double bit mortise axe?

N

Norwood

Joined
Jan 19, 2019
Messages
27
When I saw this I thought is this some kind of mattock? The eye is big, 3 1/4"x2" with a height of 3 1/2", the wedge side seems to taper a pinch, maybe to 3 5/16" and mattocks taper about 1/4" all around through 2 1/2". The weight is a lot at 10 lbs. 1.2 oz. Measures 20" bit to bit and toe to heel is 3". Possibly for timber framing? Has anyone seen an axe like this? The photos wouldn't load to the post so here are the links:
https://imgur.com/AqmtH1c
https://imgur.com/wod9pzN
https://imgur.com/8eQpqRZ
https://imgur.com/vCXBNj3
 
Last edited:
Norwood said:
When I saw this I thought is this some kind of mattock?
Click to expand...

No picture. But yes, double-bitted mortise axes are a thing that exist. Even less commonly found than single bit ones, though.
 
I tried the individual links and they work now, so I added them to the original post.
 
Last edited:
Here's the ones I could get;
AqmtH1c.jpg


wod9pzN.jpg

8eQpqRZ.jpg

For some reason imgur won't load up the others for me. It is interesting! Not a mortising axe though. Some kind of mattock I would say.
 
I was afraid that it could be that and I have lots of picks and mattocks. The handle is a mystery to me. There is little to no taper for a traditional mattock handle. I guess that it could be done.
 
Yeah. Some kind of mattock or mattock-like implement. Certainly using a mattock eye. But I'm inclined to think that it may be a tool associated either with railroad, stone, or masonry/pavement work of some kind. It has the look of tools made for those industries, though what specific task it was meant for I don't know.

It's thick enough that it was probably used on something more substantial than regular ol' dirt or wood, but not so thick as to be used on hard stone, and the way that it's fairly flat behind the bevel rather than significantly tapered (resembling the slight taper of a conventional pick) makes me think it was intended for busting through a resistant material in such a manner as to cut a line rather than merely pulverizing the material.
 
I'm just guessing, but the Woodings Verona catalog describes that version as "double eye" and has the symmetrical bit orientation, while the "single eye" has a bit of a cant to it and is positioned with the eye portion flush along the top like a conventional pick. You mentioned that the eye appeared to have little taper to it, and between that remark, the presence of the eye extending both above and below the bits, and the way that axe bits tend to wear most on the toe due to accidental strikes into the ground, I suspect the eye perhaps has a symmetrically tapered eye like "> <" in such a way that it could be used one way until the toe wore down and then flipped over to extend the life of the tool. Does it appear to be narrowest right in the middle of the eye, and then about the same size on either end? Sort of like a "reversible" pattern double bit axe.
 
Toward the center is tapered somewhat but doesn't have enough to clarify, somewhere about 1/16", could be less.
 
That'd still be plenty, honestly. With a handle that thick through the eye it doesn't need much of a reduction so long as you just have good eye contact/pressure. Because of the way that the handle drops in it's not like it'll be flying off the end of the handle or anything. You can get away with much shorter eyes on slip-fit handles in general because of that, and this looks to have what is essentially an extended eye to still give a good contact surface.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top