Not a great photo, but you can barely see the Elk Antler Wedge (on
the right) that I used to score and eventually split the side of the
handle where the blade will be inserted.
After splitting the handle once, I split it again in order to remove
a wedge of wood, which makes room for the stone blade.
Using a piece of clay-and-sand pottery and fire, I melt some deer
hide glue. Unfortunately, I chose to learn my lesson quite a few
times that week regarding the erroneous use of flames to coal-burn
containers. Here I am wasting yet another fine block of Western Red
Cedar.
After applying hide glue to the blade and inserting the stone
cutting tool into the handle, I wrapped a length of Australian Sea
Grass Cordage around the handle. The cordage makes me feel as though
the tool will last longer before falling apart eventually. And I
like the feel of it. The red dot at the bottom of the handle is
ground-up hematite (mineral paint). The hatchet was made in a
similar fashion, but was wrapped in split deer intestine.
