They don't make 'em like they used to

Digging through the old workshop here on the homestead I came across a couple hatchet heads.
I showed you a while back the handles I made from some firewood.


If you are like me you have seen endless amounts of the head on the left at garage sales and auctions.
I have come to think of it a the top of the line hatchet just because it is so common.

100 years ago Horace Kephart wrote "The Book of Camping and Woodcraft".
In the "personal kit" section he has this to say about hatchets.

"A woodsman should carry a hatchet, and he should be as critical in selecting it as in buying a gun. The notion that a heavy hunting knife can do the work of a hatchet is a delusion. When it comes to cleaving carcasses, chopping kindling, blazing thick-barked trees, driving tent pegs or trap stakes, and keeping up a bivouac fire, the knife never was made that will compare with a good tomahawk. The common hatchets of the hardware store are unfit for a woodsmans use. They have broad, thin blades with a beveled edge, and they are generally made of poor, brittle stuff."



Seems my great grandpa didn't read Kephart. I found these broken heads in the shop also. They still had handles and my grandpa was still using them for light hammers. If you are planning on using a hatchet as a tool it would be good to avoid the example above since it appears that Kephart was right when he said they were made of poor brittle stuff.

The one on the right (in the first picture) is also brittle but of a thick design so it will be harder to break the steel.
A tomahawk is better for woods running than either of these but beggars can't be choosers.
At least now you and I know the limitations of this type of hatchet.

Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy

An easy quick target stand

I bought a new varmit rifle (more on that in the future) and needed to sight it in.
I have a great pistol range here at the homestead, but am lacking for a long range place to shoot.
I can use my pistol range once the soybeans are harvested, but for now I had to improvise.
I have a large patch of weeds 95 yards downrange from my car in the driveway.

So I took two scrap 2x6's and two nails and made a passable target stand.


One nail goes in the middle of the back.
It holds the prop in place.
The other nail goes near the top on the front and holds the target.
If you look real hard you can see the nails in the left board, one just above the paper on the left side and one at the bottom of the paper on the right.





Next stand the nailed board up and lay the prop on top of the back nail like the picture, and there you have it.
It takes 3 seconds to set it up.






Now just poke the nail through the target and fire away.
One drawback is the target tends to tear but it is still functional and you can't beat the price or convenience.
It's also not too good in the wind but hey what do you expect for free.
It got the job done and is still waiting for the next time.

Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy

Bee Hive and a hatchet

Like I said yesterday was going to round up some wood for a top bar bee hive.
I found some 1"X12" in my scrap pile and got two sides 45" long and a bottom 50" long.
I cut some 1"X4" trim 45" long to go around and gathered up some more one inch boards to make the bars.
I hit a snag as one of my sides had a piece splitting out of it so I pried it open and put in some glue and clamped it tight. So that's as far as I got on that project yesterday.

As I was working on the bee hive I saw a hatchet head hanging on a nail by the door in my shop. It's been hanging there my whole life as far as I know and I notice it almost every time I'm in my shop. ( In case you don't know my shop was built by my great great grandpa around 1890) So I decided it finally needed a handle. I should of gone in the house and got the camera so I could of shown you the steps I took to create it but you'll just have to suffer through my description instead.

I went out to my wood pile and dug through my pile of slabwood. I bought a dumptruck load a couple weeks ago to burn in the furnace. I got a nice piece of white oak that was slightly larger and longer than I needed.
It was only about 1/4" thicker than it needed to be and about 1/2" wider. First and most important in my opinion I took a pencil and marked the center line on the narrow side of the wood. This is where the narrow side of the hole will go. Then I held the head up to the blank and marked how deep the head would sit on the handle.

