Found dead axes and hatchets.

scottyj said:
I found another axe today. Well....half an axe. The handle is snapped off in the middle. The head is the interesting part. It looks a lot older than the one from yesterday. My google foo tells me it was maybe a "splitting" axe, and it is of the "Jersey" type. I found this axe in New Jersey. On the Jersey heads I looked up it shows the lower portion where the handle goes in as a pointed section. This one is rounded at that area. It is thick. 3/4" thick just forward of the eye. The cutting edge is 4 3/4" long. It is 1/4" thick just behind the edge. There are no makers mark/words on it anywhere, but.....there is on the right hand side dead center about 2 1/2" in from the edge a deep triangular punch mark. The mark is about 1/8" deep. Maybe a proof mark? Maybe the guy who owned it put it there? Idk. The rear flat portion of the head looks nice and squared off, as to say that it wasn't hammered much. The hunt continues....
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When those are pointy like on a jersey pattern they're called ears, but when there rounded they're called lugs. Since it has ears instead of lugs it sounds like it may actually be a rockaway pattern.
 
Square_peg said:
The key with old Craftsman axes is the centerline. High centerline are older axes made with better steel. The flat green ones are still OK but not as good as the older ones.
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As far as I know That semi metallic light green paint was used in the 50's, and the axes should be of excellent quality with convex cheeks.
 
Hickory n steel said:
When those are pointy like on a jersey pattern they're called ears, but when there rounded they're called lugs. Since it has ears instead of lugs it sounds like it may actually be a rockaway pattern.
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Rockaways can have either round or pointed ears/lugs. Also I'd always understood that the two terms were interchangeable. The biggest distinction between a Rockaway and typical Jersey is the curve at the bottom of the bit from heel to eye and shorter poll along the vertical axis compared to a Jersey. I'm a little fascinated with the pattern having lived in Rockaway for a time and still having family there. I will own a Mckinnon one of these days ;-) for now I have a William Mann that I need to hang.
 
Hacked said:
Rockaways can have either round or pointed ears/lugs. Also I'd always understood that the two terms were interchangeable. The biggest distinction between a Rockaway and typical Jersey is the curve at the bottom of the bit from heel to eye and shorter poll along the vertical axis compared to a Jersey. I'm a little fascinated with the pattern having lived in Rockaway for a time and still having family there. I will own a Mckinnon one of these days ;-) for now I have a William Mann that I need to hang.
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Someone on a thread said that lugs were round while ears pointy, but maybe they were wrong.
Anyways, good information 👍
 
Hacked said:
Rockaways can have either round or pointed ears/lugs. Also I'd always understood that the two terms were interchangeable. The biggest distinction between a Rockaway and typical Jersey is the curve at the bottom of the bit from heel to eye and shorter poll along the vertical axis compared to a Jersey. I'm a little fascinated with the pattern having lived in Rockaway for a time and still having family there. I will own a Mckinnon one of these days ;-) for now I have a William Mann that I need to hang.
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This mirrors my understanding.
 
@scottyj both of those are good finds, craftsman isn't the rarest brand but definitely still a good axe to find. The jersey is also a good find, even without a makers mark they're still a pretty popular design. I'm not an expert on identifying axes without makers marks but I'm sure someone else on here could give you some help, but as you said that punch mark very well could have been done by an owner, it's hard to tell without seeing it. You're doing a good thing saving these from becoming cheap Chinese metal, and if you're feeling really motivated I'm sure you could even broader the types of tools you're saving, axes are a big interest for people on this forum but it definitely isn't the only one. But that's up to you, it definitely depends on what you're allowed to take and what you want to do, I hate to see any old tool scrapped but definitely not worth risking your job over. But I have quite a few I'm working on now so I'll let someone else claim those axes you've found. If you have trouble finding someone (which I would be shocked if you did on here) I will take them but would recommend trying the for sale subgroup or eBay first, I know you said you weren't looking for money from the start but I doubt anyone on here would complain if you asked for couple bucks plus shipping, you should be compensated for your time and effort. Keep us updated and good luck!
 
Sounds like it could be a Plumb, they marketed what really is closer to a round lug jersey as a "rockaway" pattern
 
DarthTaco123 said:
Sounds like it could be a Plumb, they marketed what really is closer to a round lug jersey as a "rockaway" pattern
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Not sure if that is the case or not, but Plumb made a Rockaway Pattern that was quite distinct from their round lug Jersey. I have one of their Jersey patterns and next to my Rockaway the differences are obvious, but it's still hard to capture in a photo. I've only seen pictures of their Rockaway pattern unfortunately.

il_fullxfull.1047630094_kk7p.jpg


@scottyj hopefully our side discussions aren't bothering you. As you can tell a lot of use enjoy discussing axes as much as working on or using them.
 
