hello, can you help me identify this little old axe?

J

JDeGraff89

Joined
May 18, 2015
Messages
47
Hello, in 2010 I was a volunteer mucking and gutting homes in upstate new york after hurricane Irene.. while gutting an old home with plaster and lathe walls and horse hair insulation I found this odd little axe inside an interior wall. It has a form I've never seen before and I can't seem to find it anywhere online... despite where I found it I don't think it is american.

I really can't find out how to upload images though?
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You'd need to first upload the photos to a free hosting site such as photobucket, then get the photo's URL to insert into your forum post.
 
By the way.. I still use this axe.. or hatchet.. it cuts exceptionally well especially if you land your blow right on that bearded toe..
 
Also when it was found it had some thick leather around the handle near the blade secured with ugly tacks... most of the tack shafts broke when I first started using it so I took off the leather completly.. it was starting to mold under the leather as well as it had been submerged in the floods.
 
JDeGraff89 said:
Hello, in 2010 I was a volunteer mucking and gutting homes in upstate new york after hurricane Irene.. while gutting an old home with plaster and lathe walls and horse hair insulation I found this odd little axe inside an interior wall. It has a form I've never seen before and I can't seem to find it anywhere online... despite where I found it I don't think it is american.

I really can't find out how to upload images though?
Code:
Click to expand...

"inside an interior wall?"

any previous "hatchet murders" going unsolved in the area? Was there blood on it?

But it's a tomahawk design....look all around the head for a stamped or scribed "maker's mark" and get close up pics for these guys on the forum. They can usually identify an axe by that mark.
 
I've looked all around it... nothing that looks like a makers mark at all.. every mark on it seems to have come from use or the forge itself.. I'll check it agaib.. but I've had it for years now and never saw a mark
 
Also if it helps the blade has a slight cant to it.. maybe it was made for rough cutting timbers? Or more likely someone at some point got it stuck and twisted on the handle until the blade bent.... even if that would have to be some roided our giant because I tried to do the dame thing to straighten it back.. no joy
 
Looks like the blade has been sharpened to an un-even bevel. Probably on purpose for a right handed user. Nice hatchet.
Maybe the boss wanted a worker to get a real lathing hatchet?
 
JDeGraff89 said:
Also when it was found it had some thick leather around the handle near the blade secured with ugly tacks... most of the tack shafts broke when I first started using it so I took off the leather completly.. it was starting to mold under the leather as well as it had been submerged in the floods.
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Personally, I think a new handle is in order. I don't like the way it's splitting along the grain near the head and I think I'd also reprofile the edge so that it was even on both sides. A nice file will do the job.
 
garry3 said:
Looks like the blade has been sharpened to an un-even bevel. Probably on purpose for a right handed user. Nice hatchet.
Maybe the boss wanted a worker to get a real lathing hatchet...so he hid it in the insulation just before the lathe and plaster went on the wall thereby forcing his worker to purchase the proper tool for the job at hand. The poor guy never saw his beloved tomahawk thing again and was so sad.
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There, I finished it for you.
 
Theres a seam on the top of the edge, presumably a press /casting mark and grind marks on the sides, i wouldnt say this is really that old.

other than that, good find!
 
Looks like some of the ones forged in India for companies like Crazy Crow Trading Post, and a few others. Probably not more than 20 or so years old.
 
So the line across the top could just be where the material was folded together (thought it appears to run all the way to the edge) and humans have been grinding with big round stones for a long time, as long as this country is old anyway. But that doesn't mean anything either. I'm not saying you should do an acid etch, but it would show us how it was constructed and that would give you a better idea of the age - at least if it's "old" or "new". I would say though, that some areas like around the eye, do look pretty smooth to be hand forged. At first glance the line along the top does resemble the sort of marks you'd see on something that was drop forged. But horsehair insulation? It's an old house but is there an indication that the wall in question was as old? It's a cool find, but it'll be tough to figure out anything else about it. If we just assume it's old, lots and lots of those were made and probably a lot of them didn't even get a mark. They moved around in trade and everyone could make one - like a horse shoe or other common blacksmith wares.
 
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It's hand forged. Wrap around and forge welded eye. The grind marks were to clean up the overlap on the forge weld. The ridge on top is also from grinding.
 
Square_peg said:
The grind marks were to clean up the overlap on the forge weld. ...
Click to expand...

... or to hide the rod welding marks.

Im not hating on the axe, just saying there no way to know for sure if its handmade or stamped and welded. beside, why would any blacksmith grind the top of the blade and wear out his stone when he can simply flatten it out with his hammers? or if it was indeed handforged, why grind the top in such a way that it look like theres a line on the top of the head? i see no practical reason in doing so.
 
I don't know of any manufacturer welding axes together with rod, let alone doing it during the time of lathe & plaster and horse hair insulation (welding became commonplace in the 1930's). But please enlighten me with this welding rod axe maker theory. Do you know of a maker who did this?
 
Thanks for the insight guys.. i thought it was hand forged... the positioning of the find of course makes me think old.. there were no signs the wall had been renovated.. but it very well could have been dropped from the second story at a much later date.. the brass tacks had round shanks not squared like the ones that would fit the period of the home it was found in.. the form of the axe it's self intrigues me the most.. i thought tomahawks were squared off more? This is like a mini bearded axe lol.. so acid etching... i just soak the head in vinegar? And don't pay attention to the carvings on the handle I did that for holoween to fit my viking costume..
 
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