Let's see your axes

[mikeinri]

I pulled this True Temper Flint Edge out of my Dad's basement (was previously my Grandfather's house), doing a final cleanout (my Dad just downsized to an apartment).

I have no memory of this thing ever being used by either of them.

I really like the shape and color of the handle. I posted a pic with my maul and Fiskars, I bought those within the past decade or so.

Any idea on age of this thing?

Mike

 

[bdbecker]

Dating old axes is pretty tricky because they may the same models for years with little change. To add to the confusion, axe companies were bought/sold/combined many times over the years and often used branding from different lines a different times. For your axe, I can say its no older than 1930 because Kelly made the "Flint Edge" from the late 1800's until 1930 when they were bought out by American Fork & Hoe Co. AFHC used the "True Temper" branding from the early 1900's and combined it with the the "Flint Edge" name sometime after they acquired Kelly in 1930. Beyond that, you'll have to try and dig up old catalogs to see if you can find differences in the stamp font/logo from year to year to try and narrow it down further. Even then, there is much of a guarantee you'll be able to come up with any differences.

Here is a great website for info on axe brands:
https://www.yesteryearstools.com/Yesteryears Tools/Kelly Axe Mfg. Co. .html
https://www.yesteryearstools.com/Yesteryears Tools/American Fork & Hoe Co..html

That is a nice looking axe! Personally, I wouldn't give it much more than a light dusting and a little oil to preserve it.

 

[11b30b4]

While it’s not vintage, it is an axe.



Back in 2012, I was fairly active on Bushcraft USA and Blade Forum. It would seem that after 24 years in the Army, I had become quite interested in blades, camping, hiking etc… However, the one area I was lacking in was Axes. While I immediately corrected this oversight with acquisition of a few Gransfors Bruks Axes, I began searching for vintage Axes at flea markets and the such. Somewhere along the way I discovered that there was a fad going around for Yuppies to use Axes as artwork. Although, I was not a Yuppie I could appreciate a good-looking Axe.
One of the popular brands of axes marketing these nice-looking axes was Best Made Axe. These axes had polished blades with painted or stained handles.





I was looking for a project anyway, so I dropped by Highland Tools and snagged a Council Tool 3.5# Dayton SB Axe; 36″ Curved Wooden Handle for about $50.00.





After Polishing the blade, staining the handle, making a carrying bag, and making a neck and sheath guard. This is what I ended up with. Although it will never see the outdoors, I do enjoy looking at it. The GBs get lots of work.

 

[Frenchy23]

Here's a cayuga I found at an estate sale for 3 bucks, needs some more work, but am really happy with it

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Nice find, Frenchy.

 

[bargainhuntingking]

Found this mystery rusty, pitted 3lb 6oz axe head at the ReStore for $3:


Cleaned it, ground off the mushrooms, and put it on 36” handle:





Probably my tightest rehafting job yet.

I think it may be a Collins based on the blue paint and residual paper/plastic label that I found under the rust, but I didn’t find a typical Collins stamp to confirm it.

Funny thing is, despite the rust, the blade itself was very sharp, so a previous owner knew how to sharpen it. But somewhere during its life it was neglected and likely left outside for years. I love giving tools like this a new start and bringing back their former glory and usefulness.

Here's my current resto'd axe line up, with a "real" (stamped) Collins head in the upper right. L to R: Mystery axe on 36" hickory, Plumb axe, Craftsman scout/boys axe:

 

[bargainhuntingking]

For the axe aficionados, here’s a bit of the detail.

Label visible:


Close up:


Looks like “...NS...” is in there?


Compared to these internet photos below, the label appears to be in the right location:


As bdbecker wrote above, yesteryeartools.com has some great detail on individual axe manufacturers, with pics of their iconic labels/stamps. The write up of the Collins axe company was highly detailed. Part 1 is here:

http://www.yesteryearstools.com/Yesteryears Tools/Collins Pt. 1.html

Another cool summary of the company is here:

https://www.bnctools.com/blogs/news/the-legacy-of-the-collins-company

Look at that old brick plant by the river! Reminds me of the abandoned Olympia brewing company in Tumwater, WA. I always thought it'd be amazing to purchase one of these old buildings and fix it up. So many decrepit buildings along our waterways that used hydropower for their industry out of necessity. In 1859, Collins Co sold tools to John Brown for his raid on Harper's Ferry. I guess he knew that to breach a Federal Armory, he needed quality tools! Great history there.

