If you could only have one axe...

[DeadboxHero]

I would probably pick my Witherell 2 3/4 lb. single bit axe. It's halfway between a full size working axe and a pack axe.

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I have what he is having!

Nice handle and hang.

I am very curious, how does she swing with the handle that far forward near the bit?

 

[tandanus]

4.5lb Hytest Forester.

'S'all hardwood down here, mate. Except for the cypress.

 

[halfaxe]

I have what he is having!

Nice handle and hang.

I am very curious, how does she swing with the handle that far forward near the bit?

Thanks. It swings and handles great. Very well balanced due to some weight forward in the Maine Wedge pattern. I must admit I only tested it because the axe was new and never used and the company went out of business in 1923. I'm thinking of donating it to the museum in Oakland, Maine. The handle was also a vintage "Indian Fire" brand.

 

[neal70]

Estwing rigging hatchet, long handle, as featured in a post either above or below this one. Maybe not the best steel, but it has good balance for me, and they take a four story drop without breaking. Plenty strong enough.
Thanks, Neal

 

[Steve Tall]

Another preference for a hardened poll, from a different thread:

...For a woods axe, I am wishing for a boys sized jersey or Kentucky with hardened poll and straight handle...Santa might be listening!

The "Kentucky with hardened poll" reminds me of the little-known (to me, at least) "Dock Pattern", which looks like it's somewhere on the Kentucky-Jersey spectrum, and supposedly has a hardened poll (from an old American Axe & Tool catalog):

From YesteryearsTools:
dock builder’s axe: a heavy single bit axe having a poll with a laid on steel surface making it suitable for driving spikes.


The Plumb catalog price sheet from 1964 listed the Dock pattern available in 3-1/2, 4, 4-1/2, and 5 pounds, with "Hardened Head" (left column, near middle):

 

[BG_Farmer]

Steve Tall,
That pattern looks awesome for all around use, thanks for the research. Theses days, a little lighter weight would also be good for some uses.

 

[Square_peg]

I wonder if a 'Dock' pattern was used in dock construction or in crating. In either a hard poll would be beneficial.

 

[300Six]

The "Kentucky with hardened poll" reminds me of the little-known (to me, at least) "Dock Pattern", which looks like it's somewhere on the Kentucky-Jersey spectrum, and supposedly has a hardened poll (from an old American Axe & Tool catalog):

The Plumb catalog price sheet from 1964 listed the Dock pattern available in 3-1/2, 4, 4-1/2, and 5 pounds, with "Hardened Head"

Geez Steve you've tucked away a wealth of hitherto unknown information! Dock axe? Given that log and timber rafting had mostly died out by the 1960s, shoreline retaining walls, cribbing and boat wharf (docks?) wood workers would have appreciated an axe that could also be used to pound spikes. I dunno about the rest of the world but Rails and tracks were being abandoned at an amazing rate during the 50's, 60s and 70s in eastern Ontario and torn up creosoted hardwood ties were available for peanuts to the general populace for 2-3 decades and folks (and businesses) were using them to construct all manner of rot-resistant structures.
I tangled with a few railway tie boat cribs and retaining walls 30 years ago. There was a lot of chipping and chiseling involved (ties are not of uniform dimension nor are they straight) and the heaviest ones were hardwood such as beech and oak. They were pinned with 12" spikes or pointed rebar but grit, stones and old pieces of metal in the ties were quick to ruin any novice's bright ideas of speeding up the work (and/or saving money) by using chainsaws.

 

[Steve Tall]

From YesteryearsTools:
dock builder’s axe: a heavy single bit axe having a poll with a laid on steel surface making it suitable for driving spikes.

From a 1915 job description for Dock Builder:
...skilled in the use of the axe, adze, canthook, cross cut saw and auger, used in framing piles and timber in bulkhead wall and pier construction...

from Skilled Trades Service and Labor Service: Tentative Specifications Submitted by the Bureau of Standards to the Committee on Salaries and Grades of the Board and Apportionment of the City of New York, December, 1915

 

[Hacked]

My Mann Edge Tool Co. True American Boy's Axe, pictured right below.

 

[Square_peg]

Another preference for a hardened poll, from a different thread:



The "Kentucky with hardened poll" reminds me of the little-known (to me, at least) "Dock Pattern", which looks like it's somewhere on the Kentucky-Jersey spectrum, and supposedly has a hardened poll (from an old American Axe & Tool catalog):

Mason shows a Dock pattern without lugs in his 1954 edition.

Looking very Daytonesque.

 

[GooberBoober]

I only use an axe for bushcraftng and small wood-processing & have no use for the bigger axes personally. A good alround cutter & splitter and ease of carry is more important to me, this is my choice:

It's the Gransfors Bruk Outdoor Axe & it feels like it was made for me.

 

[Steve Tall]

Mason shows a Dock pattern without lugs in his 1954 edition.

Looking very Daytonesque.

Interesting. I wonder what the Plumb "Dock" axes from the 1960s looked like, maybe just their Dayton or Jersey pattern with a hardened poll? Looking for some clues, I searched the forum for Plumbs with hardened polls (excluding the Rafting/Constructors and National patterns) and found this contender (a Jersey):

I have had many Jerseys pass through my hands, but this 3.5lb Plumb is the only one that I have right now....

The little chips suggest a hardened poll.

 

[Square_peg]

Interesting. I wonder what the Plumb "Dock" axes from the 1960s looked like, maybe just their Dayton or Jersey pattern with a hardened poll? Looking for some clues, I searched the forum for Plumbs with hardened polls (excluding the Rafting/Constructors and National patterns) and found this contender (a Jersey):

I have a True Temper Dayton pattern marked A6 which has a hardened poll. It's a 3.5 pound axe. It might have originally sold as a dock axe.

 

[BG_Farmer]

So, dock seems to be related to application, like miner or rafting, not so much pattern?

I know that when I build something (even primitive and crude camp stuff) with only an axe, the poll is useful as the bit!

 

[Slim278]

Square Peg, I will not argue the fact that your axe does or does not or not have a hardened poll. However if I were to pick it up, I would not consider it to be hardened due to the mushrooming. Someone must have really used it to beat the snot out of something.

It is my understanding that some of the Kelly Perfect axes had hardened polls and not advertised as Dock. Here is a ad with them listed as being hardened.

I also wondered if they used a couple different types of steel.
see below images from the the other kelly axe thread

note on this one for the perfects it says "crucible steel bit"

and for the woodslasher, it says "good grade axe steel"

 

[Square_peg]

Square Peg, I will not argue the fact that your axe does or does not or not have a hardened poll. However if I were to pick it up, I would not consider it to be hardened due to the mushrooming. Someone must have really used it to beat the snot out of something.

It is my understanding that some of the Kelly Perfect axes had hardened polls and not advertised as Dock. Here is a ad with them listed as being hardened.

Someone did use this one very hard. There is some mushrooming along with some chips. But the file never lies. It's hard.

 

[Perfessr]

I use a Plumb Boy Scout hatchet but would prefer a Norlund Mid_size Hudson bay.

 

[PatrickKnight]

3-3.5 lb Dayton on a 30-32 inch handle

 

[dongotto]

Collins red knight 2.2lbs on a 26in handle. Its blade thickness is almost as thin as my small forest axe but I prefer the 26in handle. The head was purchased by my great grandpa so it also has special value.