COTS Project Thread

Chignecto Woodsman said:
How common is it to crack like that? I thought that mainly happened from forcing too tight of a wedge.

And is the second one on the left also a Plumb? Really like that one. I guess it says "Plumb Jersey lineup". Top handles there.
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Left to right; unmarked Jersey 3-1/2lbs (ridges in the eye), NE Old Yank 3-1/4lb (I guess there is speculation that these are Emerson Stevens axes? NE could for sure be New England or North East maybe?), Collins Legitimus 3lb Ct., then the Plumb on the end. Yeah the file name is misleading. It gets to the point where I run out of things to name images to keep them organized.

Some guys on another forum seem to think it is somewhat common. I mean, I am guessing it is very UNCOMMON when you figure the volume of Plumb axes at the time they were being made, but I suspect it is common amongst what we find because cracked axes probably just sat around collecting dust and are easier to come by today. My theory is that mine was a combination of things, the beating it had received during its life, probably me wedging it too hard, and the possibility that maybe some Plumb heads were too hard or had some sort of factory flaw. All or none, or maybe something else.
 
cityofthesouth said:
I now have 3 different Plumbs and I have noticed that they ring more than my other axes, and there is some speculation that they are possibly a harder steel throughout.
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Well they are harder throughout. Plumb advertised the fact that they made their axes out of 100% high carbon steel rather than adding a high-carb bit to a low carbon steel body. This is why it was a simple matter for them to harden some of their bits. I can't say that all their axes were made with high carbon bodies, but many were.

Edit: I should note that plumb was not alone in making axes out of homogeneous high carbon steel. Many other makers did the same. Any cast steel axes are made this way. Modern Tuatahi racing axes are also forged from a single block of steel.
 
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Chignecto Woodsman said:
Ok, I thought it looked more like a Maine pattern or variant. They're all sweet though. Thanks for the details.
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No problem. I guess I really don't know what the Old Yank is. It has some Ct features, maybe since it is called an Old Yank it is a Yankee pattern? I dunno. I also got it just because I liked the somewhat unique pattern of it, and for the handle that was on it.


Square_peg said:
Well they are harder throughout. Plumb advertised the fact that they made their axes out of 100% high carbon steel rather than adding a high-carb bit to a low carbon steel body. This is why it was a simple matter for them to harden some of their bits. I can't say that all their axes were made with high carbon bodies, but many were.

Edit: I should note that plumb was not alone in making axes out of homogeneous high carbon steel. Many other makers did the same. Any cast steel axes are made this way. Modern Tuatahi racing axes are also forged from a single block of steel.
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Maybe I should have said, harder than average for homogeneous heads. I only have a few axes of any kind myself that aren't all steel.
 
the hardest axe i have ever filed have all been plumbs. two if them, i completely gave up trying to file. i ended up using diamond files, and even power tools intermittently cooling with water. talk about taking a scary edge. you can hear the difference when tapped with something hardened.
 
Following up on what Square_peg said, I went to digging around. I found numerous ads for Plumb axes from various dates talking about "special analysis steel", "spring tempered heads", "armor plate treated eyes" and so on, claiming that their axes will not "batter, smash, buckle, stretch" and other descriptors. They didn't say anything about cracking though. :P So it may very well be a case where, even amongst all steel axes, Plumb did something extra to them.

plumb_ad_1934 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr
 
I've got an old 4 pound Plumb Dayton that was used as a splitting wedge. The eye definitely buckled and there are some cracks-- I like Plumb tools (hammers, adzes, axes etc) but they weren't idiot proof!
 
Chignecto Woodsman said:
Ok, I thought it looked more like a Maine pattern or variant. They're all sweet though. Thanks for the details.
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G-pig said:
I've got an old 4 pound Plumb Dayton that was used as a splitting wedge. The eye definitely buckled and there are some cracks-- I like Plumb tools (hammers, adzes, axes etc) but they weren't idiot proof!
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That's for sure. I think this particular ad may have encouraged the idiots to carry on as planned.
 
Twoinch said:
the idiots money is as green as anyone elses.. ha!
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Haha yep.


So it turns out I did NEED the handle to be red, it just seemed like the thing to do. There was still a glob of what I think was Permabond in the eye so I went and got a bottle of red leather dye, which turned out to really be purple or something close to smashed Mulberries, and had a nice pink handle. So the "tan" dye that I use is kind of a rusty red color, so I applied that over the top and I'm happy with the results. In this pic you can see the start of my "large" axe mask. My one size fits all mask, is more of a "medium" and won't fit the Jerseys - more on that later.

plumb_jersey_redhandle by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr
 
Agent_H said:
Wow, that is beautiful! Always look forward to the COTS Thread updates!

Do you mind if I ask what ratio you use the dye at? I did 1/4 dye, 3/4 BLO last night and I am still wiping it off this morning... Mineral spirits or other voodoo added in there?