 

[American Iron]

Another treasure found but what brand?? Free at the end of a local estate sale today.. Nice three lb 11oz axe head with a weird mark. Just needs a cleaning..and some touch up. Anyone know what this C or U mark with a tail is? Council maybe? I think I've seen this mark somewhere before but I can't remember where.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I picked up this sheath at the flea market this morning, knowing it wasn't quite right for the couple axes I have, both Dayton #4 pattern, but thinking it might work anyway. But nope. Neither of them fit. It's too short from bit to poll. It's way wider than a Dayton pattern, like a Connecticut pattern or a Baltimore Jersey, and I knew that, but I didn't expect them to not be able to slip inside at all. I thought they would go in and be dwarfed inside, if anything.

So now I just have to find the suitable axe to fit the sheath!

 

[bdbecker]

...So now I just have to find the suitable axe to fit the sheath!

I like the way you think!

-----

I found another axe to restore last weekend. Only $2 and its in the best shape of any project axe I've bought up to this point. It has seen some use, but whoever owned this before me took good care of it. No grinder marks or nicks in the cutting edge and no mushrooming or indication that the poll had ever been used as a hammer. I guess spending a day hitting up the antique shops with Wife pays off sometimes!

View media item 107096
Initially I thought it might be a Collins Connecticut, but seems a little narrow in the head. So after some more research, I'm starting to think it might be a Rafting pattern because of the chamfered poll corners. This might also be why there isn't any mushrooming on the poll because they were often hardened so they could be used as a hammer. It doesn't quite look like a Plumb, at least not in the pics I've found online. There are some markings but I can't quite make out what they say through the surface rust. I should know more after I run it through the electrolysis tank. The power supply for my electrolysis tank is only a 3 amp 12 volt unit, so the progress is slow... the suspense is killing me!

EDIT:
I took a little sneak peak last night - I'm pretty sure it's a Plumb. The logo on one side appears to be the squarish Plumb logo, but what I believe the giveaway is the "patent applied for" on the other side. A little more reading and I now believe it is a National pattern head.

 

[bdbecker]

Another treasure found but what brand?? Free at the end of a local estate sale today.. Nice three lb 11oz axe head with a weird mark. Just needs a cleaning..and some touch up. Anyone know what this C or U mark with a tail is? Council maybe? I think I've seen this mark somewhere before but I can't remember where.

I wonder if that is a Plumb horseshoe stamp?

Third to last section on this link:
https://www.yesteryearstools.com/Yesteryears Tools/Plumb Co..html

 

[kas_rustndust]

Bought this at an estate sale a couple of years ago. I believe it's a mortising axe. No marks but good steel and very sharp.

It’s an ice axe. Most desirable mark is Gifford Woods here in northern MN. Fairly common at local auctions up until a few years ago, little more scarce lately.

 

[sdc1104]

I picked this up at an antiques store. It was fitted with screws a long time ago it appears, but I am second-guessing the AA&T stamp. The axe is definitely old, but I question whether the maker's mark was done after manufacture. It was in pretty poor shape but there appears to be a double stamp. Also, stamp is not as close to the poll as others I have seen. Thoughts? https://imgur.com/a/e5aeM0j

 

[Outlawmws]

SDC, you have to take the "S" off the "HTTPS" for imgur to work here:

 

[Hawk136439]

Does anyone know a good place to source a 30-32" single bit axe handle? I had an overstrike and broke the handle on my axe and the 36" handle from FnF just seamed way to big but the 28 is too small and loose. Trying to find the goldilocks handle before I try my hand at a custom one.

 

[bdbecker]

https://www.househandle.com/products.html#single

Spend the extra money to get the AA grade hand selected, non-lacquered handle. Trust me - I went cheap and just got some standard grade FH lacquered handles for some wall hangers that won't see any use and immediately regretted that decision when I opened the box. Not sure if its even worth trying to sand the lacquer off, or just buy new handles.

Also, just be careful when going to a shorter handle as the "chop your toes off" factor goes way up.

 

[macgee]

I have this Stiletto (pre-Kelly Works, True Temper? Broad?) axe/hatchet that I cleaned up recently and needs a handle. Probably will sell it as I have too many.

You can see the old school hand forged folds. The edge could still use some more work but currently can shave hair off your forearm.

 

[Provincial]

I have a Stiletto ball pein hammer with the arrow logo. I found that it was a house brand for a hardware store in San Francisco.

