Phantom Bevel, Claw Hatchet

[lzenglish]

I picked this up for a couple of bucks yesterday, without a handle. It has no makers mark on it, and the blade looks in great condition. I had never seen this design before, but from my research, one person says it was used by allot of axe makers in the past. Apparently the purpose of the bevel is to help elliminate binding. I found one that matches the dimensions of it, in the 1937 Belknap Bluegrass catalog, but not sure if they made it. It appears that someone was prepairing this for polishing, or plating, by the fine sanding marks on it.

Wayne

[jimwrench]

 That reinforcing rib looks pretty unique. Woundn't be surprized if it was Bluegrass. Didn't find that rib in other examples in Sellens.

[scottg]

These are not that easy to find in this condition! Usually you see them beat to death (I have had a couple dogs).
 Someone started polishing this out, but it was i pretty decent shape when they started.
 Usually the claws are broken and the cheeks are bulged and the hammer poll chipped and scarred, etc etc.
 Nice find, worthy of carving a handle for. 
  yours Scott   

[Branson]

So Wayne, how are you at handles?  This is very nice looking, and like Scott says, worthy of a handle.

[lzenglish]

Thanks for the comments guys. I have never tried my hand at carving much more than tent pole stakes branson!Lol I know we have some members like scott, and yourself that could carve up a beauty, but I choose to go to Lowe's, and get a plain Jane for 5 bucks. Now, since this claw/ hatchet looks so cool to me, I may just try my hand at some cross hatching, and re-stain this one to a darker color. If you have not seen "Uncle Pimpys Axe Palace", google it, as he has some polished axes, and handles that are out of this world!

PS. As you can see, mine is not fully mounted yet, as I'm still debating if I will doll it up or not.

Wayne

[benjy]

any tips on polishing axes would be cool,,i have a few elwells in varying states that i would like to see shine

[Branson]

Wayne, probably belaboring the answer, but first scrape off all the shiny finish on the handle.
Then, if you want it dark, forget wood stains; they don't penetrate hard wood sometimes.  Get
thee to Tandy's and buy some leather dye.  Dives deep into the wood, even maple and poplar.
When it's dry, slather it with linseed oil.

[lzenglish]

I just happen to have some brown shoe dye that I bought for my leather ice pick holder. I have never heard of this trick before, but I'm game to try it on an old broken hammer handle! Thanks for the tip. While doing my extensive re-search on my hatchet, I found what looks like an exact match, that uncle pimpy polished, and handled, shown below.

"Benjy": I have never tried my hand at tool polishing either, but as I see it, the trick is to have a very large belt sander (40 plus inch dia. belts), and to keep reducing the grit until you get into the 800 plus range. I see they even go so far as to use  leather strope belts for the final finish in some cases. Then it looks like they finish it off with polishing compound on a cloth wheel. This has sparked my interest as well, and I'm on the look-out for a large (above 40 inches) belt sander. I  have a 1x30 inch dremel belt sander now, that will do small work, but it is more for puting an edge on a small knife.

Wayne

[scottg]

Uncle Pimpys Axe Palace
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Uncle-Pimpys-Axe-Palace/97213408636
   Hey he is getting better! I remember when he started and the handles were nicely laminated but ungainly.  He is getting much better fluid lines now.  I felt sorry for him as his first projects sold for pennies on ebay. I wrote him a couple times trying to show support for his work (nobody else was) and found him short on personality, sad to report. Maybe he was just going through a rough patch.

 You can certainly go through 10 grits and 20 hours polishing an ax or hammer, but unless you need to polish that high for some reason you can do it in 1/10th the time.
 I use a small (5") soft rubber sanding disk and an electric drill. I have a drill I use almost exclusively for polishing.
Metal, just like wood, as a grain. If you find and follow the direction the grain runs in the steel, you can do a respectable job quicker, with fewer grits.



   

yours Scott