Found dead axes and hatchets.

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That's definitely a Rockaway, and I could make out the Plumb stamp well enough in the pictures. That's a great find Scotty! I'd love the chance to get it back into working condition if your offer stands.

For others following this thread the Craftsman is a full sized Michigan pattern with a nice vintage handle on it. Can't tell if it has a high centerline or not but the haft has an unclipped fawn's hoof. I'll try to get a picture of it posted as well.

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Hacked said:
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That's definitely a Rockaway, and I could make out the Plumb stamp well enough in the pictures. That's a great find Scotty! I'd love the chance to get it back into working condition if your offer stands.

For others following this thread the Craftsman is a full sized Michigan pattern with a nice vintage handle on it. Can't tell if it has a high centerline or not but the haft has an unclipped fawn's hoof. I'll try to get a picture of it posted as well.

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Its yours. Enjoy. Email inbound.
 
I found another complete axe yesterday. It is of the Michigan pattern, and is in good shape. The makers mark is an capital M in a circle with a 3 1/2 under it. Does anyone know who made this one? I found it in New Jersey in an old garage that a friend owns. The head looks like it was of cast manufacture. Also where the wedge goes into the top of the handle there is a round metal circle dead center. Total length of the handle is 35". Thanks.
 
scottyj said:
I found another complete axe yesterday. It is of the Michigan pattern, and is in good shape. The makers mark is an capital M in a circle with a 3 1/2 under it. Does anyone know who made this one? I found it in New Jersey in an old garage that a friend owns. The head looks like it was of cast manufacture. Also where the wedge goes into the top of the handle there is a round metal circle dead center. Total length of the handle is 35". Thanks.
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Scotty I looked up the description of the makers mark quickly and someone on another forum said they had one like that, in a Michigan pattern as well and it was a woodings Verona. If you want to give that one away id be interested. But sounds like you've had some pretty good luck lately keep it up!
 
scottyj said:
I found another complete axe yesterday. It is of the Michigan pattern, and is in good shape. The makers mark is an capital M in a circle with a 3 1/2 under it. Does anyone know who made this one? I found it in New Jersey in an old garage that a friend owns. The head looks like it was of cast manufacture. Also where the wedge goes into the top of the handle there is a round metal circle dead center. Total length of the handle is 35". Thanks.
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If you look at the yesteryeartools site at the history of Plumb you'll see that some of their no-names were struck on the right side of the head with a circular italicized M mark with the head weight directly below.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. 300Six....that is a great site thanks for the tip. Jlemay I'll get some pics off to your email. Let me know what you think.
 
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Here is a picture of the stamp. It reminded me of the Collins posted in an earlier thread about M stamped axes. It seems these stamps may have been used on a number of brands. My guess is some time after most of them had been aquired by one company, my bet is on Mann who we know owned Collins.
 
Thanks for putting that up there Hacked. :thumbup:

Edit: Jlemay check ur email.
 
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Well the Rockaway arrived yesterday just in time to get tossed in the car as we headed out for Halloween stuff with the kids. It's been a busy weekend as you can imagine, but I did way to at least load up a few pictures and say a big thanks to Scott again for the Rockaway.

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This overlapping picture of the two patterns from the same manufacture says a thousand words. It does a better job showing the subtle differences between the two patterns than I could with words IMO.

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Added a pen (straight line) to highlight the slight curve in the bottom of the bit. Some manufacturers like Kelly had a much more substantial curve but this is more in line with an original as far as I can tell.

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Side by Side, Scott told me that he had found a thread stating that the triangle on the Rockaway was used by Plumb to denote an axe was for export.

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Bottom


More to come as time allows, but hopefully these pictures help to show the difference between the two patterns, note the shape of the ears has nothing to do with it.
 
Hi guys. I've found a couple more recently. An old camp axe/hatchet, or it might be a "boys axe", and an old axe head with "scallops" on it. I have not seen too many with scallops cut into the sides. The "ears" on this one are pointed, not round as commonly seen. I tried to post pics, but cant pull it off. If some one is willing to help I can forward the pics to you for presentation here. Thank you.
 
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Scotty,

I'm surprised no one else chimed in. I'm willing to help post up some pictures of what you've found if it will help. I'm still working on the Plumb above, but time has been a little short as of late because I took over a cubscout pack. Also it's a lot of work with the file on that Rockaway to bring it back to where it should be. Once I'm done with the profiling, I'll get it on a handle and post up some in use pictures.

Thanks again Scott, you're definitely a stand up guy!

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Slowly but surely the Plumb Rockaway is working its way back into shape.
 
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scottyj said:
Hi guys. I've found a couple more recently. An old camp axe/hatchet, or it might be a "boys axe", and an old axe head with "scallops" on it. I have not seen too many with scallops cut into the sides. The "ears" on this one are pointed, not round as commonly seen. I tried to post pics, but cant pull it off. If some one is willing to help I can forward the pics to you for presentation here. Thank you.
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Hey, if you would like to post the pictures, you can go to imgur.com it's free and you can just post a link to the page once the pictures are done uploading.

Great thing you're doing here. :thumbup:
 
I wish other states and cities would be as nice as you are. I called both the bigger cities around where I Live after reading this post. Offered to buy lunch for the crew or put up a stipend for any found. I was told NO DEAL. Cant do that , Its against the rules. Then got the idea to call a local Salvage Yard that buys scrap and iron. Offered to pay more than what they get for it a pound and was told . Bug-off! No deal. :thumbdn: I cringe at the thought of what can be simply thrown away or melted down.
 
Hey scottyj I wouldn't mind buying/compensating you for a couple of these old axe or hatchet heads. I am new to the hatchet and axe world and would like to redo one. I have been reading through this section of the forum and browsing eBay, but I'm still unsure where to start as far as purchasing. I have an old true temper carpenters hatchet the previous owner left behind when I purchased my house. I could always go out and buy a new hatchet, but something about cleaning up and using old tools just means more to me. If you are still offering this let me know and I will take you up on it, with the obligatory pics during the restoration as well.


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Hi guys. I actually found another broken axe today at the dump. Michigan style not too old, but I believe to be US made. I'm looking into the imgur site that Noswad mentioned to post pics. I'm in the process of just giving the heads a quick wire wheel brushing to clean them up. Once they are all cleaned I'm gonna post them up here free to you guys. :thumbup:

Edit: BamaDad I drive rolloff for a private sanitation company, so I'm constantly doing boxes for house cleanouts, and visiting local dumps. I'm in transfer station piles all day. The workers there don't care if I snoop around, and they put axes/hatchets to the side for me.
 
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scottyj said:
Hi guys. I actually found another broken axe today at the dump. Michigan style not too old, but I believe to be US made. I'm looking into the imgur site that Noswad mentioned to post pics. I'm in the process of just giving the heads a quick wire wheel brushing to clean them up. Once they are all cleaned I'm gonna post them up here free to you guys. :thumbup:

Edit: BamaDad I drive rolloff for a private sanitation company, so I'm constantly doing boxes for house cleanouts, and visiting local dumps. I'm in transfer station piles all day. The workers there don't care if I snoop around, and they put axes/hatchets to the side for me.
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That is a level of kindness that one does not see often.
 
This has me thinking, might be worth asking at the local dump if they'd keep any axes/knives for me. I live in a really rural area so I doubt they have all the rules of a bigger place (or if they care about keeping the rules that they have).
 
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