use before I found it - the waffling on the hammer head is very heavily worn. It's a great tool and I'm glad I found it and brought it back to life. This Estwing was a garage sale pick up for a dollar. It had been left out in the weather, was rusted to hell and gone and the stacked leather handle was way beyond saving. Some bicycle grip tape I had laying around works just fine instead. It had been abused somewhere along the way too, as the poll has some mushrooming. Well worth the dollar. Need to make or find a sheath for it. This is a cool thread. Glad to bring it to the top again.
Finally took some photos of mine. I remember finding this one, can't remember any details except it had no handle when found. Have a blessed day, Leon
I love reviving old hatchets and hand axes. Simple and gratifying if the item is worth it to me. Todd.
What’s the history of nail notches on hatchets with ax heads. Those with hammer heads were probably shingling hatchets or intended for a carpenter tool box.
Don't know what the history is on the nail notches because they weren't regular shingling hatchets. Maybe meant as a general purpose camp hatchet or what were sometimes called a "house axe"? I have several vintage forged axes that I have reconditioned and rehandled including a big Gamble's Artisan double bit on a 32" haft. Old axes are like puppies. The pathetic things follow me home from yard sales and estate auctions and I care for them and give them a new home.
I'd have to say the utility of those nail notches were pretty limited. Whenever I need to pull a nail, claw hammer gets first try. If that fails, and it often does, super bar gets next try. And if that doesn't get the job done, a lady slipper / cat paw will normally get things started. Don't remember ever pulling a nail with a hatchet.
Hatchets with hammer heads were made for various purposes. Shingling, framing, lath work, all kinds of work. It's a great tool history. My Vaughn was a framing half hatchet.
I agree completely, boatale. The nail notch is worthless. unless the nail is already half an inch out you can’t snag it from a flat board. Maybe if the nail was in a <3” round post? I still think it most likely these were marketed in days of old as the “house axe” or camp hatchet and even if not really practical in use, the nail notch gave it an appearance of being all purpose utility tool wether deserved or not.
My understanding of the nail notch has zero to do with shingling, but a whole lot to do with fencing. If a board breaks or gets kicked off then the nail can be pulled and replaced or straightened. Even wooden shingles were too thin to really get a bite on a nail with a hatchet head. Sometime recently I saw a video or a series of pictures explaining how to do a bunch of stuff with hand tools that people just can’t do anymore, like tensioning barbed wire with a claw hammer or fencing pliers, and they had a lot of hatchet and hand axe tips.
