Hand-forged hammer-poll axe and a maker's mark puzzle

J

JPA88

Joined
Nov 16, 2014
Messages
73














Hello all.

Been awhile since I posted here. I picked this interesting axe up today. I thought it would make a good short-handled splitter/kindling maker. It appears to be old, hand forged and not of mass production. I have not been able to find a match to this pattern on the web. The eye makes me think European. The lack of mushrooming and presence of a few chips on the poll make me think that maybe it is hardened. The file has a similar bite on the bit as some other axes I have. You can see the maker's mark is unclear, but a handful of the eight letters are pretty certain. Can anyone help me with the rest? It looks probable that the letters were punched independent of each other. Thank you for any insight you can offer!
 
I have no clue, but it sure is interesting.
Btw you gotta use the hotlink for forums to post full sized images.


 
Hickory n steel said:
I have no clue, but it sure is interesting.
Btw you gotta use the hotlink for forums to post full sized images.


Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip and providing larger images from my original post, Hickory. Hopefully this next photo is bigger, trying something New.

Really just looking for any info on this axe or type of axe, If anyone's seen something like it before. The handle, which may be original, is about 26 in Long and straight. More girthy than the slim handles you find on old felling axes, but nice in the hand. Did they make d-shaped eyes in America at some point in history? I think that if it is a hand forged ax made by some random smithy then it wouldn't necessarily fall into any norms of mass-produced tools and maybe there isn't any info out there. I know there's a lot of knowledge on this forum and hope somebody has something to share!
 
I do not think there's much chance of this being American.
The stamping makes me think Scandinavian swedish or Norwegian...etc ,but it's just a feeling because it seems to start with IK.
 
It does look European to me. Hammer pole axes in America were primarily used for butchering. Some hammer pole axes could have also been used in construction work. This one does not have a lot of abuse to the pole, which happens when they are used for construction. See figure 26 in "AN AX TO GRIND" manual.
 
Old Axeman said:
It does look European to me. Hammer pole axes in America were primarily used for butchering. Some hammer pole axes could have also been used in construction work. This one does not have a lot of abuse to the pole, which happens when they are used for construction. See figure 26 in "AN AX TO GRIND" manual.
Click to expand...


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Good points. Killing axe seems pretty plausible. I'd hate to be the guy swinging one of those all day.
 
We have talked about this before. And I know it is gruesome , but history is history. The pole was used to strike the animal (cow, pig, etc.) between the eyes with the hammer pole to stun the animal before butchering.
 
JPA88 said:














Hello all.

Been awhile since I posted here. I picked this interesting axe up today. I thought it would make a good short-handled splitter/kindling maker. It appears to be old, hand forged and not of mass production. I have not been able to find a match to this pattern on the web. The eye makes me think European. The lack of mushrooming and presence of a few chips on the poll make me think that maybe it is hardened. The file has a similar bite on the bit as some other axes I have. You can see the maker's mark is unclear, but a handful of the eight letters are pretty certain. Can anyone help me with the rest? It looks probable that the letters were punched independent of each other. Thank you for any insight you can offer!
Click to expand...
Have you tried reading the letters by flashlight held low to the bit in dim light? Not many names end in FEL. The name could even be misspelled or the spelling changed over time. I haven't turned up anything but if you can find the name we may be able to find a blacksmith near where it was found.

So maybe share the provenance of this axe, where from ect.


Really interesting axe, I'm kind of surprised I can't see any forge welds on it. Is it maybe an all steel or all iron axe?
 


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Bob
 
Okay. I've done some analysis. Examined under magnification, different lighting and additional cleaning. I think I've got a possible answer on the name.

Firstly, this axe was found in the Quad Cities area on the Illinois side of the Mississippi. If my analysis is correct, it is a German name. There are German settlements not too far away, the Amana Colonies in Iowa being the one that comes to my mind. I'm thinking that just because it is a German/European style axe does not rule out that it was made in America by an immigrant holding on to tradition.


This photo shows the bottom of an I and what I believe is ty of a P


This image shows the remnants of the lower part of an L and the bottom of an I


Here is my final analysis on paper. I believe the stamp is
"I KLIPFEL". Klipfel is a documented German name

"German: from Middle High German klüpfel klöpfel klüppel 'mallet cudgel clapper (of a bell)' hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of cudgels and mallets or clappers for bells or a metonymic occupational name for a butcher a stone-breaker."

