Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Swiss Military Reserve Hatchet, Refinished with Patina

I felt inspired to finish up the work on the Swiss Reserve Hatchet yesterday, and knocked out the entire project in one afternoon.  Here's the update.


You can see the "Before" write-up and photos in my last post:

http://sharky-fourbees.blogspot.com/2016/12/swiss-military-reserve-hatchet-circa.html

I started out by sanding the metal head with  150 grit wet/dry sandpaper, then polished it up with some 600 grit wet/dry paper.  The wood handle was sanded out  with some of the 150 paper as well.


I cold blued the head with some Birchwood Casey Perma Blue cream, and then buffed the dark blue finish back to a dull gray with a purple 3M scouring pad.  The wood handle was stained with a coat of "Colonial Maple" stain, and then I finished that out with several coats of Danish Oil.

The hatchet turned out great!  With that little bit of work, I turned a "new" hatchet into a classic, with the look of a well cared for seasoned veteran.

Without further delay, here are some photos of the finished hatchet.


1 comment:

Bob Frazier said...

That looks really nice. My Dad just bought me one of these, said they had an interesting history... sure does! Thanks for the great info, and photos.