As some of you may know, I’m a bit of an axe nerd.

axe nerd link

Every now and then, I stop at garage and yard sales pretty much looking for only one thing, vintage axes. This past weekend was one of those stops and I came away with a couple of treasures…

A Walters hatchet…




And a Walters Black Diamond boys’ axe…




The Walters Axe Company LTD was founded as H. Walters & Sons in 1889 in Hull, Quebec by Henry Walters. By the time Henry passed away in 1901, his son Morley was very active in company operations and eventually took over the helm in 1912 changing the name to Walters Axe Co. LTD. He added a US facility in Ogdensburg, N.Y. in 1949 to accommodate US demand. Morley ran the company until his death in 1969. The company was sold and eventually shuttered in 1973. Their axes were renowned for their quality worldwide with their Black Diamond brand being the benchmark of the company.

My two garage sale finds will be re-haft, sharpened, and proudly added to the collection. The patina will stay exactly as is. They won’t be wall hangers and will have to earn their keep around the property. I’m especially looking forward to using the hatchet. Its weight on such a small head should make for excellent kindling prep for the upcoming winter.

Raining like a monsoon here so indoor work today. Cut and shaped a blank for the hatchet and began the hanging process. Should take a half hour or 45 minutes from here to get it hung. Sorry, didn't think to take pics till I got to this point, but it started as 1.5"x 2"x 14" hickory blank.

Hafted, sanded, ready for finish. Pole will sit in a bucket of linseed oil overnight to swell the wedge and I'll finish it tomorrow.

SWEET!

OK then...handle done. Just need to followup with the new axe handle rule...

Oil it...
once a day for a week
once a week for a month
once a month for a year

Still needs to have an edge put on it but since I can be a klutz at times, and since I tend to make my axes shaving sharp, I need to make a mask for it first so I can save on Band-Aids.

How about we make a mask...




Back later. Have to run to the dentist.

Outstanding work in progress thread, love the finished products!

Who doesn't enjoy seeing vintage tools put back in action.

Thanks for sharing. Nice work. It's great to give them another chance.

Your leather work is very nice. I didn't know what you meant by Mask.

In a world of technical crap there's something special about real tools that are timeless.

Awesome thread! I'm going to keep my eye out for an old axe or hatchet just to try to restore, or maybe make another mask for the ones I have now. THANKS! ......... DJ

I also enjoyed this thread. Thanks for all the detailed pics.