A cooper's axe

[gben]

Neither I nor the 87 year-old man I bought it from knew what this was at the time I purchased it, but since I have found out it is an uncommon cooper's axe. Part of the fun of old tools is all the things you learn in researching them:

 

[John A. Larsen]

Nice piece of history. Any markings? John

 

[gben]

I did not see any ID marks on it.

I did put a ruler on it though and saw that the cutting edge is 10 3/4" long, it is a lot bigger than it looks in the photos.

 

[halfaxe]

That tool has it all in an old axe. Excellent forging, beautiful old handle, and only lightly used.

 

[rjdankert]

Nice cooper's axe you have there.

. . . Part of the fun of old tools is all the things you learn in researching them:

I agree.

From

Bob

 

[Steve Tall]

Interesting video, thanks, and the longer one following it (about coopers for Guinness) has more detail.

Here's the cooper's axe from the 1873 catalog of the Douglas Axe Manufacturing Co.

 

[rjdankert]

. . . and the longer one following it (about coopers for Guinness) has more detail.
. . .

That is a great video.

Here is the link if others are curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bNp3E-SuQw

Bob

 

[300Six]

Lovely clip! Pre-dates the common use of electric band saws and shapers and therefore must have caught, on film, the very tail end of truly 'hand-made' commercial goods that Guinness Brewing commissioned. Imagine how fast the fella working with the drawknife would have fashioned and fitted you or I with a new axe haft from a mere wood stave? Having to fuss around, such as we do for hours, at a simple task would have bankrupted, or infuriated, an experienced tradesman like this.

 

[Square_peg]

That coopers axe is in excellent condition. Nice that it includes an original haft, too.

 

[gben]

Thanks for the input and info. It was in paging through the Buck-Hickman catalog that I ran across this and figured out what it was. The one in this illustration though looks to have taken a round handle:

 

[rjdankert]

Another cooper's tool that followed me home awhile ago:




Finally got around to cleaning it. I couldn't decide what to do about the handle, so for now, it is what it is. An unsusual wedging system was used. It's hard to describe, but the metal wedges in it look almost nail shaped.

COOPER'S AXE:





H. W. STAGER
ROCHESTER



I tried to find out about the maker on the internet, but found very little. Here are my results:

1832

"The dissolution of the heretofore-unknown partnership of H. W. Stager and D. R. Barton was announced on 12 December 1832. The following day, Stager announced his removal from the west end of the Genesee Bridge to the Globe Building just to the west. We can thus conclude that Barton entered into his first partnership with H. W. Stager after he returned to Rochester from the Hudson Valley. The Stager-Barton enterprise followed the auction of Morgan's shop and was in place for less than one year."
https://www.davistownmuseum.org/bioBarton.html


1834

Charter and directory of the city of Rochester

https://books.google.com/books?id=j...RDAJ#v=onepage&q=h w stager rochester&f=false


1837

Settlement in the West: Sketches of Rochester

https://books.google.com/books?id=A...MDAC#v=onepage&q=h w stager rochester&f=false

Thanks for looking,

Bob