Link to the thread I started on it:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=444471&highlight=Stiletto

 

[Jacobs976]

Here's my hewing axe. Barn/yard sale find. Was covered in orange clay and rust but I got it to display status with a rough sawed post. No polishing or anything since it's supposed to look old. Also not an axe but a scythe I cleaned up too.

 

[XJSuperman]

Nothing fancy, just a made-in-China double bit that I picked up somewhere and tried to fit a handle to. The handle will not currently seat correctly, and still has ~1.5" to even sit flush with the top of the head, but for the life of me I can't get them separated. Heck, I even chopped up some derecho damage with it and it won't move. I need to get more creative in my separation technique for this.

Middle is a little more special in that I rescued it from the barn at home. It had a white painted handle previously, but it unfortunately gave up the ghost this summer. The new handle got rubbed down with BLO as well as the head and it lives in the Jeep, ready for anything.

On the right is the Sears camp axe I saved from an antique store. It was too cool to leave rotting in their outdoor lot, and the price was right. Rubbed it down with oil and its a wallhanger until the zombies catch me off-guard in the garage.

 

[Miller72]

Every now and then an Axe happens along that you must have...

Supplee Biddle Hardware Co
1919-1950





Carefully removed the head to gently clean the head and handle before turning the head back right side up to rehang

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Beautiful axe, amazing logo.

 

[Outlawmws]

Beautiful axe, amazing logo.

Wow

 

[Marvin Hagen]

When the first M998 HMMWV came out they had a Pioneer Kit that mounted underneath behind the rear bumper with the shovel pick and Axe when we switched to the up armor 1114 and other versions they went to this kit. The only way you find this kit is it was ordered and placed it in the HMMWV. USAR 35 Years 12B, 88M, 91X

 

[spike99250]

Disregarding the logo it looks upside down.

 

[Miller72]

Disregarding the logo it looks upside down.

Are referring to my post?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Hi Miller. I can only infer he didn't read your entire post or look at all the photos, including the rightsideupping, before replying.

 

[spike99250]

Miller72, yes i was referring to your posts, sorry I didn't tag it the right way.

I mean no disrespect .That is a beautiful axe and rehang. In all my years of hunting and collecting I have yet to find any with stamps like that.

I did read the whole post and saw that you did rehang it, it just looks upside down to me.
All double bits I have seen had the bigger radius arch on the bottom.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Interesting. I didn't really notice before, maybe because of the logo looking upside down. But now that you point it out, now it does look odd. If true, that means the logo was not upside down. I don't have enough axes to make any declarative statements on what the industry standard was on the orientation of branding, but it seems like Supplee was bucking the trend.

 

[spike99250]

They were either bucking the trend or it was stamped wrong, possibly making it a rare on.
The other thing to look at are the beat marks(for lack of a better term ) on the high arch side. This was obviously rehung before, and you can see where previous owner beat on the head to get it off the handle.
It is possible the marks are from trying to seat the head back on the handle but there position shows it was whacked from the handle side , that is about where a hammer could reach with the handle on.

 

[Miller72]

Hi guys all and Happy New Year!
I greatly appreciate the interest in the axe and am happy for the conversation.
I cant rule anything out.
I too had suspicions...I did turn around and rehsmg...I think it was worn from a generation. Then turned around perhaps after a handle broke.
This is a hardware replacement I believe. Period but replacement.
Then the 2nd generation used little to none. And then it appears the 3rd used it less.
I feel it was a half peeler or peeler pattern.
Perhaps.

Thanks guys lets figure it out lol!

 

[spike99250]

You could post it over in the axe forum on Bladeforums.com and somebody would be able to figure it out.

 

[bdbecker]

...I don't have enough axes to make any declarative statements on what the industry standard was on the orientation of branding, but it seems like Supplee was bucking the trend.

Yeah, who knows. Maybe it was on purpose - put the logo upside down so when people are in the store, they pick up the axe to read it, which gets people handling the product. I've got a few books that have the title on the binding running backwards from what you typically see. I wonder sometimes if I would have even noticed them at the bookstore had the text been printed conventionally.

 

[bdbecker]

I found another axe to restore last weekend. Only $2 and its in the best shape of any project axe I've bought up to this point. It has seen some use, but whoever owned this before me took good care of it. No grinder marks or nicks in the cutting edge and no mushrooming or indication that the poll had ever been used as a hammer. I guess spending a day hitting up the antique shops with Wife pays off sometimes!

