The double bit hatchet ( saddle axe ) thread

Hickory n steel

Hickory n steel

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Whether or not you think they're as practical as a single bit with a poll you can tap with, I doubt you can deny that they're uncommon and cool. Whether your a fan of nessmuk ( don't know much about him but admired how he didn't search for the mythical one tool option )Or just like them for no particular reason, you may have none the less.
So let's see what you've got.

This is my only one, and I'm having fun with it for the 20$ it costed new. ( It's an imicasa made marbles btw )


I'm still getting the bits where I want and I've rehung it's handle because it needed it.
The cotton twine wrap is just something I put on there yesterday to try out and probably won't keep on there.

Btw would you consider this head a California/ peeling , or reversible/ half peeling ? I'm leaning towards California pattern.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Whether or not you think they're as practical as a single bit with a poll you can tap with, I doubt you can deny that they're uncommon and cool. Whether your a fan of nessmuk ( don't know much about him but admired how he didn't search for the mythical one tool option )Or just like them for no particular reason, you may have none the less.
So let's see what you've got.

This is my only one, and I'm having fun with it for the 20$ it costed new. ( It's an imicasa made marbles btw )


I'm still getting the bits where I want and I've rehung it's handle because it needed it.
The cotton twine wrap is just something I put on there yesterday to try out and probably won't keep on there.

Btw would you consider this head a California/ peeling , or reversible/ half peeling ? I'm leaning towards California pattern.
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Been wanting one for some time now. Like you said a vintage one is not easy to come by. I will probably hang a cruiser head on a short haft and call it good. I even thought I had a great candidate with a beat up old hand forged head but when I examined it closer the eye was some where between a full size eye and a cruiser.
 
I realized I couldn't thin the bit out any more without getting into the stamp so I decided to bring back and thin out what was the thicker utility bit.


It's not like the stamped bit was all that thin anyways, so it'll be fine as a utility bit.
 
Kevin Houtzager said:
One that I had:

1923 store bought American axe without markings. The one who bought it gave it to me to restore it, since he had it his whole life and knew I was into axes. Very small: The haft being roughly 30cm or about 11" to 12". Could flick that thing in anything, but not very practical because of the round eye. The handle is ash made out of a piece of branch, and wassn't oiled yet in this pic.

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This may have been storebought ( if the original owner remembers correctly ) but I'm positive this was hand forged for throwing.
So maybe it was bought in some kind shop that would take hand made goods in exchange for supplies...ect.
 
I own around 25 saddle axes. Some factory made others homemade out of damaged double bits. Really hard to beat for general use at least to me. Wish photo bucket hadn't changed their policy or I'd share some pics.
 
jblyttle said:
Any time you can get a $20 carbon steel saddle axe it is a win, I don't care who makes it.
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I'd probably say so.

Currently all that's being made are this, maybe that really fat Moore maker, and that crappy stainless steel one available from BudK which I think also used to be branded fir marbles.
There are tomahawk style double bits and the estwing double bit, but those certainly aren't saddle axes.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Did some more to mine.

Rounded off the butt of the handle and torched it really dark.
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Did you scorch it and then sand it?
Did you treat with BLO or something after?

I am curious as to how it looks and feels in person.

Here I am waiting patiently to find that DB felling and or cruiser tucked away in one of our horse barns or tobacco sheds on a farm here in CT and now I need to find me a DB Saddle Axe too ;):cool:

Could be a long winter :D
 
Miller '72 said:
Did you scorch it and then sand it?
Did you treat with BLO or something after?

I am curious as to how it looks and feels in person.

Here I am waiting patiently to find that DB felling and or cruiser tucked away in one of our horse barns or tobacco sheds on a farm here in CT and now I need to find me a DB Saddle Axe too ;):cool:



Could be a long winter :D
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I scorched it, then rubbed it down with a scotchbrite scrub pad. Then I did of course give it multiple coats of blo.
The handle feels great because it came very well finished, and is nice and slim.

If you really want a saddle axe, you should go for one of these at 20$ from smkw.
A few years ago at a large swap meet I passed on a nice old plumb saddle axe because the guy was firm at 30$ for it and I didn't want to pay that much for any axe, I figured I could find something else I wanted way more for a few bucks if I was patient and really looked.
I wasn't sure a saddle axe was something I really needed much, but love this one so much I really wish I had went for that one. Not to mention that I just don't find axes around here.
 
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35 years ago I was at the EAIA (Early American Industries Assoc.) annual meeting. At the tool sale tables after the mtg. a guy had an original glaziers hammer in great condition. Now I had been looking hard for about 5 years for one because I was glazing a lot of historic wood windows. He wanted $85, I offered $75, he said no $85. I walked away. I visited all the other sellers, bought a few jewels, but could not shake the thought that after 5 years I walked away over $10. I went back and gave him his $85. I still have and use the hammer-$10 well spent- and it is an original like the reproduction that Lee Valley Tools now sells. My advise is if its the right tool, make the deal happen.
 
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Old Axeman said:
35 years ago I was at the EAIA (Early American Industries Assoc.) annual meeting. At the tool sale tables after the mtg. a guy had an original glaziers hammer in great condition. Now I had been looking hard for about 5 years for one because I was glazing a lot of historic wood windows. He wanted $85, I offered $75, he said no $85. I walked away. I visited all the other sellers, bought a few jewels, but could not shake the thought that after 5 years I walked away over $10. I went back and gave him his $85. I still have and use the hammer-$10 well spent- and it is an original like the reproduction that Lee Valley Tools now sells. My advise is if its the right tool, make the deal happen.
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Today I probably would've went for it, but at the time I just thought it was kinda cool and was really looking for a riggers axe head or plumb scout hatchet.
 
jjtjr said:
I only have one double bit hatchet.

It was made by my buddy, Dan Warren, MS from Canton, NC.

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Wow that's gorgeous, what are the bit profiles like ?
How does it chop ?
The Western pattern looks the best of all DB patterns imo.
 
garry3 said:
Here is a link to an old one from the 18th or early 19th century. I thought at one time they were just a later thing. Should remind myself that there is little in the way of hand tools that hasn’t already been done long ago.
http://www.furtradetomahawks.com/18th-c--early-19th-c-axes---24.html
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The Taylor found under water in Quebec is pretty incredible.
Makes me want to hike and search thru the canal and old locks by my parents home, which became the New Haven to Northampton railway, transporting people, goods and Blocks of ice to NYC to the South from New Haven.
 
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