Help identify a really nice boy's axe.

[jblyttle]

Hi all, I found a very nice boy's axe at an estate sale (along with a few other nice items) and got everything for next to nothing. I can usually identify my finds with online research and the excellent www.yesteryeartools.com website. I am getting stumped on this one. It has the paint scheme of some Boy Scout hatchets that I have seen, off white handle paint with a red end, but this is 27-28 inches long and I can't see any mark on the axe head. There is a portion of a label on the handle, but just enough to give a hint. I can't find it's like at yesteryeartools. Here are the pics, I'm hoping that someone here has seen it's like before or can point me in the right direction. It is a sweet axe, so if not worth anything special I will keep it, or sell it if it turns out to be a rare find.

 

[Twoinch]

use the IMG code.

 

[jblyttle]

I tried but no images showed up. I probably did it wrong.

Got it!

 

[halfaxe]

I have a Collins paper label only with a handle with that color but in an 18 inch size.

 

[jblyttle]

I have a Collins paper label only with a handle with that color but in an 18 inch size.

Is the label anything like the partial that I have on the handle there? I think that label is going to be the key to a positive ID.

 

[halfaxe]

Is the label anything like the partial that I have on the handle there? I think that label is going to be the key to a positive ID.

No the label is on the axe not the handle and it says Red Knight Collins axe company.

 

[Square_peg]

That's an after market handle. That axe was refurbished some decades ago. You can see that a lot of mushrooming was ground off the poll at some point in the past.

The squarish shape of the head reminds me of an old Maine wedge pattern axe. Probably quite old. There were a million makers around back then so it's anybody's guess who made it. There's a hint of a banana grind showing in the 1st and 5th photos so this axe was likely used by a professional or at least a knowledgeable amateur. A top down view of the head might show it to be a Maine wedge pattern.