Circa 1965 OAKLAND MAINE AXE making film! Awesome!

Lovely film clip and a wonderful record of 'hand-made' axe making.
Up this way Morley Walters (Walters Axe Co., Hull, Quebec) must have seen 'the writing on the wall' by the end of WWII and lured an industry-experienced Tool & Die maker away from Inglis Manufacturing, for the purpose of modernizing his axe factory in 1947. Via a huge drop hammer and forms the process was speeded up considerably and many fewer workers were needed. Not hard to see why it's difficult for a very labour intensive/very skilled operation to compete with increasing mechanization and automation. Especially when all that most buyers look at is selling price.
 
$1.25 an hour.......

Great video. That was some work by some men that were true experts. I wonder how long they lived overall, with the absence of protective gearl. The dust from the grinding must of been something in that shop.

They made great axes. I have a couple - here is the prize piece -



Its a beauty and rings true when struck.

Thanks for the video!!!
 
Thanks Hardball!
That is the best video I have seen on making axes. Surprised it was still going in the sixties.
 
CedarEater said:
Real men light their pipes with the red hot axe heads.
Click to expand...
In the same vein a late 1960s article about the Walters Axe Company shows a photo of the lads making a pot of coffee via a percolator set on a newly-fired axe head.
 
So tragic that literally NOTHING remains of the old Oakland shops. It's almost as if the progress of time just plucked them up out of the ground and erased them from history.
 
Hi all,

I'm glad that ya'll enjoyed the Doc. Film. Oper.....excellent that you own such a wonderful example of a "Maine made Axe". I will be keeping my eyes open for a "Emerson & Stevens Axe. I live less than 45 miles from Oakland, Maine.

Regards,

HARDBALL
 
Almost everything of hand-made and skilled quality has disappeared in N America. To be sad and lament about this is one thing but to equally not celebrate America's own Eli Whitney who spear-headed the mass production revolution is another. Imagine paying $400-500 for a simple made-like-in-the-old-days axe? Face it: Mass production has taken over and the Chinese have taken this one step further by squeezing every last ounce of quality and character out of whatever they offer all in the name of "minimum cost". Us consumers are to blame for this more so than anybody or anything else; because all 'we' (how many new axes do you buy every year?) seem to care about these days is "minimum cost".
 
One of the best videos I have seen. Wonderful teamwork and coordination between Wood and Manson. Loved they way Manson re-lit his pipe.
Quite sad in a way to see these types of skills and precision slipping away into history.

This type of information and sharing is what I like most about this forum.

regards...Frank
 
300Six...You hit the nail smack on the head mate. I totally agree with your sentiment about squeezing every last ounce and character...
It's the same here and very hard to take.
regards...Frank
 
Excellent video. Thanks for sharing. I was surprised there were so few workers there. E&S was the last axe company to use the 2 piece overcoat method to make axes, long after most axe companies gave it up. I have a E&S db 3 pounds even and unhafted with the old diamond shaped eye.

DSC01093_zpsd611f47b.jpg

DSC01091_zps08d0c9ae.jpg
 
Last edited:
In similar fashion they were the last company producing scythe blades from laminated 3-hardness "scythe rod" stock.
 
halfaxe said:
Excellent video. Thanks for sharing. I was surprised there were so few workers there. E&S was the last axe company to use the 2 piece overcoat method to make axes, long after most axe companies gave it up. I have a E&S db 3 pounds even and unhafted with the old diamond shaped eye.

DSC01093_zpsd611f47b.jpg

DSC01091_zps08d0c9ae.jpg
Click to expand...

Half axe, how do you know its a E&S? Don't get me wrong I am not questioning that it is a E&S. I have one that looks a lot like yours. Just did not know the maker. Can't remember where I put it either. I am sure I still own it.
 
I was curious about that too. I have two maine double bits with a weight only, no makers mark.
But back to the main thread, that video is cool as shit. I thought I was tuckered after spending a day hanging heads, but I realize I'm a freakin' pansy now. I'll never be able to light my pipe with a lighter and feel like a man again.
 
garry3 said:
Half axe, how do you know its a E&S? Don't get me wrong I am not questioning that it is a E&S. I have one that looks a lot like yours. Just did not know the maker. Can't remember where I put it either. I am sure I still own it.
Click to expand...

It's stamped E&S Hand Made. Very light stamp I couldn't capture with my cheap camera. I understand light stamps from this company were the norm and would have worn off quickly with use.
 
Half axe, where is that stamp at? Thank you for your help.
I have been wondering about this axe for sometime now. The axe is very thin in the eye. Mine is stamped 3 1/2. It is also stamped on the bottom of the head, it is either 18 or 81. It looks the part of a two or I guess with a DBL bit three part construction.
047.JPG
041.JPG

The steel is very thin in the eye.
 
I'll go out to the shop tomorrow and try to get a picture when the light is good. It is on the face below the center. If I remember right, that is part of the S just below the center of the axe in the picture. In addition to the 3 on the face, I have a 35 stamped on the bottom. The seller, who was a knowledgeable collector, claimed it was the year produced. So maybe yours is 1918?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top