Axe or Hatchet?

T.R.K.

Well-known Member
The post below got me wondering. How small does it have to be to change over from an axe to a hatchet?
I always thought if it took two hands it was an axle, if you could use it with one hand it was a hatchet.
 

Don't know your answer. When I was about 10 years old I wanted a hatchet. Went to hardware store and we picked out what they called a "hand ax". It was larger that a hatchet but much smaller that an ax. I am 76 now
 
I have 3 different hatchets and the head on each is different. The only thing they have in common is the short handle. I have my grandfathers Winchester hatchet and it has a head the size of a falling axe.
 
To further confuse the issue, I have an axe with a handle not much longer than a hammer handle. The head is substantial, with a wide, flat backside, and a wide blade beveled on only one side like a small broadaxe. My dad called it a "hand axe", but it would probably be more correctly described as a "hand adze".
 
What you have described is a broad hatchet. Adzes (both long handled and hand) have the blade perpendicular to the handle. They are used for smoothing or hollowing out wood.
 
BJB is correct on the adze, we have one. I have what I call a carpenters hatchet, the cutting edge is straight. But I think it has the wrong handle in it, it is curved like a hatchet, and this one has a hail driving head on the back and a notch for pulling nails. The curved handle makes it awkward to drive nails with it, I think it should have a straight one. It is a very old Craftsmen, when Sears sold tools to craftsmen!
 
Watched a tv show once where murder was committed with a hatchet. The murder was still listed as an ax murder.
 
(quoted from post at 20:21:52 01/21/16) The post below got me wondering. How small does it have to be to change over from an axe to a hatchet?
I always thought if it took two hands it was an axle, if you could use it with one hand it was a hatchet.

Handel length and as you said one hand or two.As to the head,a hatchet will always be single bitted.An axe could be single or double.
 
Oh, I don't know about it always being single bitted. One of the most famous hatchets of all--that of George Washington Sears--better known by his pen name of Nessmuk--was double-bitted, and, for that matter, the hatchet of the "other" George Washington is often portrayed as being double bitted, though that one's obviously impossible to prove either way. One of my most-used hatchets is double-bitted, though it most definitely did NOT come fro the factory that way. I picked it up at a garage sale years ago for a buck or two and it's served well ever since. Someone had taken an old single-bit handle that had broken off at hatchet length and mounted a full-sized double-bit head to it. Once I got it somewhat cleaned up and sharpened, it's just the cat's meow for chopping roots and branches--I sharpened it to the old lumberjack's standard, with one edge "keen", or shaving-sharp, and the other edge "stunt", or with a more obtuse angle, and it allows you to get right down to the roots of a sapling without worrying about messing up your good edge, while still being able to hold the object of your efforts with the other hand to get in a good strike right where you want it. Not for the neophyte user, as you've got to take a bit of care that the edge opposite the working one doesn't get anything important on the backstroke, but a wonderful tool for selectively cleaning up and brushing out overgrown areas.

A better, though still not entirely 100% accurate definition, would be as was already stated--a hatchet is intended to be used with one hand and an axe with two. Beyond that, there's plenty of mid-range axes with lots of regional or trade-specific names that can be used with one or two hands as the occasion warrants. Some examples are "boy's" axe", "Hudson's Bay axe", "half axe", "boat axe", "camp axe" and I'm sure plenty more. A good modern example would be the Gransfors Bruks "small forest axe", which an experienced user can use with one or two hands as necessary.
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(quoted from post at 10:53:00 01/22/16) BJB is correct on the adze, we have one. I have what I call a carpenters hatchet, the cutting edge is straight. But I think it has the wrong handle in it, it is curved like a hatchet, and this one has a hail driving head on the back and a notch for pulling nails. The curved handle makes it awkward to drive nails with it, I think it should have a straight one. It is a very old Craftsmen, when Sears sold tools to craftsmen!

Are you sure you do not have a shingle splitting axe?
 
Hi, someone mentioned a wide axe flat on one side. My dad had one and I watched him use it to square of a round tree to make a square beam. He would use one hand, and just as the blade would hit the wood he would slap the side of the axe against the log. (Flat side). That way the axe didn't dig in. He could go along at surprising speed. If he was around he'd be 130 yr in June. Ed Will
 
Hi, someone mentioned a wide axe flat on one side. My dad had one and I watched him use it to square of a round tree to make a square beam. He would use one hand, and just as the blade would hit the wood he would slap the side of the axe against the log. (Flat side). That way the axe didn't dig in. He could go along at surprising speed. If he was around he'd be 130 yr in June. Ed Will
 

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