Help ID my Hatchet!

A

AutoColt

Joined
Apr 13, 2016
Messages
8
Hey everyone! Long-time reader, first time poster. I picked up a (very) small hatchet a flea market this weekend, and I'm wondering if any of you fine folks can help pin a name on it. I've exhausted my usual literature for help identifying these things, but since it has no makers marks or stamping of any kind, all I have to go by are the small size, and relatively unique shape. I'll take some photos next to the ruler and my Plumb Scout hatchet and Collins HB for scale on this little fella. Any help is greatly appreciated!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ip8woBEsDQTVzJp9PmIP8LMCNPv9X557iW1utkmQ-9Y/pub

Edit: Before I have to answer for defacing an otherwise gorgeous axe, the Collins Hudson Bay came to me with that strange little chunk of steel welded to the poll. :apologetic:
 
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I don't recognize the odd little hatchet. The poll size suggests it might once have been a larger hatchet with a wide flared bit.

I'd like a closer look at the poll of that Collins. It's probably a piece of hardened steel on there, designed for hammering. I've also seen log stamps welded onto axes that way.
 
AutoColt said:
. . .
Edit: Before I have to answer for defacing an otherwise gorgeous axe, the Collins Hudson Bay came to me with that strange little chunk of steel welded to the poll. :apologetic:
Click to expand...
IMHO modifying a tool for use is not necessarily "defacing" it. This forum is loaded with modified axe heads. If you don't like the added piece, cut it off. Even if you put that piece yourself, I see no need to be apologetic or be afraid others might think less of you for it.

Sorry, I have no info on the hatchet. It's a neat little bugger though. :)

Bob
 
Bob, thanks for the reassurance that I won't be sacrificed on the altar of the internet for having an "end-user modified" piece of equipment! It wasn't me that welded the poll, but whoever did certainly seemed to know it was better to have hardened steel than mushroom out a perfectly good axe. My guess is, having come from a Forest Service facility, it was probably someone who wanted to save weight and take one tool instead of packing a hammer along.
 
The little fella has no apostrophe in Collins and features the proper 5 point crown! I'd be leaving the hardened poll on there simply because of the improved usefulness of the axe. With tongue in cheek I suggest the next welded add-on ought to be an eye extender.
 
Thanks for the photo. I was trying to figure out if it might be factory. It was certainly well done. What throws me off is that there's no sign of the weld on either side of the poll. So it must have been forged welded on. Then the bead was added on the bottom of the addition.

Somebody did a nice job with that, either at the factory or after market. I'm leaning toward after market just because the added poll isn't full length. But it's a nice axe. Hang on to that.
 
Grimalkin said:
is it just me, or does it look hung upside down?
Click to expand...

I had wondered the same, but it's surprisingly symmetrical. I think if I flipped it over and rehandled it, it would look the same. I'm stumped. It's neat, though. Can't wait to clean it up a bit.
 
Reminds me of a splitting maul. Its an odd one.

That Collins would make a trapper real happy.
 
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