What would one use this style hatchet head for?

[Mimic Knife & Tool]

I got this hatchet head from my grandfathers old shop… it’s a Plumb Victory and guess (judging from other posts) it’s from post WW2. It looks to be chisel ground. Flat on one side and beveled on the other. I’d like to restore it and put a handle on it. I’ve never done this before. What type handle should i put on it? Straight, curved, length, type of wood? Thanks!

 

[rjdankert]

1938 catalog snip

Bob

 

[Mimic Knife & Tool]

What kind of tasks, is it (a head configured like this) used for?

 

[EngrSorenson]

Hewing logs into beams- that kind of thing. General hewing.

 

[Mimic Knife & Tool]

Hewing. Ok. I think I need to learn some general terms for these sorts of things lol

 

[EngrSorenson]

Hewing. Ok. I think I need to learn some general terms for these sorts of things lol

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

Hewing (making boards), cutting wooden shingles, pretty much a carpenter's axe.

 

[Drop bear]

Hewing logs into beams- that kind of thing. General hewing.

I like it for a bushcraft axe. Let's you make joins and therefore all sorts of structures.

 

[littleknife]

I like it for a bushcraft axe. Let's you make joins and therefore all sorts of structures.

This and the half hatchet are OK for bushcraft, but being specialized carpenter’s tools for working with dried wood, they are not optimal for bushcrafting.
Bushcraft means working with green wood, for chopping and splitting green wood, the regular camp or boy scout hatchets are much better suited.
The carpenter’s hatchets can do this, but with the thinner blades they will tend to stick more when used for splitting green wood for fire. This won’t matter much for easy to split woods, but can be an issue.
That said, I have used successfully a Vaughan half hatchet outdoors, but given a choice, I would rather use a Vaughan camp hatchet or a Council Tool Flying Foxe for camping and bushcraft.

 

[catspa]

Its shape is symmetrical, can be hung either way. So when you rive and carve a haft for it, hang it the same “handed” you are.

Parker

 

[catspa]

If you’re ambidextrous, and you take on a hewing job of over 1000 board feet, get two and hang one each handed. You can hew twice as long at a stretch then, before your arms get tired.

Parker

 

[Hickory n steel]

It's a carpenters broad hatchet, not really used for the extensive kind of hewing on large logs we tend to think of.
More for smaller hewing/ carving tasks in carpentry, maybe making a 2×4 or 4×4 at most.

 

[Old Axeman]

It is a American pattern carpenters broad hatchet. It's intended purpose is to resize dimensional lumber, not to hew round logs into dimensional lumber. For example: you are on the job site and you need to resize (hew) a 2"x 12" board to a 2"x10", this is the tool for the job. A right hander hangs it with the bevel to the right as you hold it, and you hold the 2"x12" upright with your left hand. There is a little more to it, like grain direction, snapping the line, scoring to the line, etc. But this should get you started.

 

[Mimic Knife & Tool]

It is a American pattern carpenters broad hatchet. It's intended purpose is to resize dimensional lumber, not to hew round logs into dimensional lumber. For example: you are on the job site and you need to resize (hew) a 2"x 12" board to a 2"x10", this is the tool for the job. A right hander hangs it with the bevel to the right as you hold it, and you hold the 2"x12" upright with your left hand. There is a little more to it, like grain direction, snapping the line, scoring to the line, etc. But this should get you started.

Wow, sounds like some professional type stuff that requires a lot of skill. I’ll rehang and restore this thing, but idk if I’ll ever use it that way haha…. I’m an electrician, but we’ll see!

 

[SwissHeritageCo]

It is a American pattern carpenters broad hatchet. It's intended purpose is to resize dimensional lumber, not to hew round logs into dimensional lumber. For example: you are on the job site and you need to resize (hew) a 2"x 12" board to a 2"x10", this is the tool for the job. A right hander hangs it with the bevel to the right as you hold it, and you hold the 2"x12" upright with your left hand. There is a little more to it, like grain direction, snapping the line, scoring to the line, etc. But this should get you started.

Name checks out

 

[catspa]

It’ll probably be great for remodel panel swaps, especially in an old house. You can hack out the snake nests of old Romex.

And then hone the edge on some knob and tube ceramic.

Parker

 

[Mimic Knife & Tool]

It’ll probably be great for remodel panel swaps, especially in an old house. You can hack out the snake nests of old Romex.

And then hone the edge on some knob and tube ceramic.

Parker

Hahah I like your thinking!

 

[Square_peg]

It's a broad hatchet. In the old days it was sometimes called a 'stump hatchet' because it was often used at a stump that had been cut at a convenient height for such work. Mine are mostly used at a stump or tall round cut for this purpose. Nice for shaping garden stakes.

They used to be popular among concrete form setters who would sharpen a stake with it.