Collins Co Hudson Ax Hatchet -- no Poll

Don't ask me, ask the south american countries that imported the. I prefer a poll on my axes too, unless it's hardened I keep it to wood pegs though. A poll does co me in quite handy at the hunting camp though.
 
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I like how you can see the original hammer forging marks in it now. It's a beautiful old axe from the dawn of the industrial age.
 
I haven't weighed it. But I will and post. I've been meaning to get a digital scale. It has some of the factory finish on it. Kind of a miracle. I was able to scrape most of the junk off using a soft wrought iron spatula. Then I used Thymol wipes (7th Generation brand) It's a "natural" alternative to Clorox type wipes.
I find they remove dirt etc well but don't mess with patina, surface. Then slathered in coconut oil. Sat over night. Wiped off throughly. Used a plastic scraper to get a bit more dirt off. Then threw in oven for hour or so at 300 or something. First time I've done all this and I'm pleased with results. Vinegar would have taken all the blacking off. I'd only use acidic stuff for marginal relic stuff. I think acids are overkill. And I've used vinegar before.
 
halfaxe said:
I like how you can see the original hammer forging marks in it now. It's a beautiful old axe from the dawn of the industrial age.
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In photo facing right, do you see the 2 "bench dog" (usually see that with wood) marks in middle toward top? At least that's what I think they are.
 
mako20ft said:
Is there an accepted reason why they went without a poll on these? Seems odd not to be able to use that section of the tool's real estate :confused:
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Keeps the cost down considerably. Fold a piece of flat bar over a mandrel and hammer out a blade. Presumably trade axes did not cater to those who were flush with cash.
 
The first European axes brought over here did not have polls. Definitely an American Colonial development. Maybe there was so much timber here to cut, efficiency spawned innovation. I think the poll was more about weight (momentum) than a pounding surface. The business end got shorter and sturdier, so weight needed to be put somewhere.
 
crown & hammer said:
The first European axes brought over here did not have polls. Definitely an American Colonial development. Maybe there was so much timber here to cut, efficiency spawned innovation. I think the poll was more about weight (momentum) than a pounding surface. The business end got shorter and sturdier, so weight needed to be put somewhere.
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Exactly. Many of the earliest trade axes came from southern France and northern Spain around the Bay of Biscay. These axes had no polls. The iron was wrapped around a mandrel to make the eye and then forge welded together to make the bit. These axes were exported to South, Central, and North America. The poll was a colonial American invention as Crown states. The current hudson bay design is the marriage of the old European trade axe pattern and an American poll. As American axe production increased, companies (notably Collins) began exporting to Central and South American markets. They made axes in the original European style because it was what those markets were used to.

I remember a great book (can't remember the title), which described researchers diving in to the rapids of northern Minnesota and parts of Canada where Voyageurs' canoes were likely to have capsized, dumping their loads, and they found all sorts of trade artifacts, including many of these European trade axes.
 
Note the casting in eye. Looks rough or unfinished. Any thoughts? I appreciate all comments made so far.
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Maybe that slag in the eye is the reason it was thrown out back instead of exported to South America?
 
halfaxe said:
Maybe that slag in the eye is the reason it was thrown out back instead of exported to South America?
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I think you are onto something. A large broadaxe that was found in same vicinity, stamped only with Cast Steel, looks unused, but does have a crack up side. This axe is presumably a super early Collins piece. I'll see if I can get photos of that.
 
DarthTaco123 said:
Long lost stash of blem Collins'?
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:D...I grew up in Collinsville and still have family there. That's how I got this axe, and have seen a few other pieces from the lot. I wish I had been able to look around myself. My specific interest is more toward early prefactory era tools and the like.
 
Yep! I only live about a half hour from Oakland so I usually head out there and come back with an axe head or three.
 
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