Harbor Freight Fireman’s Hatchet Mods

Picked up the best one (IMO) out of a group of six axes at my local Harbor Freight. I bought this axe to modify it into a camp axeone that I’m not afraid to use and abuse. I first stripped of the paint red paint off the axe head and the handle. I then removed the lacquer off the handle. Next I flamed the handle with a torch to bring out some grainand drilled out a hole for a lanyard and lightly sanded. Then I put four coats of BLO (I will probably put atleast four more coats on her over the next week or so) to finish out the handle.

Then i started working on the head profile. The original profile was actually decent. The edge was dull as expected. I used a file for an hour or soand improved the profile to my liking. I decided to leave the scuff marks from the file on the axe headI just sanded them a bit with 220 grit to age/weather them. I don’t like shinyspotless axe heads. Lastly I cut off the spike with a hacksaw and squared of the hammer pole. I finished up the blade edge with a fine file and progressive paper sanding.

I bought the hatchet for 24.99 and used a 20% off coupon for a total out the door right at $21.00. For 20 bucks I figured it would be worth a shot to see if it’s worth a damn or not. Overall length of the hatchet is 20-1/4”. I’ve done a bit of chopping in my backyard and so far the edge is intactso I think the steel is decent. But I’ll have to give her a proper workout before I pass final judgement. But for $20 and a few hours of workI’m pleased with how it turned out. The hanging of the head is what I think is the weak pointit’s just not done properly. So far it’s still solidbut I probably will have to rehang it at some point. I didn’t clean out the epoxy at the top to see what type of wedge they used. Time will tell though.

For anyone interested here are some pics.

Before:






After:

Sweet !!!

Helix

That really turned out nice. Great work.

Wowlooks great. Big difference. I like the look of the handle.

I used a hacksaw to cut off the spike.

AmazingI would have not believed that was the same axe.

looks good

Cool. Looks like a nice mod. How is the steel? Pretty soft? Also what was the 20% off coupon code? My brother has been looking for something like that.

really cool mod!

That looks amazing! Can you describe how you got that effect on the handle with a torch?

When scrolling downI didn't expect to see such a drastic change. Well done on that Mod!

That is sweet. You should call this "Extreme Makeover AXE Edition"

Okay that was cheesy but the axe is awesome.

Greebe said:

Cool. Looks like a nice mod. How is the steel? Pretty soft? Also what was the 20% off coupon code? My brother has been looking for something like that.

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I got the 20% off coupon in the mail. It had a barcode on it and they scanned it at check out. As for the steel I'm not sure on that yet. I'll chopped up some old elm and the edge seems fine so far. Also when filinga cheap chinese file wouldn't bitemy Nicholson did. That tells my that the rockwell probably is somewhere between 50-54probably closer to 50. I think the steel is decent. Nothing specialbut not horrible either. But I'll have to do A LOT more chopping with it before I pass final judgement.

TCC said:

That looks amazing! Can you describe how you got that effect on the handle with a torch?

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Sure! The key is to use a turbo torch. You want a want something that puts out a lot of heat in a concentrated jet. I use a Benzomatic TS8000 with MAPP gaspropane would work as well. Fire up the torch and fan the wood. You have to work it by eyeso you won't burn it too much. Give it a shot I think you'll find it to be a pretyy simple.

Nice mod. It looks great and will probably treat you fine. There are some hidden deals at HF that a lot of people just pass on by. It can be tough to find them at timesbut a little searching and weeding online will let you know what will work and what won't.

A lot of magazines such as four wheel drive and outdoorsman magazines have harbor freight adds in them nowadays. There's normally a 20% of coupon towards the top of those adds. You can also sign up for their email dealsand quite often one of the emails will have another 20% off coupon in there. One nice thing about the couponis you can use on items that are already on sale to save even more.

Wow....great job....

Axellent !

flaviln

love the transformation! way to see the inner beauty in that orginal!

Great joblooks like a poor man's Norlund.

Man that is too cool! Excellent job on the mod!

Nice work. Looks totally different.

NRA's magazineAmerican Rifleman usually carries Harbor Freight ads and coupons. Also you can go to a Harbor Freight store and sign up for their sales ad and they will mail them to you. I get them all the time.

Right nowthey have their magnesium fire starters on sale for $2.97 and their small 9 LED flashlights (2 pack) for $2.99. I keep several of them scattered between cars and house. Cheap and handy! They are also an excellent source for cheap wool blankets.

Beautifully done. Love the new axe head profile and the hammer poll.
Got one of those I been using to pull out tree roots. I abused it enough to know they used decent steel on it.
So you used only hand tool? I'm gonna give it a try..I'll be happy if it comes out half as good.

I wasn't expecting this myself either. Sorta almost has a Hudson Bay axe look to it nicely done

That is incredible. Great work!

Dayum! That came out nice. One of the better mods I've seen here. Looks all business now.

Nice job! I looked at that axe in the store and thought about doing something similar. I didn't need an axe thoughso I passed. I may have to think again...

Looker

Wow what a difference! Add me to the list of skeptical when I saw the first couple of pics. That looks great good job.

very nice mod!

Easy_rider75 said:

I wasn't expecting this myself either. Sorta almost has a Hudson Bay axe look to it nicely done

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Yep. That's what I was gonna say. I never would have guessed that there was a Hudson Bay axe hidden in there. Nice work. I may just have to try the torch on the handle thing. That's pretty neat.

I keep one of those HF fire axes in both my Jeep and my truck at work. I use them for cutting up blowdown trees and branches that are on the road after storms and use the pick poll for digging up roots.

They must have changed up their heat treat or I got a different batch or something because the two that I have are so soft that they literally gummed up the file that I was using so badly that I couldn't clean it out w/ a wire brush and had to scrap it. I've never seen that happen before. ButI can't complain. I have no reservations about not babying these axes.

Sandcut said:

Yep. That's what I was gonna say. I never would have guessed that there was a Hudson Bay axe hidden in there. Nice work. I may just have to try the torch on the handle thing. That's pretty neat.

I keep one of those HF fire axes in both my Jeep and my truck at work. I use them for cutting up blowdown trees and branches that are on the road after storms and use the pick poll for digging up roots.

They must have changed up their heat treat or I got a different batch or something because the two that I have are so soft that they literally gummed up the file that I was using so badly that I couldn't clean it out w/ a wire brush and had to scrap it. I've never seen that happen before. ButI can't complain. I have no reservations about not babying these axes.

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Yeah I think it's safe to say that Harbor Freight's quality controll just isn't very good. But one could take a small file on their person into the store and quickly test the edge hardness while looking them all over. Don't ask me how I knw that though!

BTW thanks for all the comments! This seems like a fine place to hang out!