Photos Estwing

eveled said:
Thanks. Lots of them I bought used. It took a long time to accumulate them. It is interesting to be able to compare them.

DirtDawg DirtDawg If you want a small hatchet I can send you one but it needs a handle.

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Thank You eveled for sending this 14A skeleton my way.
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By what I can make out of the forge date on the tang, coupled with the nail notch similarities, as well as the rounded tang lugs, it looks as if this unit was manufactured in 1967. I may end up annealing those lugs before re-peening however. It seems one is much harder than the other. I actually needed to break out the Dremel and a grinding wheel to remove the end cap. Note! I was able to save the end cap, and it cleaned up quite well too, so far.
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It turned out that most of the grinding marks were superficial, so some time and elbow grease spent with 80 grit paper and scotch-brite pads got the head and shank looking pretty good before hitting the vinegar bath. This is the before shot, and it seems I neglected to get an after shot and before submersion.
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My intention at this point is to pair this up with my 24A skeleton from 1967 and try to finish them up together, so I vinegar-soaked it for about 36 hours to get the finish matched up as best I could to start with. Note to those who poo-poo the vinegar treatment: It doesn't seem to really pit or harm the existing structure. It does however clean out any and all rust pits that pre-exist, and leaves a rather handsome gray finish. I do have some tentative plans to enhance said finish in the end - standby for more on that.
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My intention is not to try to get these looking like new, nor to keep any original patinas that may have been rusted or ground away anyhow. My intention is to make a set of useable working tools out of a couple of otherwise unuseable skeletons, and to make them look half-way decent in the end. Fingers crossed...

Be safe everyone! Be well! Enjoy your days!
 
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Anyone ever seen one like this before? Listed as a Estwing splitting cleaver

It doesn’t say Estwing, but the pommel plate is damaged. OTHERS is plane as day. I think it says Others pend. Probably about patents. You can almost make out Rockford ILL. The pins don't look right. But it is close. Maybe something they made on contract?
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eveled said:
Anyone ever seen one like this before? Listed as a Estwing splitting cleaver

It doesn’t say Estwing, but the pommel plate is damaged. OTHERS is plane as day. I think it says Others pend. Probably about patents. You can almost make out Rockford ILL. The pins don't look right. But it is close. Maybe something they made on contract?
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Pins look spot on to me. They were triangular to begin with and changed over to round on the ends somewhere 1967 or earlier. I have a 1967 with rounded tips, but all of my earlier ones I can verify date on are triangular.

It looks like over the OTHERS PEND reads PAT followed by a number. I agree, down below looks to read ROCKFORD ILL.

I'd like to snag one of those some time.
 
eveled said:
Thanks for your knowledge DirtDawg DirtDawg about the pins. First one I’ve ever seen so I made an offer and it was accepted. Yes FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades it is a neat pattern they should bring back. Hopefully in person we can see the patent number.
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It's always a special feeling to me when my offer is accepted. Maybe together, with the help of others in this group, we can figure out when the triangular went round at the end. I'm sure it was strictly for cosmetic reasons, as the earlier ones seem to hold just fine if the leather doesn't dry up too much. But the round ones certainly do look more "finished".
 
I’m curious about the round hole in the middle of the plate. Have you seen that before?

It took me a long time to find that knife, then I ended up with 2 of them. The lighter one shown with the sheath I kept.

Sadly for you I already moved the other darker one along.
 
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eveled said:
I’m curious about the round hole in the middle of the plate. Have you seen that before?

It took me a long time to find that knife, then I ended up with 2 of them. The lighter one shown with the sheath I kept.

Sadly for you I already moved the other darker one along.
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I just received some information regarding the letter stamping in the center of the end cap/plate. I'm quite apprehensive about the credibility of said information though, as it seems it originated in an AI search by the individual who shared it with me. I need to verify before I share, but supposedly it designates a year of manufacture. I'm not too sure about that. As for a round hole vs an oblong hole in the center, I'm still trying to get information on those. My thoughts at present however is that they may have been simply a "construction hole" used in the stamping process of the end caps. I'm also entertaining the idea that the letter stampings may have reference to manufacturing revisions of the tool the cap was installed on. Keep in mind, these are simply my ideas, not fact.

Fact: My older 16oz Straight Claw has an oval slot in the end-cap.
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Pittybull said:
Latest addition. Got it for yard work, sitting around the firepit. Haven't used it yet,but im looking forward to it.
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There is something about the profile of that axe that really speaks to me. If I can ever find one in my price range, I'm afraid I'll have to go for it. Not that I need an axe for anything, but I suppose I'll never completely outgrow my teen years. Oh for the Glory Days...
 
DirtDawg said:
There is something about the profile of that axe that really speaks to me. If I can ever find one in my price range, I'm afraid I'll have to go for it. Not that I need an axe for anything, but I suppose I'll never completely outgrow my teen years. Oh for the Glory Days...
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I grabbed it because my sister got me a cabelas gift card. I searched thier site and found the axe and a silky saw. Both were under 100 bucks. The gift card was for 100 and I had 2 or 3 bucks left on it after I got both.
Figured it would be helpful around the yard and firepit this summer.
 
Pittybull said:
I grabbed it because my sister got me a cabelas gift card. I searched thier site and found the axe and a silky saw. Both were under 100 bucks. The gift card was for 100 and I had 2 or 3 bucks left on it after I got both.
Figured it would be helpful around the yard and firepit this summer.
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Nice. May I adopt your sister please?
 
eveled said:
Anyone ever seen one like this before? Listed as a Estwing splitting cleaver

It doesn’t say Estwing, but the pommel plate is damaged. OTHERS is plane as day. I think it says Others pend. Probably about patents. You can almost make out Rockford ILL. The pins don't look right. But it is close. Maybe something they made on contract?
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Updated Comment - 3/17/26: Over at the Estwing Appreciation Group page on FB, a fellow member of the group came up with "hog splitter" as a description. Maybe?
 
Thanks for updating that.

Were they talking about this one? Or did they find others?

Hog Splitter is a good name for it.
 
So far my leather stack 12" has been great. I like to wrap the upper part of handle with Paracord to give me cordage to work with if needed.
 
DirtDawg said:
Updated Comment - 3/17/26: Over at the Estwing Appreciation Group page on FB, a fellow member of the group came up with "hog splitter" as a description. Maybe?
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A little small for the class of cleaver usually called a hog splitter. Those are typically very large two-handed models with long handles, and are a slightly smaller size than beef splitters, which are the largest size.
 
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