When I did this I saw I could cut about 3/8" off the back of the blank so I ripped it down with the hand saw.(that was some work) Then I put the blank in the vise and starting with a rasp I worked the head into a rough shape to approximate the shape it needed to be. Then I put the head up to the blank and looked into the top of the hole and could see when I was getting close in size. After a little bit of work I could slip the head on the tip of the blank. After a tap I could see the marks where the wood was too tight and rasp that part off. soon I had it fairly close and I used a wooden block and a hammer and was able to drive the head the rest of the way on.

I then smoothed out the rest of the handle with the rasp and made a slightly smaller grip area near the bottom, rasping it down until it felt good in my hand. Next I drilled a hole near the bottom for a leather thong if I feel like putting one in. I then took it out and split a small pile of kindling with it. You will notice I didn't put a wedge in, and I think I really don't need one since the inside of the head was pitted with rust and when I drove it on it compressed the wood somewhat and it expanded into these pits inside the head. I made one like this years ago and it lasted a long time. If it loosens up I can drive a finish nail into the head to expand it.

I am quite please with what I ended up with.





Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy

how to make a $.25 shotshell reloader

The most recent issue of Backwoodsman magazine has an article on making a $.25 shotshell reloader.
Since .410 ammo costs almost $10 a box I figured I could make one for it.



#1 is a spike that fits the primer hole used for decapping (it is sitting in it's storage hole)

#2 is a counter bored hole that the shell sits in while you drive out the primer I added the second hole below #2 so the primer would fall out. I think it should have been farther down since the wood holding the shell is kinda thin.

#3 a dowel with a shell on it where you tap in the new primer

#4 is a hole to hold the shell while you build the load.

The dowel to the right is for tamping down the components of the load as you build it. I also used it as a punch to tap in the primer.

The only problem is I missed the primer on the first shell and bulged out the brass trying to drive out the primer.

Still clinging to my God and my guns
Randy

3 weeks and the outhouse

Last night was three weeks of The Prepared Christian Blog.
I have not been up to par with my writing since I have been under the weather.
Everything I have written this last week sounds really weird.

I was asked to write a Bio and provide a picture for a website to be a "featured writer" so we will see what comes of that. I will put in a link if and when it gets on the site. Who knows maybe it will be my 15 minutes of fame. The website is RFD America it's a pretty cool new site dedicated to providing rural Americans news and commentary that is geared toward us, not just the population centers.

I promised some info on the outhouse I built.
I went and took a couple pictures since a picture is worth a thousand words.

Here is an outside view of the finished product.
I started with a basic pallet and put on a plywood floor. Then I built a frame of scrap 2x4's and sheathed it with the scrap sign material I have talked about in the past. This was the plastic only stuff and I just nailed it on and trimmed it to fit with my pocket knife. I put a small chunk of metal roofing I had on for the roof.

The door is a banner with metal "D" rings on the corners I got from the same sign shop that I get all the used sign board. It was for a fireman's fund raiser and when it was over they threw them away(I have one more stashed away). I have it nailed in three places and it closes up the opening really well.

Here is the inside shot of the outhouse.
Again a frame of scrap 2x4's was used with a piece of plywood with a hole cut to hold the seat.
The five gallon bucket gets an inch or two of sawdust or grass clippings in the bottom. One coffee can holds a roll of TP the other has sawdust. I wrote instructions on the wall with marker.
"when you are finished put a handful of sawdust in the bucket"
When the bucket gets close to full the contents will be buried in the woods. This has not happened yet as we use this very seldom and the contents seem to compost down well.

The outhouse is very light. I pulled it down to the woods with a tow rope and my truck. But to get it where I wanted it I just pulled it by hand with the tow rope. The sign board is translucent so a lot of light gets in and it is not dark inside.

The only thing I don't like about it is that it is white and can be seen from the road.
That about wraps up the outhouse.

I am starting a new schedule today. I got up at 4am did some exercise, showered, checked my internet stuff and then started writing. If I am going to get serious about writing I need to make more time for it and this is the only part of the day not taken up. Keep me in your prayers so I can be more consistent and helpful.

Randy