Classy looking Jersaaaay you built up there :thumbup:
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Well this "red" was also Feibings but it did not play well with the BLO. I actually didn't use any particular ratio though. I just had some BLO on a small piece of rag, then dipped a little dye on it and just kinda added here and there for the effect I wanted (on the "aged" handles). It's really just literally a few drops of dye - leather dye goes a LONG way for this sort of thing when all you want is just a little color. Now, in the case of this handle, I wanted the full color so I just went straight dye with the little dobber, red, then straight dye tan over the top.

Oh, as far as soaking it up? Yeah the hickory we are getting today is kinda ... maybe hit and miss? I've done handles where I could watch it drink up the BLO even if it was dripping with it. Other times I put a little bit on and the next day it's a tacky mess. For the coloring, very little BLO and very little dye. You don't want to have a large rag soaking up most of your dye, but you also don't want it soaking wet so a small piece that is mostly BLO then a dab of dye on the tip and try to cover a large area quickly - like, the whole handle except where you want it darker. Basically you're putting on almost nothing. Add wipe off, add, until it looks right.
 
See, now not having used it before, I would have kept using too much. I do appreciate you sharing that.

I was applying way more than would soak in. Mine looks a little orange... Part of the entertainment I guess :)

Well written response, thank you.
 
More pics. Finished up the mask while I was at it. It is meant to be a one size fits all thing for the larger axes, so I didn't want to use a snap closure. I really wish my lace strap was another inch long (or long enough to go around the shoulder of the handle), but this is what I dug out of the scrap box at a local hobby shop. The leather is belly so it's not spectacular but an inexpensive way to get stuff that's good enough for functional use. I think that's a wrap on this project.

Plumb_jersey_red1 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

Plumb_redhandle_sheath2 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

Plumb_redhandle_sheath1 by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr




NP Agent. Leather dye, for me, isn't very forgiving - it just goes on way too fast - so I am hesitant to use much of it. Google tells me you can dilute it with alcohol. It smells like alcohol so that makes sense to me. Yeah, so the tan does come out kind of orange if it gets away from you. I'd have a try at wiping it down with mineral spirits then rub the snot out of it with either or both gentle scotch brite pads and fine steel wool (I think I use 0000). Steel wool seems to be the cats meow for making the handle feel like a well used, worn in handle, and it'll strip just a touch off the surface. Depends on how deep the dye got I suppose. I do this anyway, just so I don't end up transferring dye from the handle to my hands.
 
cityofthesouth said:
Yeah the hickory we are getting today is kinda ... maybe hit and miss? I've done handles where I could watch it drink up the BLO even if it was dripping with it. Other times I put a little bit on and the next day it's a tacky mess.
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I actually prefer those handles that don't drink the BLO. I think they're sounder handles to begin with. Really good second growth hickory won't suck up much BLO.
 
cityofthesouth said:
Projects are just kinda piling up so I think this'll just be an ongoing thread of all the stuff that occupies my free time.

This pile is from a friend of mine - I never know what he might show up with and for this group I talked him out of spending any time on the Keen Kutter. It's unfortunate but the bit is worn through on the corners to the point that the wrought is showing through. The other axe on the other hand is only marked on the underside of the poll with a 2 in a circle. It sorta shows in one of the pics. It has a great shape and bit/cheek profile IMO and comes in at exactly 3-1/2 pounds. It's now wearing a House Handle that got a enormous amount of thinning and shaping - appears to be full heart wood. The handles on both these axes may not have been original but they do seem to be old and are very nice. I don't like 36 inch handles but he wanted new sticks and I am glad to have these as reference to how handles should look. I actually think they are still in usable condition so I cleaned one of them up to have a look.

rehang_projects by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

noname_wedges by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

noname_finished by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr
Scored the double bit at a local antique mall - for the first time EVER I found something good! There is nothing around here. I believe all the axes are still sitting around in barns being used in Kansas to be honest. It's a 3lb Tru-Test ... not really sure if that means it's good but man it appears to be in nice shape, save for the goofy gigantic HH handle that was put on it. I already ripped that off.

noname_handlefit by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

noname_sidebyside by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

noname_wedge by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr

Anyway, the hammers are all de-handled and I've been asked to fit them with handles of similar length to what was on them - obviously some custom jobs in there. [emoji14]
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I know this is going waaay back, but these side by side "no names" have gorgeous handles! Presume they are original or if not where are they from? Really like the double curve look.
 
cityofthesouth said:
Haha yep.


So it turns out I did NEED the handle to be red, it just seemed like the thing to do. There was still a glob of what I think was Permabond in the eye so I went and got a bottle of red leather dye, which turned out to really be purple or something close to smashed Mulberries, and had a nice pink handle. So the "tan" dye that I use is kind of a rusty red color, so I applied that over the top and I'm happy with the results. In this pic you can see the start of my "large" axe mask. My one size fits all mask, is more of a "medium" and won't fit the Jerseys - more on that later.

plumb_jersey_redhandle by city_ofthe_south, on Flickr
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That is a $100+ axe if I have ever seen one. I can't tell you how nice that is.
 
Are these all made from first pass handles from House? I have a bunch of 8/4 hickory for making them from scratch, but a pre-made handle would save a lot of time for hanging my less valuable user heads. The finished handles have the knob rounded off by the sander and don't have wood where I need it at the knob.
 
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