Hatchet in Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

SwedeFP said:
I'd guess close to a True Temper tommy, but the shadow of it in the background doesn't have the lower part of the poll looking right. Maybe a Norlund.
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Well, Norlund did not show up until about thirty years after this movie was made, so no cigar there. Norlund was the original hipster brand, just some marketers in North America making some axes and hatchets with a Scandinavian look and name to market to those "rugged" outdoorsmen that image was so important too, so that they could imagine themselves as being Scandinavian woodsmen or lumberjacks, or the equivalent. No different than how brand is so important to the hipster of today that they can't bear the thought of owning a vintage axe or hatchet unless they can at least attribute it to some manufacturer and history they can imagine themselves as being part of, though they never were, and never will be.
 
There is nothing wrong with the Norlund axe. It was made to the quality that Mann axes were made, which was a excellent axe. This whole "hipster" thing with Norland bugs me. So does the "hipster" thing with the GB axes. A quality axe is a quality axe. Do not blame the axe for being popular with people you don't like. I bought some Norlund axes when they first came out because they were quality and right for the job at hand. I still have some of them and use them often.
 
From what I can see, it's pretty clearly a flooring hatchet or modeled after one.

Straight across the top, rounded " beard ", nail notch, pointed lugs, thick flat poll.
The edge has some curve to it, but that can easily be explained.
 
Old Axeman said:
There is nothing wrong with the Norlund axe. It was made to the quality that Mann axes were made, which was a excellent axe. This whole "hipster" thing with Norland bugs me. So does the "hipster" thing with the GB axes. A quality axe is a quality axe. Do not blame the axe for being popular with people you don't like. I bought some Norlund axes when they first came out because they were quality and right for the job at hand. I still have some of them and use them often.
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They absolutely are perfectly good tools.
The problem most people have is the fact that too many others have the false idea that there was some kind of magic to them.
The common idea that the folks behind Norlund " went to Sweden to learn how to make axes " , when the swedish axes of the time were the budget imports and the Norlund axes were generally affordably priced axes marketed to sportsman and campers.
They may not be top of the line axes made for woodsman in the 30's who depended on axes everyday, but they're a far cry from 80's era Collins offerings.

The falsehoods surrounding them that are often parroted by sellers / buyers to justify the market prices have simply cast a negative light on them for many people.
 
Old Axeman said:
There is nothing wrong with the Norlund axe. It was made to the quality that Mann axes were made, which was a excellent axe. This whole "hipster" thing with Norland bugs me. So does the "hipster" thing with the GB axes. A quality axe is a quality axe. Do not blame the axe for being popular with people you don't like. I bought some Norlund axes when they first came out because they were quality and right for the job at hand. I still have some of them and use them often.
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I never said anything about the quality of Norlund axes, I said something about their styling and name and the history of why they look that way. Do you often see things that are not there ??? I have three Norlund axes/hatchets here, I think I have $5 in the three of them total, if I had to pay hipster/ebay prices I would not have them because I never pay for brand, style or what is fashionable and trendy.
 
Do you often see things that are not there ??? I did not direct my comment to you or what you said. My comment is directed to the frequent complaints about the Norlund and GB axes, and the people who like them. Why don't you direct your comments to discussions about axes, and using axes, instead of comments about the people who use them ?
 
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