All Iron Spike Tomahawk?

I imagine that hanging inside the door of a colonial era icehouse for chipping ice. Eric Sloane would have drawn a picture of it.

What state or region is it from, if you don’t mind my asking?

Parker
 
I bought it from a guy in Texas but he could not remember where he got it from.
catspa said:
I imagine that hanging inside the door of a colonial era icehouse for chipping ice. Eric Sloane would have drawn a picture of it.

What state or region is it from, if you don’t mind my asking?

Parker
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Hmmmm. I don’t think they do as much ice chipping in Texas. Maybe it was for knocking the dust off your sombrero before entering the house.

Parker
 
Assuming the guy got it in Texas, that is a very interesting point. It is slender, hand forged and probably from the 18th century. I have a few original spike tomahawks which fit this slender profile. I also am aware that all iron spike tomahawks existed in the trade period as well.
 
catspa said:
Hmmmm. I don’t think they do as much ice chipping in Texas. Maybe it was for knocking the dust off your sombrero before entering the house.

Parker
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not a historian, but I know ice making machinery became popular in the 1890s. before that it was shipped out of the sierra nevadas by train, to the south where it was unloaded and stored in huge blocks to slow the melting. Ice picks could be found anywhere really... to me it looks like some kind of excavation / rock hammer that was left to the elements.


I know almost nothing about this type of tool, other than knowing ive used tools like it before... it looks mass produced in my opinion. tomahawks and all the prospecting tools for gold ive seen are forged and hanged on a handle... again, this could be the most ignorant statement ever made, im just speculating..:)
 
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I have a number of original, hand forged belt axes and tomahawks dating from 1750 to 1820. This piece is hand forged, whatever it may be.
 
Very cool piece! It’s possible this is a spike tomahawk. I research everything I can find on historic spike tomahawks. From online collections, there are a number of examples of “all iron” versions, made from 1700’s to early 1800’s, and all are spike tomahawks. Usually a pound or less in weight—but some definitely got heavier. Also it’s in the right size range—most of the all iron tomahawks were rather short—10” to 13” overall length.

The only thing that makes me dubious is the handle. The examples in collections/museums have solid handles (no “cut outs” or voids) and the handle butt comes to a point—from very pointy to quite blunt. If this class of weapon was made to be thrown—then a spike tomahawk with a short/pointy handle would have a very high probability of wounding an opponent—kinda like the European hurlbat.

Still, most tomahawks were hand forged on the frontier, so it’s possible a blacksmith did a one-off for a customer that didn’t want a heavy solid iron handle. Folding over the “hollowed out” handle would result in a rounded instead of pointed butt. I could envision simple cord wrap applied to this handle to provide a comfortable grip.

Best regards,

Zac
 
Zac, I seem to recall that perhaps the traditional hurlbut had a tether attached for retrieval. If so, then a pierced center could be useful for attachment. (I’m not implying that this piece is/was a hurlbut, or dates from medieval times.)

Personally, although I’m not judging those who throw axes/hatchets, I don’t choose to partake in it myself. I don’t throw my tools. I prefer them in my hand doing useful work instead of flipping through the air with the greatest of ease. This applies to spike hawks as well, of which I’ve made a couple. They can be very useful when handling firewood rounds or splits.

Parker
 
catspa said:
Zac, I seem to recall that perhaps the traditional hurlbut had a tether attached for retrieval. If so, then a pierced center could be useful for attachment. (I’m not implying that this piece is/was a hurlbut, or dates from medieval times.)

Personally, although I’m not judging those who throw axes/hatchets, I don’t choose to partake in it myself. I don’t throw my tools. I prefer them in my hand doing useful work instead of flipping through the air with the greatest of ease. This applies to spike hawks as well, of which I’ve made a couple. They can be very useful when handling firewood rounds or splits.

Parker
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I haven’t heard of tethered axe throwing from historic sources so don’t have anything to say about that. I have seen at least one knife thrower attempt tethered axe throws—imitating the movie “Prey”—he posted a couple of very entertaining videos, link to the first below:

 
thimble farm said:
Just picked this one up. I wonder if this is an early all iron spike tomahawk or ice hatchet.

It is hand forged and pitted. Overall weight is 1 pound. Head size is 9.25 inches. Overall length is 11 inches. Spike is 4 inches.

Slender profile.



https://cdn2.imagearchive.com/muzzleloadingforum/data/attach/284/284965-All-Spike-3.jpg
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Resembles a welder's chipping hammer. Looks like it was intended to be used without the addition of any handle material, based on those two facts I'd say it was designed for similar duties.

As a side note, I'm a welder by trade, and placed in a serious self-defense situation, I'd take a chipping hammer over just about any other implement I can think of.
 
burninatorzw said:
Very cool piece! It’s possible this is a spike tomahawk. I research everything I can find on historic spike tomahawks. From online collections, there are a number of examples of “all iron” versions, made from 1700’s to early 1800’s, and all are spike tomahawks. Usually a pound or less in weight—but some definitely got heavier. Also it’s in the right size range—most of the all iron tomahawks were rather short—10” to 13” overall length.

The only thing that makes me dubious is the handle. The examples in collections/museums have solid handles (no “cut outs” or voids) and the handle butt comes to a point—from very pointy to quite blunt. If this class of weapon was made to be thrown—then a spike tomahawk with a short/pointy handle would have a very high probability of wounding an opponent—kinda like the European hurlbat.

Still, most tomahawks were hand forged on the frontier, so it’s possible a blacksmith did a one-off for a customer that didn’t want a heavy solid iron handle. Folding over the “hollowed out” handle would result in a rounded instead of pointed butt. I could envision simple cord wrap applied to this handle to provide a comfortable grip.

Best regards,

Zac
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Thanks very much for the feedback, Zac. I have researched spike tomahawks to some extent and read Vargo's book. I just posted another thread with a different axe from Western NY region. Would be interested to hear your comments on that one. Thanks again
 
thimble farm said:
Thanks very much for the feedback, Zac. I have researched spike tomahawks to some extent and read Vargo's book. I just posted another thread with a different axe from Western NY region. Would be interested to hear your comments on that one. Thanks again
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I consider Jack Vargo to be my mentor. Learned loads from him—information that impacted my designs today. Unfortunately he passed away in 2020.

The other axe you showed, I have no familiarity with any of that type, so I cannot provide any credible insights. Still a cool looking peice.
 
It's not a welder's tool? But those things are beat up at lot. The broad end is dulled and flattened, the spike is worn down half-way.
 
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