I have an older hatchet with the stacked leather handle that is dried out and loose. What would work the best to swell the leather? There are remnants of what looks like varnish on the handle. What would I use to seal the leather after getting it tight again? Thanks

It would depend on how valuable the hatchet is to you as to what degree you wanted to do this.

What I would do is thin some varnish (marine spar varnish is more flexible so that is what I'd use but I don't think it would matter too much) with mineral spirits about 10% and soak the handle in it for a few days, or until the handle swelled back to shape + a day or three. Remove it and hang it from a wire so the handle hangs down, and let dry. Afterwards go over and smooth everything up with sandpaper, I'd probably stop at 120 grit.

Hope that helps,

Mark

Thanks for your reply, Mark. The hatchet is not valuable, but I have a problem with throwing tools away. Someone had told me to soak it in water, so I tried that. It swelled the leather most of the way, but not quite enough. It seems that if I sealed it after soaking in water, mildew would be a problem. Do you think I should bring it inside to dry for a few days before using the varnish/mineral spirits soak?

788,

You're correct, you need to pretty much get the moisture out. Another reason is that any moisture left will eventually work its way out and you'll have a loose handle again. If your furnace still is running you can leave it on a heating duct for a couple of days. Another method is to soak it in denatured alcohol and then let it dry, but for what you have I'd just put it somewhere warm until it was dry again. Maybe wrap it in a paper towel and put it on the back of the TV or a computer monitor. Anyway, it should be pretty much as dry as possible, but don't use anything hotter than warm air though.

Another way to soak it is put some shredded newspapers in a shoe box and fold up a small trough out of aluminum foil and nestle it into the paper, put the hatchet into it blade pointing up then fill with enough varnish to cover the handle a bit, and lightly fold over the foil on top to seal it in. Then leave it for a few days.

Keep us informed of your progress.

Mark