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

Hey, good steel is good steel, its not a pedigree thing, if you like it, you like it! :)
 
JDeGraff89 said:
Those repros do look awfully close to mine... mine has a curvier beard but they're soon close in design that I think I have to agree.... now i just wonder who put it in the wall... and how lol..
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Yeah, pretty clever of those copy cats to place the axe inside a lath & plaster wall to add credibility.........


....or maybe it's a vintage axe not a copy cat.
 
Square_peg said:
Yeah, pretty clever of those copy cats to place the axe inside a lath & plaster wall to add credibility.........


....or maybe it's a vintage axe not a copy cat.
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Or its an early reproduction, and that's cool also.
I think it has enough age to it that I would rule out China and India.

JD, I would bet you could get in touch with some mountain man renactors in your area and find some one very knowledgeable on the subject. They could examine it in person which is much better than a picture and tell you exactly what you have. I would be very interested to learn what they have to say.
 
quinton said:
It's older than 20 years...WAY older.

I'm 50 years old, and have loved tools my entire life. I have tools that were given to me, and purchased by me when I was a kid. I know how things age, and I understand patina and natural processes. If this axe was made to appear "old", it was done by a highly skilled person!
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I am with you on this. It had some age on it before it found its way into the wall. I think it might be an early reproduction but it would still be old and cool. The poll seems to be flat and the seam down the bit should tell some one a thing or two with a personal examination.
 
I took off the haft.. the bit looks like it was mig welded to the eye.. its a bubbly sort of weld... not what I would expect to see if the two prices we're heated and pounded together.. i would post a pic but that's a tedious process on this forum..
 
Square_peg said:
Yeah, pretty clever of those copy cats to place the axe inside a lath & plaster wall to add credibility.........


....or maybe it's a vintage axe not a copy cat.
Click to expand...

....or maybe someone dropped it down into the wall from upstairs or in the attic. When we tore down great grandpa's house, there was all manner of stuff down in the walls that fell in this way, some of it obviously way newer than when the house was built. Grandma says that during prohibition, people used to tie a string on liquor bottles and hang them down inside the walls from upstairs (to hide them), because it was common for the top sill of the wall to be accessible this way.

If the OP had not found this 'hawk in a wall, what are you seeing in the pictures that makes you believe it's genuine?
 
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Omaha knife store sounds like they may have a haft I can pic up locally.. im going to try to make it really cool
 
the possum said:
If the OP had not found this 'hawk in a wall, what are you seeing in the pictures that makes you believe it's genuine?
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It is a picture, but, one of the things I see is the way the haft fits the eye, the end grain looks very aged. It would have been nearly impossible to fit an older haft to the axe and not mess up the patina. I also see forging marks and dings that appear very old. On the other hand, I also see what looks to be a welding bead ground off.. I also know that if someone had the skill, and went to the extreme to fake this axe, those grinding marks would not be there.. So, who knows. I sure would like to see it in person.
 
Well quinton.. the haft would have spent 3 days submerged in water and then left in the wall for another 3 weeks... that could have aged the handle quite harshly.. but yeah.. its not brand new... but it's not 200 years old either..
 
Also the haft doesn't fit.. it had to be wedged to actually fit on the head.. and they were using some crap leather to help it stay on..
 
JDeGraff89 said:
Well quinton.. the haft would have spent 3 days submerged in water and then left in the wall for another 3 weeks... that could have aged the handle quite harshly.. but yeah.. its not brand new... but it's not 200 years old either..
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Yea, so? I've seen tools left in the elements for months. I have 3 sons who, when younger would "borrow" tools until I would notice they were missing, and demand they be found.

Helves do weather, turn grey, and crack in the elements, but they don't build patina in a few days or even months. It takes decades to build the patina that seems evident in the pics.. Like I said, I would need to see the axe with the original haft intact..
 
JDeGraff89 said:
I took off the haft.. the bit looks like it was mig welded to the eye.. its a bubbly sort of weld... not what I would expect to see if the two prices we're heated and pounded together.. i would post a pic but that's a tedious process on this forum..
Click to expand...

I had wondered about that because of the grind marks on both sides of it, in front of the eye, and also on the top and bottom in the same place. Like they were trying to clean up a weld line. I think if you could post a picture confiming this sort of weld, it would put the matter to rest.
 
The grind marks could also be there to attempt and even out the steel in that area, forge welded eyes can often be quite disproportionate when made.
 
Yep, that makes me stand by my original post. India made, sold to various outlets as a competition throwing hawk. Decent steel in the blade so it should work fine for you. The indent where the eye goes to blade gives it away, pretty much a signature for their manufacturing method for them.
 
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