Hi, I'm in the process of restoring an oldish broadaxe into a useable condition. It was very badly rusted/pitted everywhere and on the flat in particular. I've gotten down below the pits at least near the cutting edge at this point. I have tentatively identified this as either a New England pattern or a ship carpenter's pattern, leaning heavily towards ship carpenters based on the length of the head. I would love someone to confirm this, and if possible explain the purpose (if any) a ship carpenter had for such a long head on his broadaxe? I have a couple of pictures of the head just out of a vinegar soak and hand wire brushing. I had already done a lot of work on the face and cutting edge bevel to see if there was any hope of getting a clean edge under all the pits. Once I got the edge clean I put it into the vinegar. The high carbon is folded around the body iron rather than lapped or inserted into a split in the body iron. There is a decent inch or so of solid high carbon before getting to the body iron. Cutting edge is 6.5 inches wide, entire head is a little over 10.75 inches long.
