Hatchel

Object Name:

Hatchel

Object ID:

1994.514.10.1 - .2

Description:

Pair of hatchels, long tooth. .2 Wood, steel, and bone. Translucent with grain structure for the bone part. 12" long, roughly oval, wood handle. Fine grain, hardwood, dark brown, 1.75" wide, 1.25" high in cross-section. At end of handle, flares out to wide, rectangular cross-section, double-tapered shape that leads to a sharp edge at front. Above and below of sharp edge of front, two-piece bone (?), rectangular section, tapered to match angle of wood cross-section. Through bone and through wood, two rows of long, tapered, steel spikes. One row of 26 spikes and one row of 25. Useful length of row at very end of tool: 13.3". Row of 25, length: 10.4". Both rows angled backward towards handle at 15 degrees from vertical. Rows also tapered from bottom to top. Row of 26: 6.2" wide at base and 4.6" wide at top end. Row of 25: 6" wide at base, 4.7" wide at their top ends. Wire diameter at base of long spikes: 0.167". For the shorter spikes (25), diameter same. Some of spikes at outside edges bent a little, so width at sharp end would be different if they were straight. Spikes pass through bone and wood base structure. One can see the cross-sections of their bases on bottom surface. Cross-sections mostly round, but a few misshapen due to the way they were cut or sheared from original stock. Ends relatively flush with bottom surface. Five additional pieces of wire used to hold base assembly together. Two at outside ends, one near center on inside edge closest to handle. Four square cross-section pieces of wire that hold a bone (?) cap on end of wooden handle. Hole in center of cap, approximately 0.35" diameter. Broken end of a wooden shaft recessed into the hole. Near center of handle, horizontal hole, about 0.32" diameter. On one side of handle, metal ferrule in the hole. Looks like piece of sheet metal formed into a rough cylinder forced into the hole. Some shallow, worn grooves adjacent to metal ferrule that are vertical above and below hole. On inside face of front part of spike base assembly, some stamped writing in wood. On left side: "WEBB". Some characters above it. Possibly a "H" or "P". On right side, some worn character features.
.1 Same number of spikes as .2. Handle 1.75" wide, 1.35" thick. Length of long wired spikes: 13.3", short ones: 10.3" long. Wire thickness at base: 0.17". Shorter wires diameter at base: 0.13". Difference from .2 at base: 9 pieces of wire that hold bone and wood base assembly together. Two at either end, one in center behind rows of spikes, four spaced between the rows. Horizontal handle hole, essentially same including the wear marks. Name on wood: "WEBB" definitely. Nothing above it. On other side: "LONDON". Angled backwards about 18 degrees.

Material:

Wood
Metal
Steel
Skeletal

Dimensions:

H-13.9 W-7.2 L-14.4 inches Weight-50.9 oz

Credit Line:

New Hampshire Historical Society Collection