Finnish/Earlier Scandi axes - Kirves

Absolutely, I only had 15minutes before heading out to my drudgery. I initially was struck by its overall beauty of form but yes, I do see some very perceptible similarities.

The overall sweep of the blade, what looks like an increase in mass from the toe to heel, the “arrow” shaped profile from head on. The differences in bevel depths look as though they may also increase from the from toe to heel.
 
Before I loose these pictures I want to get them transferred - I don't often pick stuff off internet for use, but as Louden Wainwright III says it, "It's alright to steal, 'cause it's so nice to "share"." - since they represent a credible source for learning about the specifics of Piilukirves.
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Exterior Pertinotsa house
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Interior Pertinotsa house.
As I recall from a long ago trip to the island this building is the main house of an extensive farm where the farmer and family lived. If you want to look at a single example representing the use and intention of the piilukirves this one gets my vote as a credible source for drawing some conclusions, (unlike youtu be. videos for example).The important and relevant aspects are the interior and exterior walls of the building. Hard to make generalizations from a single example - well, no it isn't.
 
Kevin Houtzager said:
Update: Still no photo's. Way to dirty to get my camera out. That being said: Progres has been made: It straightened, as it had to warps. Took about 10 minutes of gentle tapping with me 10kg hammer which I call Thor. Its actually ridiculous old: By far the oldest hammer I have. Didn't take to long, but the neighbours wheren't exactly happy ;) . Most of the debris is off from dunking it in Vinegar and old crud collected over the years. Had to top of the barrel, as is didn't have enough vinegar in it to completely submerge the axehead. The blade metal itself is actually really flat. the upper surface is actually quite smooth. It does have all the oxidization dimples though, which I actually like. And it has a hardenend poll. Its clearly an insert, but really small in dimension, so I have absolutely no idea what that was ment to do.

The edge is no blunt. I had to reprofile it quite a bit, as it had some chips. Luckily there is a lot of metal left, so that wasn't much of a problem. Next up is some more cleaning, in the dunk tank again and finally some photo's.

As for the handle, that actually is an open question, and I would like to know what you all think I should do?

As for the axe: Its a late Viking or early Hansa item. Which actually isn't that weird, as Ubbe is actually working at the Hansa Museum in Lübeck as a historian. So that dates it roughly between 1050 A.D. - 1350 A.D. Unfortunately it has no markings on it, or I could be more specific. But they rarely have them....
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Dirty pictures are fine with me - process is as important as product :thumbsup:
 
Something made me think of posting up my version of piilukirves for a little
background. It's been 10 + years since getting my grubby hands on this. In those days it was easier to
dig deep into the weeds, and find information from trustworthy sources. Unlike now when it takes
cutting through a lot of crap, to get at useful information on the internet.
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Anyway Agent-H it just goes to show what a particularly good model you have gotten your hands on and hopefully it will be a good tool for you and you will have pleasure in using it.
 
Kevin,i'd do a search on peat-cutting axes...Both yours and one on Ernest's wall sure look like them...(they also look identical in those bottom protrusions,as well as all else,and on the whole have that mid-20th c. die-forged look).

I'm not any kind of a hand at searching,but look at this photo:https://imgur.com/gZgmvYB

Also the thinness,and the light weight...

I'd say some Billnas-type Skandi manufacturer,late 19th-early 20th c.c.
 
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Kevin Houtzager said:
First Time I'd ever heard of a peat-axe actually, but it is plausible? Holland used to be covered in peat (called "turf" or "veen"). The same goes for Scandinavia.
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Peat actually does preserve stuff quite nicely, as both the 1942 Elwell as well as the Danish axe resurfaced from it. And although the danish axe was pitted, it wasn't nearly as bad as this one though. The reason I don't know that there actually where peat axes is because over here we used something that is called a "veensteker" or "turfsteker" (roughly translated as 'turfstabber' or 'peatstabber'):
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As for the handles, will look into that! Although I'm still not certain it actually is a peat axe: Although it is light for it size, I would's actually call it light. Its 1120 gram, so that equates to rougly 2 pounds 7,5 oz. And it still doesn't explain why it has a hardened poll and a hardenend blade? And with hardenend I actually mean the nail pounding variety without mushrooming. A peat axe wouldn't have any use for it. and is mild steel. This one isn't. Or am I missing something here? Is it possible there are hardened blades on peat axes?