Seems like if this person followed in their occupational name, they would have skills related to smithing. Also interesting that the occupation of butcher is described.

The spacing of the letters indicates that the first letter is set apart from the other seven letters and that maybe it is a first initial. The spacing of the last seven letters is all pretty uniform as far as I could tell with a caliper.

I'm far from a Sherlock Holmes, but what do you think??
 
JPA88 said:
Okay. I've done some analysis. Examined under magnification, different lighting and additional cleaning. I think I've got a possible answer on the name.

Firstly, this axe was found in the Quad Cities area on the Illinois side of the Mississippi. If my analysis is correct, it is a German name. There are German settlements not too far away, the Amana Colonies in Iowa being the one that comes to my mind. I'm thinking that just because it is a German/European style axe does not rule out that it was made in America by an immigrant holding on to tradition.


This photo shows the bottom of an I and what I believe is ty of a P


This image shows the remnants of the lower part of an L and the bottom of an I


Here is my final analysis on paper. I believe the stamp is
"I KLIPFEL". Klipfel is a documented German name

"German: from Middle High German klüpfel klöpfel klüppel 'mallet cudgel clapper (of a bell)' hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of cudgels and mallets or clappers for bells or a metonymic occupational name for a butcher a stone-breaker."

Seems like if this person followed in their occupational name, they would have skills related to smithing. Also interesting that the occupation of butcher is described.

The spacing of the letters indicates that the first letter is set apart from the other seven letters and that maybe it is a first initial. The spacing of the last seven letters is all pretty uniform as far as I could tell with a caliper.

I'm far from a Sherlock Holmes, but what do you think??
Click to expand...
www.worthpoint.com

Antique ADZE Head Stamped Name Hard to See - May Be 'I KLIPFEL' 3lb. 13oz | #2002431639

This old adze head is in overall good condition. There are some dings and minor pitting. The pol has some mushrooming. The adz is stamped with what I think is I KILPFEL but I can't say for certain.I'm
www.worthpoint.com www.worthpoint.com
 
JPA88 said:
Okay. I've done some analysis. Examined under magnification, different lighting and additional cleaning. I think I've got a possible answer on the name.

Firstly, this axe was found in the Quad Cities area on the Illinois side of the Mississippi. If my analysis is correct, it is a German name. There are German settlements not too far away, the Amana Colonies in Iowa being the one that comes to my mind. I'm thinking that just because it is a German/European style axe does not rule out that it was made in America by an immigrant holding on to tradition.


This photo shows the bottom of an I and what I believe is ty of a P


This image shows the remnants of the lower part of an L and the bottom of an I


Here is my final analysis on paper. I believe the stamp is
"I KLIPFEL". Klipfel is a documented German name

"German: from Middle High German klüpfel klöpfel klüppel 'mallet cudgel clapper (of a bell)' hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of cudgels and mallets or clappers for bells or a metonymic occupational name for a butcher a stone-breaker."

Seems like if this person followed in their occupational name, they would have skills related to smithing. Also interesting that the occupation of butcher is described.

The spacing of the letters indicates that the first letter is set apart from the other seven letters and that maybe it is a first initial. The spacing of the last seven letters is all pretty uniform as far as I could tell with a caliper.

I'm far from a Sherlock Holmes, but what do you think??
Click to expand...
I see there was a Jorge or George Klipfel (blacksmith) born in Germany, lived in MO 1900, died in ILL. Probably not him unless a middle initial was involved.

I will see if I can come up with something else in the next few days.
 
Well, I've done quite a bit of searching and I can't find any other examples of I KLIPFEL tools on the web. I found some historical male German names that start with I. Ignatz, Ignatius, Ignaz and Ignace.

I did, however get around to rehanging the head on its old handle last night. I used an old Stanley spoke shave to remove meat from the shoulders until the head sat where I wanted. There were gaps in the front and back of the eye on the top of the ax. Instead of making the wedge the full length of the eye like I normally would, I decided to match the length of the kerf and then pound two small wedges on either side after setting the main wedge. I felt good about the whole hang and the alignment. It had been a year or so since I had done one and it was very satisfying.

Someone had unfortunately taken a grinding wheel to the bit at some point and left some concavities on either side. It's not terrible, but I could have done without. I did go ahead and reprofile The edge just a bit before I sharpened it.








 
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