Brush Axes

This thread gave me the bug to get one of these tools.

Got this one:


No markings on it. From the North Wayne Tool bush hooks ad posted above there are some similarities to the Earle Special. It has the same shape and dimensions (11 1/4 long, 3 wide, 3/8 thick). There were some remanets of black paint on mine. I don't have a way to weigh it. Found this picture on ebay:

The welds on this and mine look the same to me, and not like the welds I've seen on other brands. Didn't see any stampings on the other photos in the ebay add, just the paper label.

Anyway here it is now:


Thanks for looking and thanks to all for this thread.
 
Last edited:
rjdankert said:
Anyway here it is now:


Thanks for looking and thanks to all for this thread.
Click to expand...

I don't know them well enough to be of any help on maker ID but yours cleaned up really nice.
Handsome hook!

Just before the holidays I gave one that is quite similar to a coworker. He was complaining about the blackberry encroaching on his property. New life for old tools is a great thing.
 
Agent_H said:
I don't know them well enough to be of any help on maker ID but yours cleaned up really nice.
Handsome hook!

Just before the holidays I gave one that is quite similar to a coworker. He was complaining about the blackberry encroaching on his property. New life for old tools is a great thing.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

Part of the enjoyment I get from acquiring older tools is finding out as much as I can about them. Sometimes I can get specific information and sometimes nothing. Whatever brand it is I'll be taking it out and see how it works for me.
 
Old thread but it's more brush axe stuff in one place.
Picked this up coming the long way home - it's the diminutive one on the right. The one on the left is a standard size for comparison.

Brushling by Agent Hierarchy


Brushling by Agent Hierarchy


Brushling by Agent Hierarchy

It is hard to capture but I make out "X" BLOOD on the top and what could pass for "BALLSTON" and then the legible letters "NY"

I. BLOOD
BALLSTON, NY

Blood%20Marks%20Early%20-9.jpg


Don't know if they made Brush/Bush/Axes/Hooks though.
Kind of looks like it wants more of a boy's axe eyed handle.
 
Reviving old thread.

Agent, do you still have the I Blood Bush Hook? From what I've seen, the TT Bloods bush hooks have fairly prominent stamps. Yours looks more, authentic, Hoping this image appears.
YZMkwZT.jpg
 
makes me wonder how long bush hooks have been around, who developed them into what we know today, and what steel was used over time. Were they cast early day? Are they all high carbon 1900 and beyond. I bet they follow closely the life cycle of the scythe...I just don't know the life of the scythe.
 
Glenn Bailey said:
makes me wonder how long bush hooks have been around, who developed them into what we know today, and what steel was used over time. Were they cast early day? Are they all high carbon 1900 and beyond. I bet they follow closely the life cycle of the scythe...I just don't know the life of the scythe.
Click to expand...
The only countries to which this particular build style is extant is in North America and the UK, though the patterns are more stylistically varied in the UK than they are here. It's not clear to me if they were a case of Americans continuing to produce variations based off of English tool lineage or if it was an American invention that was then adopted and "naturalized" back in the UK later on, as was the case with American scythe snaths. They date back to at least the early 1800's and the eyes were forge-welded rather than electrically welded. They were not cast, and you are likely thinking of the term "cast steel" which was used to describe cutlery-grade steel produced via the crucible method, and was the highest grade steel production method of its time.

I'm actually working on a short demo video on proper technique right now. I've seen a lot of videos on the 'tube involving bush hooks, but have yet to encounter a single one that shows them being used properly.
 
I have often wondered if the brush axe wasn't developed to deal with Osage hedges that were planted far and wide before barbwire became widely available. Pure speculation on my part.
 
They're best used on swampy/shrubby stuff an inch or less in diameter that's present in fairly high volume. You ideally want to take out anything you hit with it in 1-2 blows, or even carry clean through to clear a large swath in a single sweep. A great tool for clearing formerly open space that's started to grow up with suckers. You can handle up to about 3" growth if you absolutely have to, but at that point you're usually better off with a proper axe or a saw.
 
Square_peg said:
It's other name, the ditch bank blade, tells it's common use.
Click to expand...

Ditch bank blades are a different tool with a lighter weight blade more akin to a short double-edged machete blade bolted to a double bit axe handle. They're a related tool, but commonly conflated with one another when industry knew them as distinct tool classes. :)
 
Thanks for the info! I'm interested in the demo video. I battle with berry bushes, beech saplings etc. constantly so I'm excited to use the bush hook more.

Not knowing a whole lot about welding, is there a way to reasonable tell the difference between something that was forge-welded vs electrically welded? I picked up a few bush hooks recently and now I'm super-curious.

Thanks!
 
Glenn Bailey said:
Not knowing a whole lot about welding, is there a way to reasonable tell the difference between something that was forge-welded vs electrically welded? I picked up a few bush hooks recently and now I'm super-curious.
Click to expand...

With forge welding you have a visual effect similar to if two pieces of clay had been joined together, as the metal had been brought to welding heat and then hammered together, causing the adhesion. With electric or gas welding a welding rod or wire was used and will produce a puddled bead along the seam of the weld. Rather than working like squashing clay together, this method is more akin to using a hot glue gun to adhere two pieces of material.
 
So from rjdankert's posted photos above (top of page 4), I would guess forged, electricity, forged?

Thanks!


I just checked the ones I own and it seems way easier to tell in person. Super-helpful, thanks again.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
I'm actually working on a short demo video on proper technique right now. I've seen a lot of videos on the 'tube involving bush hooks, but have yet to encounter a single one that shows them being used properly.
Click to expand...
Cannot wait for it. It might be just me but your best videos are those where you actually use your voice, not just point and show approach.
 
Glenn Bailey said:
So from rjdankert's posted photos above (top of page 4), I would guess forged, electricity, forged?

Thanks!


I just checked the ones I own and it seems way easier to tell in person. Super-helpful, thanks again.
Click to expand...

All three of them have a visible bead from electric or gas welding. The one on the right in Agent_H's post appears to be forge welded, unless it was a drifted eye (which would be VERY odd for how these are usually made.)
 
crbnSteeladdict said:
Cannot wait for it. It might be just me but your best videos are those where you actually use your voice, not just point and show approach.
Click to expand...

Yeah I had to stop with narration for a while because my microphone busted and I hadn't gotten around to buying a new one. I just got a good deal on a replacement recently so this one'll have narration. It's much easier to record the voice and events separately because when you're dealing with cut material, you can't make it grow back, and if you have a slipup in the filming on that portion then the audio is unusable in that portion. It'll be a fairly short video, but it doesn't take long to explain and show proper use with these.
 
Glenn Bailey said:
Yeah, after looking at mine in person I realized how smooth the forged weld is. So much nicer .
Click to expand...

Cosmetically it's nicer, but there was much more risk of getting a bad weld and having it peel apart in use. You can always grind down the bead on a modern weld, though you'll want to be careful not to take too much off and weaken it. Given the rough use these see, though, there's not much point. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top