I also know that the ones used in Holland don't have a hardened edge, as peat is relatively soft. I went to dig it up and dry it as a kid, because I had a miniature working peat engine. Its actually the same as the steam engine you have, only way smaller and piston operated. I cant seem to find a photo of it and I'm actually wondering what happened to that thing? o_O My dad made that thing for me.:)

As for its age: I mentioned it came from Lübeck didn't I? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lübeck You can read a lot of info on the city in the link. And this is a Timeline: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Lübeck European city's, unlike the ones in America, date back to the dark ages or even before that And the bigger cities are well documented because of the church. That same church plays a central role in why this is axe is as old as I think it is. Its called the "Lübecker Dom" and you can find it on the timeline as well:
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As you can see from the timeline it clearly states that building that cathedral began in 1173. And it finished in 1210. It's well documented and is also a Unesco world heritage site. And I now hear you thinking: Thats still not proof, because finding an axe inside a church that still standing could have been brought inside the church much later. And you would be right. Except one thing: It wasn't actually found inside the church, but under it :D . And normally you would be an absolute idiot to dig at a world heritage site and destroy a building like that. But something else happened on the 28th of March 1942:
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Thats what an airraid of the RAF looks like. The city was discribed by Arthur Harris (RAF Air Officer) "built more like a fire-lighter than a human habitation". Long story short: It got bombed to bits, and was fully rebuilt in 1982. The tower you see in the background is the "Marienkirche" (also Unesco), and was a higher priority then the "Lübecker Dom", and was finished more the 20 years before that. Thats why it took so long. Inside the church, before 1942, you would have found a large organ. It currently isn't there anymorebecause of the bombing:
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And under the hole that was left behind, is where my axe was found among old dated coins :D

So you are "slightly off" by a couple of centuries ;) That narrows the timeline down to 1210 at its latest, and roughly 1050 at its soonest: So 1050-to 1210 A.D. More likely would be 1100- 1173 A.D.

As for construction: it isn't die forged: You can see the forge lines quite clearly: The ears for instance, aren't one piece with eye, as is the hardened poll, or the blade and the bridge for that matter. With Die-forging that would be the case. You can also see the gentle taper in the blade itself as well as 'mistakes' that won't happen on a die forge.

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And as for the Skandi link: Lübeck is part of Germany now, and has been quite some time. So it would most likely be called al Carl helsper, Helko, Ochsenkopf or any other variety if it where 19th or 20th century. Thats why you only come across kemi axes in Denmark on the 2 big islands the closest to Norway and Sweden. Sjaelland being the one Kopenhagen is found on. The rest has a German influence, as is clearly visible not only in axes, but in architecture as well.

So all in all, I'm convinced of its age and heritage, since all is documented, but I'm not that certain of its function. Will try to get more info, as well as get at least one photo before it was sent. I actually didn't take one, as I'd like to start right away. It's a thing with photographers: Taking pictures as a job means you rarely take pictures of anything for yourself.o_O
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At this point, I’m convinced it was for chopping off heads. ;)
 
ithinkverydeeply said:
At this point, I’m convinced it was for chopping off heads. ;)
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They are all executioner's axes!

Kevin, it's an interesting axe. Long, wide, thin blade with a fairly small connection to the round eye that is inline with the blade.

If not wood, what other "softer medium" would a big,wide, thinly-bitted axe excel at cutting?

Separating a whale? (some flensing tools have a similarly shaping blades but not attached like an axe) Shaping wet block mix? Dividing hay/straw blocks? The very up-swept heel would help it keep from getting stuck in what you are cutting into when it was sunk in eye-deep. Would it be used to trim something that was standing vertically? I have seem some very thinly-bitted coopers axes that probably were terrific at making long, thin slats but would not handle any prying action without damaging them. If the rear edge was also sharpened a man could use it to perform some sort of "drawing action" during use?

The one that Ernest has in his picture has a large spade sort of piece attached to it and it looks like the spade portion is more or less equal to the depth of the bit itself. If it was designed to knock out peat blocks then a guy would chop, chop, chop, chop, and lift it out - up to the depth the spade at least. The spade portion could be used to pry the axes cut open for another tool to be inserted? You mentioned the other one Ubbe possesses has some sort of "bark-peeler" - would knowing what that is shaped like help determine original use?

I don't know much to anything about churches.
 
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