It followed me home (Part 2)

John Frankl · Sep 25, 2014

Good Score! Would it be wrong of me to be just a little bit jealous?

smith357 · Sep 27, 2014

I adopted a no name boys axe, the head has nice contours, and the haft is sound.

Square_peg · Sep 27, 2014

That's great. Likely a vintage True Temper, but Collins and a few others also put those ridges in the eye. You can tell the haft is vintage because the fawns foot is unclipped - comes to a point not flat on the end. That's a good handle. Sand it down and give a a few coats of BLO.

smith357 · Sep 28, 2014

Square_peg said:
That's great. Likely a vintage True Temper, but Collins and a few others also put those ridges in the eye. You can tell the haft is vintage because the fawns foot is unclipped - comes to a point not flat on the end. That's a good handle. Sand it down and give a a few coats of BLO.

It cleaned up real nice, used a cabinet scraper to remove the varnish and gave the haft a hot wax, then cleaned and sharpened the head. I can see why folks like these little axes, it feels good in the hand, can't wait to swing it.

Zymologist · Sep 28, 2014

This weekend I attended my first auction it was a two parter friday evening and saturday I think I made out pretty well.

All 3 are Disstons except the 4ft felling saw.

These are the axe heads I found with visible names from left to right. True temper dynamic/two Mckinnons/can't read the 4th yet/then two plumb victories one 5lb single bit and one double bit.
The last one a double bit has a pretty bad chip I'm sure its past the heat treat. Not sure what I'll do with that one but no hasty decisions til after the vinegar bath.

Some of these are in pretty rough shape. Some deformed eyes some rusted out pretty bad too. Gonna vinegar bath em and scrub them up look for names and try and salvage what I can.

Found these two neat advertising racks gonna attach them to my axe rack I'm building out of old douglas fir 12x12s from the 1940s.

Heres some tools I snagged as well. The adze is my first adze appears to be a no namer. The single bit firemans axe is a Plumb victory with an 1/8th inch chip that I have to file out. After that shes gonna be a real beauty. The double bit is a true temper kelly works.

Square_peg · Sep 28, 2014

Holy crap! What a haul!

All the saws have handles. Now you need to spend some time sharpening them. And what an unusual anvil. What's the story behind that?

Zymologist · Sep 28, 2014

Square_peg said:
Holy crap! What a haul!

All the saws have handles. Now you need to spend some time sharpening them. And what an unusual anvil. What's the story behind that?

Thats my next goal Peg is to learn how to sharpen crosscut saws.

After a little searching that anvil is from the Columbian hardware company out of cleveland ohio. They quit making anvils in 1925 and became columbian vise and mfg co. They made 10 sizes of anvils ranging from 10lbs to 800lbs. I'm guessing mines the 10lber but I haven't weighed it yet. Its in good shape.
It came up at auction so I figured on trying to snag it.

Twoinch · Sep 29, 2014

Square_peg said:
That's great. Likely a vintage True Temper, but Collins and a few others also put those ridges in the eye. You can tell the haft is vintage because the fawns foot is unclipped - comes to a point not flat on the end. That's a good handle. Sand it down and give a a few coats of BLO.

i think the fact that the eye ridges are evenly spaced, directly across from each other would suggest a collins, or possibly another manufacturer. from what i have come across, all the TT/Kelly stuff had 2 and 3 ridges, unevenly spaced across. for some reason i remember a TT/Kelly Pulaski that had evenly spaced ridges though... could be remembering wrong though.

Square_peg · Sep 29, 2014

I've seen plenty of TT's with 3 ridges on each side (there's one sitting next to me on my desk right now). But I've seen 2 & 3 on TT's as you describe as well. I haven't reached any conclusions about matching ridges to a particular maker. I suppose a forensic expert could but I ain't that.

One thing I have found, all the axes I've owned with eye ridges were at least decent axes. I haven't found a POS among them ever.

Steve Tall · Sep 29, 2014

For the record, eye ridges were also on some Vaughans:

From Old Jimbo:
"This type of grooving locks the handle in nicely and used to be a factory thing - actually forged in. Here's a picture of such grooving/ribs - and it's on a Vaughan head of all things!"

http://www.oldjimbo.com/survival/vaughangrind.html

Square_peg · Sep 30, 2014

Thanks, Steve. I'll add Vaughan to the list.

sashae · Oct 24, 2014

Couple of fun little projects to work on...

Hudson Bay with ridged eye. There's some sort of stamp on it I can't make out under the paint, looking forward to getting that cleaned up. I'm NOT looking forward to re-hanging it... I had a less-than-fun time rehanging a Norlund Tomahawk due to the lack of contact between the haft and the eye... any tricks anyone can share?

Plumb hatchet with hardened poll. This is almost like a mini-rafting axe, should be a fun cleanup.

Mystery hatchet with phantom bevels. No markings, I've de-rusted it already and intend to get it fully cleaned up and rehung for a friend.

SC T100 · Oct 24, 2014

That Husdon Bay looks really nice. Is the handle broken or cracked? it seems like a great candidate for a sanding/BLO refurb which would get it back up to speed without a re-haft.

sashae · Oct 24, 2014

No, the head is a bit loose though so I'm planning on rewedging after removing the metal wedge. Handle is in great shape otherwise.

SC T100 · Oct 24, 2014

Ah, good call. That should bring it back to 100%. Sweet axe.

Square_peg · Oct 24, 2014

Three great finds there, Sashae. I love the little hatchet with the phantom bevels.

halfaxe · Oct 24, 2014

I have one of those ridged eye Hudson Bay axes. I think it's a True Temper. It's quite a bit heavier than the Collins, Norlund or others. It might be a 3 pound or heavier axe. The problems with the narrow eye that people complain about may be increased in this axe due to the weight. I don't see too many of them.

smith357 · Oct 26, 2014

A rusty old $5 draw knife. Bubba used it as a froe at some point in it's life. The edge is good, I could feel it through all the rust, and it is very hard, all my files do is remove rust, skating is an understatement.

Found a name but it looks more like a personalization engraving than a makers mark.

RH Kinnel
Columbus OH

I have not really sharpened it, I just concentrated on rust removal, but it cut through the oak fairly easily and can't wait to see how it performs after stoning and polishing.

I think finishing the new grips before honing the edge is the safe way to go.

Steve Tall · Oct 26, 2014

smith357 said:
...Found a name but it looks more like a personalization engraving than a makers mark.

RH Kinnel
Columbus OH

...

P.H. Kinnel was one of the founders of the Kinnel Edge Tool Forging Co. (at Columbus OH), incorporated around 1909:

http://books.google.com/books?id=FXg-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1174#v=onepage&q=Kinnel%20Edge%20Tool%20Forging&f=false

garry3 · Oct 26, 2014

Square_peg said:
Thanks, Steve. I'll add Vaughan to the list.

Everyone's favorite auction sight has a very nice Belknap with phantom bevels, a rounded poll with the weight stamped on the back of it, ridges in the eye and what appears to be an origanal octagon handle.

My point being I thought them octagon handles were much older than ridges in axe eyes. I thought ridges were a 60's & 70's thing?

I also wonder what manufacturer stamped the weight on the back of the poll?

I wish I had as many answers as questions.