View media item 107096
Initially I thought it might be a Collins Connecticut, but seems a little narrow in the head. So after some more research, I'm starting to think it might be a Rafting pattern because of the chamfered poll corners. This might also be why there isn't any mushrooming on the poll because they were often hardened so they could be used as a hammer. It doesn't quite look like a Plumb, at least not in the pics I've found online. There are some markings but I can't quite make out what they say through the surface rust. I should know more after I run it through the electrolysis tank. The power supply for my electrolysis tank is only a 3 amp 12 volt unit, so the progress is slow... the suspense is killing me!

EDIT:
I took a little sneak peak last night - I'm pretty sure it's a Plumb. The logo on one side appears to be the squarish Plumb logo, but what I believe the giveaway is the "patent applied for" on the other side. A little more reading and I now believe it is a National pattern head.

I finally finished hanging the Plumb National this weekend. I was very happy with how well it cleaned up - it shows very little signs of use. I used Oxpho Blue to blacken the head. I hung it on a 28" House Handle with the thoughts that it might make a nice camp axe. Finally, I hit it it with a few rounds of boiled linseed oil on Saturday, might try again in a few days to see if she'll take some more. Overall, I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

View media item 109619
View media item 109620

 

[XJSuperman]

Looks good, no oil on the handle?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Overall, I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

Considering how it started, heck yeah! Nice work. And I took a note on the Oxpho. I favor Birchwood Perma-Blue, probably for no other reason than it's all I've ever known, but that coverage looks exceptionally deep and solid. Can't believe all those darker rusty splotches aren't just darker blueing splotches.

 

[bdbecker]

Looks good, no oil on the handle?

There is, but it really didn't darken up that much (which I found odd). It took at least five applications before it stopped absorbing oil on Saturday. I'm going to try again today and see if it'll take any more.

Considering how it started, heck yeah! Nice work. And I took a note on the Oxpho. I favor Birchwood Perma-Blue, probably for no other reason than it's all I've ever known, but that coverage looks exceptionally deep and solid. Can't believe all those darker rusty splotches aren't just darker blueing splotches.

I think its partly the Oxpho Blue, and partly the quality of the metal. I've got another axe in the works that didn't turn out nearly as nice as this one did. I believe the issue with that one is the quality of the casting just isn't as good. I'll snap a pic and post it so you can see the difference. I've always used Birchwood as well, but I think I like the Oxpho Blue better. More a black/gray color than the brown you get with the Perma Blue, at least on the handful of projects I've used it on so far.

 

[jonshonda]

Bought my first double bit. I am a member of the local mountain biking club, and am in charge of 7 miles of trails at one of our local systems. This will come in handy for removing roots, and other various tasks.

The seller had it listed for $75, with no takers. I was a patient fella and waited for a few weeks to see if it sold. Well, finally met up and struck a deal for $30. It looks like they handed a grinder to Michael J Fox and asked for a good sharpening. Honestly some of the worst sharpening I have ever seen.

The haft also needed work, as it was a little loose, but in otherwise fine usable condition. So I took my time with a flap disk and removed the damage from the grinder, then finished up with a file. Then have the haft a few good smacks with my Trusty Cook dead blow. Filled in the gaps with BLO, and caped it off with wood glue. If it continues to move I will have to result in more drastic measures, but for now I will see how it holds up.

20210112_101623 by Jon S, on Flickr

20210112_101726 by Jon S, on Flickr

 

[bdbecker]

...It looks like they handed a grinder to Michael J Fox and asked for a good sharpening. Honestly some of the worst sharpening I have ever seen...

Must have been a mobile sharpening service operating here in the Midwest - most of the axes I find have the same issue. Nice rescue on that one - turned out great!

-----

Here is the other axe I mentioned yesterday where the cold blue didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. In this case, I think it has to do more with the material itself than the bluing chemical. I did five or so applications, with the last two applications not really doing much to even things out or darken it anymore.

View media item 109651
I believe this one is a Kelly Woodslasher. It had been painted red at some point and has ridges cast into the eye to help grip the handle. No other identifying marks, but this would have been when they switched over to using stickers instead of imprinting the brand into the metal.

 

[jonshonda]

^ Like the look of that w/ the cold blue. Can you tell me more about any prep you do, time between coats, and application techniques, etc?