Imperfect handle

[geneg]

Picked this up on the last day of a tag sale.  For $3.75, I gave it a new home.  I can hammer down the upset areas and file / hone the edges.  Any suggestions on the scales?  A little gorilla glue and tightening of the rivits will make it sound, but it will still be missing some wood.  Is a complete replacement a "better" option?  I thought walnut might be nice or birdseye maple or I have some hedge (osage orange) from my Granddad's fence posts.  I know its mine, but just thought I'd go for some expert opinions. 

[sumner52000]

How do you tighten rivits?  I have a few that need help too.

[johnsironsanctuary]

Resetting the rivets is good, but Gorilla Glue is porous when it dries.  That crack could be filled with epoxy, but it will be dark. It is hard to get maple to darken to match, but not impossible. Maybe new scales are in order. That is a mighty pretty hatchet. Let's see what Scottg, the axmaster has to say about it.

[kxxr]

I really like that one. I would want to preserve the original state a much as is practical. You have a lot of choices there. My vote would be repair rather than replace, definitely.
Melt down some gold and pour it in there. Smooth it to match contour and shine to taste.  That would look pretty cool and you wouldn't have to worry about almost matching the wood grain  or color.  You may want to come up with something a little cheaper for  filler. 
Whatever you do, don't forget to show pictures. Nice hatchet.

[Papaw]

Whatever you do, don't forget to show pictures. Nice hatchet.

I second that!

[keykeeper]

I would have bought that as well. Beautiful piece from a time when quality mattered to the manufacturers.

I would go with some new scales out of a similar wood, but I wouldn't scrub much patina off of the metal.

[geneg]

The only gold I own is in my mouth & on my ring finger.  So that's out.  scottg's thoughts will be much appreciated.  Most woods will darken in a bag with some ammonia- never tried maple,  I may do a test run to see how it turns out.  The gorilla glue thought is that the foam out can be scraped/brushed off whereas epoxy requires more damaging methods.  I have also found that taping both sides parallel to the joint with painters masking tape aids in limiting the mess.   I have found (after splitting the handle on a butcher knife)  that the rivits can be tightened if the back side is well supported & the front is very lightly tapped.  IE a 2oz ball peen instead of a sledge hammer.   Unless someone has a great suggestion,  I may just glue the joint & not worry about the missing wood.  Also, I haven't started searching to determine age yet, but my GUESS is 30s to 40s possibly earlier since Estwing quit the scales in about '28.

[wvtools]

I cannot believe that it made it to the last day of the tag sale at 7.00.  The Bridgeport scout axes are less common around here than the Plumb ones, but I still have a harder time selling them and get less than the Plumb ones (ave. of 25.00 compared to an average of 30-35 for the Plumb ones).

The 1925 Bridgeport catalog does not show that ax.