Hickory n steel
Gold Member
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2016
- Messages
- 20,558
I just received this Sears COMPANION hatchet head in the mail, it was kindly given to me by Phil from the Old Iron Axe & Tool YouTube channel.
I think it's probably from the mid-later 80's, Sears introduced this font in the early 70's then in the early 80's dropped the SEARS branding to reintroduce the COMPANION name for their budget tool line.
As you can see it has an M oem code on it.
Officially this M was the oem code Sears used for Vaughan & Bushnell , and absolutely was for hammers and various types of Hammer poll hatchets.
However there are a number of Axes rebranded by Sears with that I'm not 100% convinced were made by V&B even though they're marked with an M.
As we know METco was marking their axes with an M in the 70's or 80's through 90's, but the M they used was different.
If it matched the V&B 1-1/4 camp hatchet offered from the 70's till today ( used to be under their value brand ) I'd not question it, but it doesn't.
As you can see it's a Michigan pattern with a rounded poll, a pattern that isn't terribly common to hatchets.
It doesn't match the V&B or the typical METco collins either.
Here's a picture of another, with its original handle.
The biggest head scratcher for me is it's mere existence in the 1st place.
The Craftsman hatchets were very affordable, and I don't see how it could have been any cheaper.
If this was made by V&B how could they offer the same quality f&f...etc in a different pattern at a price that could sell for less than the Craftsman offering ?
So officially the M is supposed to mean Vaughan & Bushnell, but it just doesn't look like their standard camp hatchet that was already being made for them as a Craftsman.
Maybe one of you can turn up an example branded Vaughan or Collins...etc, but I couldn't.
I think it's probably from the mid-later 80's, Sears introduced this font in the early 70's then in the early 80's dropped the SEARS branding to reintroduce the COMPANION name for their budget tool line.
As you can see it has an M oem code on it.
Officially this M was the oem code Sears used for Vaughan & Bushnell , and absolutely was for hammers and various types of Hammer poll hatchets.
However there are a number of Axes rebranded by Sears with that I'm not 100% convinced were made by V&B even though they're marked with an M.
As we know METco was marking their axes with an M in the 70's or 80's through 90's, but the M they used was different.
If it matched the V&B 1-1/4 camp hatchet offered from the 70's till today ( used to be under their value brand ) I'd not question it, but it doesn't.
As you can see it's a Michigan pattern with a rounded poll, a pattern that isn't terribly common to hatchets.
It doesn't match the V&B or the typical METco collins either.
Here's a picture of another, with its original handle.
The biggest head scratcher for me is it's mere existence in the 1st place.
The Craftsman hatchets were very affordable, and I don't see how it could have been any cheaper.
If this was made by V&B how could they offer the same quality f&f...etc in a different pattern at a price that could sell for less than the Craftsman offering ?
So officially the M is supposed to mean Vaughan & Bushnell, but it just doesn't look like their standard camp hatchet that was already being made for them as a Craftsman.
Maybe one of you can turn up an example branded Vaughan or Collins...etc, but I couldn't.