Hi guys. That ^^^^^^ is the exact same one that I found. I was just going over it with a wire brush removing the rust, old paint, and dirt. I then found the Plumb stamp buried under old rust, and paint, and is the same as above. It is faint, but it is there.
Please keep the discussions coming. I want this to be a fun thread. The more input the better. :thumbup:
 
scottyj said:
Hi guys. That ^^^^^^ is the exact same one that I found. I was just going over it with a wire brush removing the rust, old paint, and dirt. I then found the Plumb stamp buried under old rust, and paint, and is the same as above. It is faint, but it is there.
Please keep the discussions coming. I want this to be a fun thread. The more input the better. :thumbup:
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If that is the case it would have been a felling axe based on a design by a man name William McKinnon from Rockaway NJ. This would have been a felling axe, though the originals had rather thick bit profiles compared to modern felling axes. It is possible however that it is a Plumb Jersey pattern which is very similar, and I happen to have one. I can measure the poll on mine, if the axe is a Rockaway the poll or backside of the axe should be substantially shorter at least a half inch or more. This would be an easy way to validate. Assuming it's a Rockaway I'd be interested that is if you haven't desided to keep it for yourself and put it to good use. I get the feeling we will have you restoring axes in no time ;-)

Here's a picture of my Plumb Jersey for reference.

16759976948_732c1c41ae_h.jpg
 
Count me In! And if you have any buddies in the business in North Alabama Id gladly do the same for them!!!!
 
@scottyj that's awesome that you were able to bring the logo to the surface, a lot of people will cast aside rusty heads of they can't find a logo on it but just because you can't see it thru the rust doesn't mean it's not there. Even if it's faint it's still there and that makes a big difference! Not sure if you want to keep it now as it seems to be your first real fixed up find but if you want to pass it off to someone I would gladly take it, pay shipping and some extra for your time and effort. If it is unclaimed shoot me a message, but if you've decided to keep that one I would totally understand. I still have my first axe I cleaned up even though it's a no name, it's nice to be able to see what sparked my interest as well as seeing how far I'be come and how much I've learned about restoring since that first one.
 
Hacked said:
If that is the case it would have been a felling axe based on a design by a man name William McKinnon from Rockaway NJ. This would have been a felling axe, though the originals had rather thick bit profiles compared to modern felling axes. It is possible however that it is a Plumb Jersey pattern which is very similar, and I happen to have one. I can measure the poll on mine, if the axe is a Rockaway the poll or backside of the axe should be substantially shorter at least a half inch or more. This would be an easy way to validate. Assuming it's a Rockaway I'd be interested that is if you haven't desided to keep it for yourself and put it to good use. I get the feeling we will have you restoring axes in no time ;-)

Here's a picture of my Plumb Jersey for reference.

16759976948_732c1c41ae_h.jpg
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I'm looking at the Plumb now. It is definitely like the black one in the upper photo. It has the shorter poll.
Do you have an email I can send some pics to? You might want to see this.
 
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@scottyj who were you asking for the email the one who's picture you replied to? I'm assuming that but hell I'd like to see it as well lol jlemay3@worcester.edu
 
scottyj said:
I'm looking at the Plumb now. It is definitely like the black one in the upper photo. It has the shorter poll.
Do you have an email I can send some pics to? You might want to see this.
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I left my email in a visitor message on your profile. I'd love to take a look at some pictures. A Craftsman and a Plumb in just a couple of days, it makes me sad to think about how many of these tools just get tossed out on a daily basis.
 
Hey guys. Pics sent to emails for Hacked, and Jlemay. :thumbup:
Edit: If you want to throw the pics up here that would be cool.
 
scottyj said:
Hey guys. Pics sent to emails for Hacked, and Jlemay. :thumbup:
Edit: If you want to throw the pics up here that would be cool.
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Thanks man I just saw them, I can post a link to imgur but I'm fairly new and technologically challenged and haven't yet figured out how to imbed pics. So if hacked wants to he can but if not I don't mind posting a link.
 
Jlemay18 said:
Thanks man I just saw them, I can post a link to imgur but I'm fairly new and technologically challenged and haven't yet figured out how to imbed pics. So if hacked wants to he can but if not I don't mind posting a link.
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That's why I haven't posted pics on here. I'm clueless with this computer stuff.
 
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