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Help with Identifying the age of this old GBA double bit?
- Thread starter Wake31
- Start date
I'm new to the forum and still figuring out how to put pics up and posts.
I picked this beauty up at an auction this week and am in the process of restoring it. I am looking for any info anyone might have on it. I know its a GBA and it has some age to it, but other than that not much more! I have a nice collection of axes which I have restored and carved new handles for. I think I'll be able to restore this handle as I think it original. I would appreciate any info anyone might have. Please let me know if you can see the pic above?
Thanks
I picked this beauty up at an auction this week and am in the process of restoring it. I am looking for any info anyone might have on it. I know its a GBA and it has some age to it, but other than that not much more! I have a nice collection of axes which I have restored and carved new handles for. I think I'll be able to restore this handle as I think it original. I would appreciate any info anyone might have. Please let me know if you can see the pic above?
Thanks
Last edited:
Square_peg
Gold Member
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It's a later model. The earlier Gransfors were marked G A B rather than G B A. I don't recall exactly when the switch was made but I think is was posted on the forum here one time.
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Your axe might have been imported from Sweden by a company in San Francisco called Strohecker & Broesamle. Here's an example of their "Stro-Bro" label on an axe that's stamped GBA:
Photo from an old auction listing for a double bit with a GBA stamp:
On the company history page at Gransfors Bruks' website, "Strohecker & Broesamle in San Francisco" was said to be "a major customer".
http://www.gransforsbruk.com/en/home/the-history-of-the-company/
Square_Peg posted a thread with an axe catalog from the 1960s which included various models from Stro-Bro (made of Swedish steel) which may have been sourced from Gransfors.
www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1152167-Axe-prices-in-the-late-60-s
Photo from an old auction listing for a double bit with a GBA stamp:
On the company history page at Gransfors Bruks' website, "Strohecker & Broesamle in San Francisco" was said to be "a major customer".
http://www.gransforsbruk.com/en/home/the-history-of-the-company/
Square_Peg posted a thread with an axe catalog from the 1960s which included various models from Stro-Bro (made of Swedish steel) which may have been sourced from Gransfors.
www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1152167-Axe-prices-in-the-late-60-s
Though obviously a different pattern the geometry of that head looks much better than the Stro-Bro axe that Steve posted. They also made a premium line that was hardness tested for every head that was produced. There would be a small round divot left from the test close to the bit I would think. I don't care much for there later stuff that was made in the seventies and maybe sixties too? They were heavily ground and you can see remnants of epoxy left in the eye if you remove the original handle. In other words pretty much on par with what was produced in the USA at that time. I get none of that from Wake's axe.
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Here's an example of a swamping pattern double bit axe made by GBA with "Stro-Bro" on the handle (from an old auction listing):
In case the photo disappears, here's what appears (in white lettering) on the handle:
STRO-BRO
SWEDISH STEEL
STROHECKER & BROESAMLE
SAN FRANCISCO
In case the photo disappears, here's what appears (in white lettering) on the handle:
STRO-BRO
SWEDISH STEEL
STROHECKER & BROESAMLE
SAN FRANCISCO
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2010
- Messages
- 5,431
Gransfors' website indicates that Strohecker & Broesamle was already a major customer of theirs by 1952. So some of those Stro-Bro axes could date back to the 1950s, and perhaps even the 1940s.
"...Gränsfors Bruk celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1952...However, later that same year the company suffered a serious financial crisis. This was caused by the loss of a major customer, Strohecker & Broesamle in San Francisco, after its owner fell ill. As a consequence, several employees had to be made redundant, although a few years later the American customers owner recovered and business was reinstated, enabling Gränsfors Bruk to start hiring again."
quoted from https://www.gransforsbruk.com/en/about/the-history-of-the-company/
"...Gränsfors Bruk celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1952...However, later that same year the company suffered a serious financial crisis. This was caused by the loss of a major customer, Strohecker & Broesamle in San Francisco, after its owner fell ill. As a consequence, several employees had to be made redundant, although a few years later the American customers owner recovered and business was reinstated, enabling Gränsfors Bruk to start hiring again."
quoted from https://www.gransforsbruk.com/en/about/the-history-of-the-company/
That's an ugly one. Flat cheeks and heavy grind marks, unless the owner took a grinder to it. A top or bottom view would tell use I think. It would be nice if we knew when STROHECKER & BROESAMLE stopped importing them.
One could sure speculate on some dates between the that one and the little cruiser you posted.
One could sure speculate on some dates between the that one and the little cruiser you posted.