Hatchet Progress

This is where I left off.


So I got back out to the garage today and worked on the hatchet. I finally got a wire wheel for the grinder. This is what I got done......

I don't think I can get out all the pitting but it sure has brightened up. I also put the blade on the grinder and it is somewhat sharper than before. I really need to get the grinding wheel bolted down so its not so hard to to work with. So then I started on the handle.....

You can see its turned a lighter color, and see the grain in the wood again. This is going to take a lot of elbow grease.

U.P Trip

Well, I took Jeff up to the U.P again. This is the third time I've taken him up there, he's the one the one that has been asking. We cut down some trees, burned some old brush for Grandma and did some shooting with our brand new .22. This is a sweet little .22 Marlin semi-auto with a scope. I am teaching Jeff how to respect the gun, handle it and take care of it. He's an enthusiastic learner.
Trying the new saw

Shooting the new gun. Yes left handed talk about backward.


The fire, this burned for 8 hours.

I did some more reading. The thing that I found interesting this time was, in Roosevelt's Junior year of college instead of heading south for spring break, He goes to the Northwoods of Maine. Yes there's snow and its cold. Then he gets with a couple of guys (Cutler and Emlen) and decides to climb Mount Katahdin (5,268 ft). They tired out half way and quit. T.R soldiered on and made it! I forgot to mention that they canoed 20 miles just to warm up!
I will add more later cause I knocked down about 60 pages of this book and there are things to report but I don't want to over kill it. I am going to just stick to the action stuff or things I find extraordinary in ways of his outdoor activity. Oh I forgot to mention, sometime later the doctor told him he had a heart condition and to cease strenuous activity. Needless to say, he does not follow doctors orders. In fact he set up a trip with his brother Elliot to go hunting through the midwest.

A Book I'm Reading

For the last couple weeks, I have been working on the book "The Wilderness Warrior-Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America." This is about his interest in birds, animals, and preserving America's beauty. The one thing that impresses me early on is his interest in taxidermy. At age 10, he was collecting birds for his museum. He had detailed records of birds, that impressed some naturalists of the time. He looked up to Audubon. I am troubled to learn that at that age and into his teens he also study and admired Darwin. I am not so sure his belief in evolution held up over time, or maybe I am hoping it didn't.
The one thing about T.R, is that he was a man of action. After he was beat-up by bullies at Moosehead Lake, he made sure it never happened again. He immediately started working out, and engaging in strenuous activities. He never let asthma hold him back.
Anyway, that is enough for now. But for being an autobiography, as with all the Roosevelt novels I've read, its just like reading an novel..........Stayed tuned for more.

Identifing the Ole Hatchet

I am trying to find the maker of this hatchet through google. No luck yet, but I never knew there was such a history behind Axe and Hatchet manufacturers. Stay tuned, I will post results if and when I find them.