Plumb Hatchet

[ApacheCoTodd]

Yup - wood.

You'll want to use a flat punch as close in diameter to the width of the wedge as possible but it's not machining so don't stress too much on it.

Also, do most of your tapping on the forward half-blade side of the wedge since the gap to move laterally is to the rear.

Just taps, not full on whacks.


Todd.

 

[danez71]

There does appear to be a wooden hedge in between. Try out this pic.

Looks like a wedge to me.

Find something as close to the same length and width as the visible area you see and whack it to try to wedge the wedge in further.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Plumb hatchets are good. I had mine since the 1980's.

 

[bannockburn]

Barry the Bear

I have my grandfather's carpenter's hatchet around here somewhere; looks identical to your Plumb model. The one that gets the most use is my father's Norlund hatchet. Probably over 40 years old it has been a constant companion on many camping trips, made large amounts of kindling and fire wood, and dispatched countless bushes, shrubs, and the occasional small tree. A very handy and useful outdoors implement.

 

[Kingcreek]

Barry, you can do what you want but if I were me...
I would give it a couple solid whacks with the head up and the butt of the handle down on a solid surface to drive the head tight. Then I would make sure the wood wedge is snug in its space with a punch. Next I would drive a smaller aluminum hammer wedge in at 90 degrees to the wood wedge, i.e. crosswise so it has to be smaller than the side to side measurement within the cheeks of the head. If it ever loosened even a little then I would soak it a bit.
That's my method for every hammer axe sledge hatchet etc on the place (and that's more than a few.)

 

[Barry the Bear]

Forgive me as I'm a total newb when it comes to axes and hatchets, can someone explain in further detail what I have to do this wedge?

 

[rcmodel]

Look at my pictures above.

You bang the handle on a hard surface to fully seat the head on the handle.

Then, you drive the wedge into the handle grain at the head to expand the wood into the eye. (Hole the handle fits in.)

Once you drive it in as far as you can, saw or grind off any of it that is still sticking out.

Refer to the picture I posted in post #24 above for what it should look like when you get done.

rc

 

[AJumbo]

"Nice example of a classic shingle hatchet with hammer poll (and nail puller) from the days when roofers split and shingled roofs with cedar shakes."

Well, kinda. What you're referring to, King, is the OP's Cold Steel Trail Hawk, which is a direct knock-off of a 19th century shake axe. Hudson's Bay Company sold barrelfuls of these to trappers and Indians, and they appear regularly in HBC inventory ledgers. They're mentioned in the inventory of the Astoria trading post, and have been found in archaeological digs wherever HBC had a presence. I'm perfectly happy with the tomahawks that I gathered in my buckskinner days, but I'd seriously consider the Trail hawk if I needed to plug that gap. Those include H&B 'hawks and a Cold Steel Rifleman's Hawk. I love the CS, but treat it more as a small axe than a tomahawk; it's a heavy pig, almost too much to carry all day. I used it framing houses for a couple of days, with the blade sheathed, and it did pretty well. I went back to my framing hammer pretty quickly, though.


The beauty of the tapered-poll axes is that you can make a handle for it in the field, and the handle will tend to slip out of the head rather than break if you make a bad throw (don't tell me you never, EVER threw your hatchet).

 

[redneck]

Nice hatchet, I have a plumb also that I inherited from my grandpa. I had to put a handle on and make a sheath for it but it goes on all my camping trips.

I like how the edge is lower than the eye so you can choke your grip up and use it for rough carving as well as chopping.

 

[Barry the Bear]

I will do as instructed today after work see how it turns out.

 

[19-3Ben]

Those are fantastic. I've got a couple and they're fantastic. Now, when you go into the woods, all you need are a couple of duplex nails and you're set!

 

[Smith357]

Here're three different shingle axes I keep around.

Todd.

The two on the left appear to be hewing hatchets or broad hatchets , for flatting one side of a log. the one on the far left looks like it has had a double bevel put on it which makes hewing a straight ling almost impossible.





I find a half hatchet to be a very handy tool around the camp site, I keep a vintage Plumb half hatchet in my carpentry box. I use a True Tremper Dynamic hung on a 19" handle around the camp.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

You weirdos can call 'em hewing tools all day long but that's just a term.

They're still shake or shingle hatchets to me. I don't think I've ever "flattened" the side of a log or beam with anything other than a draw-blade or an axe of more than a 20 inch or so handle but to each his own.



Todd.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I use my hewing hatchet a lot to hew the excess wood on the belly side of bow staves when I'm making a selfbow. After that I'll use the drawknife with the stave held in my shaving horse.
It's also handy for putting a point on stakes.
YMMV

 

[Lone Star]

Have you tried the Gerber/Fiskars camp axes, or the Buck hatchet? I like the way the fiberglass handles surround the heads so they won't fly off.

Are Snow & Nealy axes good? Tru-Temper? Estwing? Been around for decades, maybe for generations.

I THINK I recall the Plumb firm making some Boy Scout hatchets. They probably had a full line, not just carpenters' hatchets. Is Plumb now out of business?

I think the only difference between Fiskars and Gerber is handle colors and the names on them. Same factory; same basic models. Finnish-made.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Plumb did make official Boy Scout hatchets, I inherited a couple some years back. They are each different in style but are your basic camping hatchet with the Boy Scout markings on one side of the hatchet head. Both have definitely been used by Boy Scouts though..

 

[Smith357]

Are Snow & Nealy axes good? Tru-Temper? Estwing? Been around for decades, maybe for generations.

I THINK I recall the Plumb firm making some Boy Scout hatchets. They probably had a full line, not just carpenters' hatchets. Is Plumb now out of business?

I think the only difference between Fiskars and Gerber is handle colors and the names on them. Same factory; same basic models. Finnish-made.

The old Kelly True Temper Axes and Hatchets are excellent top line tools, the Ames company bought True Temper and have cheapened them to the point of one notch above junk. You can easily find a vintage TTs at garage sales and flea markets for just a few dollars, take your time with a file to reprofile them and hang them on a new haft and have a tool that is as good as or better than one of those expensive Swedish boutique brands. The Estwings and Fiskars are good solid tools, but nothing to write home about. If I was going to buy a new axe today I would buy a Council Tool axe.

$2 TT 4lb Jersey pattern flea mrket find on a new $10 haft


Plumb made Boy Scout hatchets for many years, Collins and Bridgeport also made them. Plumb had a full line of axes and hammers in every conceivable pattern. I have a dozen different axes, and even more Plumb hammers. I tend to gravitate towards the Plumb Cedar Pattern axes. Plumb was sold to Cooper tools in the early 80s they are still quality tools but as far as market share they are a shadow of what they once were.

60s era Plumb BSA on original haft.

 

[X-Rap]

I bought an old Bridgeport Scout axe at a yard sale, picked up a handful of good ones fo $20.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Love a good hatch and Plumb were some good ones.