Axe head identification

S

Steven Mccoy

Joined
Mar 15, 2018
Messages
4
Afternoon all,
My apologies for my first post being asking for help.
I bought this in a junk shop in the grounds of a Chateau in the Loire region of France during childhood approximately thirty years ago. Since that time it has been sat in the roof of my parents house until it was found during a clear out recently .
It has no markings that I can see and has some considerable weight to it.
I'm just curious to see if people think it has any age to it.
Many thanks




 
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A similar axe pattern was still available (new) around 1920, as shown in this catalog from F. Bret (item No. 256):

mgR4fH1.jpg


https://www.billhooks.co.uk/catalogues/french/
 
it's not from the châteaux de la Loire region but more from auvergne, as it's said in the catalogue above, you can clearly see the typical auvergnate socket (wich seems to be a wee off center ) for the sawyers of auvergne
 
I’d like to find an Hachereau that isn’t made by cold steel, not that those are bad.
 
Great info,thanks,everyone...
Ernest,i'm still a bit hazy as to the exact purpose for such depth of reach.Is it on account of a great girth/width of the timber being hewn?
(other options that come to mind is better visibility,and/or ability to hew at a finer angle to the surface,leaving the eye/handle clear outside the cut?).
 
This is a good representation of its use and is even consistent with old middle ages pictures of the French hewer with similar axe in hand. Some less knowledgeable contemporary users will mount a longer handle and work from atop the timber which, if you ask me is a matter confusion. Why they want such an unbalanced configuration or what the intent of it is I cannot say at the moment but next month I'll be meeting up with the one who made these films, Francois Calame, so I'll try finding out if he has something to say about them.
http://www.en.charpentiers.culture....uaringoff/anauvergnemethodofsquaringoff?media
 
jake pogg said:
I'm still a bit hazy as to the exact purpose for such depth of reach.Is it on account of a great girth/width of the timber being hewn
Click to expand...

I believe that is the reason for the long bits on a Puget Sound felling axe. More trunk is reachable from your springboard position without risking an overstrike.
 
Thanks for the input guys it's appreciated. Would love to restore it one day, would it clean up in this state or has it gone to far due to the heavy pitting?
 
If it's salvageable or not, Steven, I can't say from these pictures. Is it double beveled?

Jake, my vision being no more clear than yours, tells me that the extension lengthwise serves the exact same function as the skewed socket of the breitbeil. That is to say, mitigating the angle between the work and worker and also clearance.
 
The pitting appears to be quite deep in places



I'm afraid I am a complete novice when it comes to axes and therefore wouldn't accurately know if its double bevelled or not sorry.

In case I do attempt to restore it is it possible to tell what size or style of handle it would have had fitted?

Again many thanks
 
Ernest DuBois said:
Jake, my vision being no more clear than yours, tells me that the extension lengthwise serves the exact same function as the skewed socket of the breitbeil. That is to say, mitigating the angle between the work and worker and also clearance.
Click to expand...

Thanks,Ernest,that's a clear and very well documented explanation,thanks again for those videos.

Steven Mccoy said:
In case I do attempt to restore it is it possible to tell what size or style of handle it would have had fitted?
Click to expand...

Steven,by "restore" do you mean as a museum exhibit or "...to working order"?...There's quite a difference,the term being oblique.
Specifically,the pitting would only affect the cutting action,if,in sharpening,any of the pits result in "scalloping" you may call that, of the edge.
Even then,i'd guess an experienced user would live with that,and just allow the periodic sharpenings to eventually take care of the problem.
Conversely,if "restoring" to some visual appearance/effect,then to which?...(and here i couldn't say much anyway,though i have seen people use polymer resins in casting the replacement segments in artefacts...).
As far as the handling of it,please watch both the videos Ernest posted above,the first in particular,it'll answer that question.
 
Yonose said:
I’d like to find an Hachereau that isn’t made by cold steel, not that those are bad.
Click to expand...

might search in french garage sales.... this was the french version of the house hatchet. use to make kindling and also as a cleaver. and used around the house, as a versatile tool ,people couldn't afford several Tools, back in time
 
variations can come in the form of the eye, bret catalogue one seems to be round , mine is rectangular, and down sized to mini hatchet (wich is a bit ennoying to pack due to ulu shaped bit ,second weak point is that there is few of a friction because of the little amount of steel and wood meeting in the eye and tends to come loose...
now is decorating my living room
 
jake pogg said:
Specifically,the pitting would only affect the cutting action,if,in sharpening,any of the pits result in "scalloping" you may call that, of the edge.
Even then,i'd guess an experienced user would live with that,and just allow the periodic sharpenings to eventually take care of the problem.
Click to expand...

I would still recommend filing out the scallop. Even a haphazardly filed bit will cause excentric forces to be applied to opposite sides of the bit. This could make the difference if you were using a particularly hard axe on a cold day and result in chipping the bit.

One of the things I do when filing an axe is stop periodically and check how straight I'm keeping the bit. It makes a difference in how efficiently it cuts. This is more of a problem with axes sharpened on grinders where it is fast and easy to go past the center of the bit.
 
flexo said:
might search in french garage sales.... this was the french version of the house hatchet. use to make kindling and also as a cleaver. and used around the house, as a versatile tool ,people couldn't afford several Tools, back in time
Click to expand...

Even today one of those and a larger Opinel would be enough to handle just about anything!
 
Steven, you have been getting some good advise all-round. You will know if you've got your hands on a double-beveled if you look at it from the skinny side, eye opening looking back at you. If the sharp edge is symmetric both left and right then it is double bevel. If, on the other hand, one side is flat and one side comes down to meet that flat at an angle your bevel is unitary, a single bevel. It has consequences for your plans to possibly get the axe back into action because a single bevel means significant more lapping work if pitted severely, more work than I would wish on you for this axe.
 
Thank you all for your input and advice.
The axe is double-bevelled, thanks for explaining Ernest.
I have decided to "cosmetically" restore it and started the cleaning up process a couple of days ago. Initially I started with just with a wire brushing attachment on a drill before then moving on to soaking in white vinegar with and then repeating.
This showed up the worst of the pitting.



DSC_1150_zpsc9irnkt9.jpg



After a lot of grinding and sanding today I have managed to work out the majority of the worse of the pitting. I still want to carry on taking out the worst of the grinding marks, but back on shift at work tomorrow so it will have to wait!

DSC_1151_zpsoqgbafce.jpg



I have a handle on order what I am hoping with some adjustments will fit. Its a bit of a learning experience!
 
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