It followed me home (Part 2)

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Got these in the mail today, had to buy both but I only wanted the cleaner one. Finally I own one of these axes, I have been wanting one of these for so long!
 
Ohioan614 said:


$20. Hope its salvageable.
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Don't know much about broad axes other than what I've seen here and cursory searches. Would it be a worn New Orleans pattern? Cool looking piece of steel though. Any signs of markings on the poll?
 
Not that I saw. I am soaking it in this stuff. http://www.evapo-rust.com/ My dad told me about it. Came from the auto parts store. The bit seems fairly straight. It's heavily pitted obviously, but seems soild.

It was weird. The antique mall I found it had 3 or 4 other broad axes. Two were left handed. One had a vintage haft ($150 I think). The other was $70. The odd part was there were no single or double bits. I left my name and number for the dealer to see what else he had.
 
Ohioan614 said:
Not that I saw. I am soaking it in this stuff. http://www.evapo-rust.com/ My dad told me about it. Came from the auto parts store. The bit seems fairly straight. It's heavily pitted obviously, but seems soild.

It was weird. The antique mall I found it had 3 or 4 other broad axes. Two were left handed. One had a vintage haft ($150 I think). The other was $70. The odd part was there were no single or double bits. I left my name and number for the dealer to see what else he had.
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I have seen this too. My feeling is that the "antique" guys see a vintage mid century axe as "just an axe" and price them from $10-25, and they see these big old fashioned types and see big dollar signs. I have been seeing the same old mast axe in one shop for going on a year now, and who know it has been there before I started looking. $95 and it's still there. Most people prefer the users, and these are usually priced too high.
 
Found another Crown yesterday. I couldn't believe it. The add was on Craig's and was over a month old. I though it would be long gone. I thought it was a Gransfors Bruks from the pic. I called the # and he still had it, didn't know what it was as there was "No label." Hour drive into the Setting Sun, I see it. I pick it up looking for a Swedish Crown and there was a crown all right but it had an arm and hammer coming out of it! He also had a nice brand new looking baby blue double bit that looked too new to be any good. I turned that one over and Forest King nearly perfect condition! I grabbed them both and regret not getting a small cruiser he had as well (I'm going back for it.) Then on the way home I called on another add and grabbed an awesome Plumb. Trifecta day. The small one pictured is the first one that I ever cleaned up. The one that got me hooked on this hobby. It is also the one that gave me several stitches recently. It's pretty pitted but I found an old handle that looked as bad as it did and scrubbed it up and BLO'd it. I like the match, gonna keep it.

Can anyone help me date that Forest King? It looks like it was made day before yesterday. I thought they quit making them in 55 making this one at least 60 yrs old. I just don't believe that could be as this one still has factory varnish on handle. It's like the guy chopped in the face of a cut and got a blister, then went and bought a Stihl. Did someone continue making these past 55? Like Collins is by shipping in from Mexico? (Homestead.)
 
Sluicebox - Good day, eh? Those are really good looking axes - That Forest King is an attractive tool.
 
Is that Forest King a cruiser? It doesn't look huge next to the hatchet. Regardless, it is awesome. It is very uncommon to find 50+ year old tools in this condition. I can't date it, but Warren was sold in the late 50's and then that company was sold 8-10 years later. It is possible that these continued to be made during these years, but much less likely. I would guess that the newest this could be would be from 1958. This axe is one of those that if I found it would be too nice to use. I don't know what your plans are, but if you decided to cash in I'm fairly confident that you could sell that for north of $100 easily.
 
The 'flat slab' handle on the Forest King makes me suspicious about it being truly vintage, and other than that observation I know nothing about them.
 
Sluicebox said:
Found another Crown yesterday. I couldn't believe it. The add was on Craig's and was over a month old. I though it would be long gone. I thought it was a Gransfors Bruks from the pic. I called the # and he still had it, didn't know what it was as there was "No label." Hour drive into the Setting Sun, I see it. I pick it up looking for a Swedish Crown and there was a crown all right but it had an arm and hammer coming out of it! He also had a nice brand new looking baby blue double bit that looked too new to be any good. I turned that one over and Forest King nearly perfect condition! I grabbed them both and regret not getting a small cruiser he had as well (I'm going back for it.) Then on the way home I called on another add and grabbed an awesome Plumb. Trifecta day. The small one pictured is the first one that I ever cleaned up. The one that got me hooked on this hobby. It is also the one that gave me several stitches recently. It's pretty pitted but I found an old handle that looked as bad as it did and scrubbed it up and BLO'd it. I like the match, gonna keep it.

Can anyone help me date that Forest King? It looks like it was made day before yesterday. I thought they quit making them in 55 making this one at least 60 yrs old. I just don't believe that could be as this one still has factory varnish on handle. It's like the guy chopped in the face of a cut and got a blister, then went and bought a Stihl. Did someone continue making these past 55? Like Collins is by shipping in from Mexico? (Homestead.)
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I have seen the paint job on that forest King on a couple of Mann axes. Mann stamps on some of these axes are very small. They will be half way down the cheek. I just cleaned one up the other day. This one had the same paint scheme in a crème color. The Mann stamp did not reveal its self until the old paint and some rust was removed. I was amazed at the coarse grinding that was hiding under that factory paint.
My take on that Forrest King is 1970's Mann.
 
garry3 said:
I have seen the paint job on that forest King on a couple of Mann axes. Mann stamps on some of these axes are very small. They will be half way down the cheek. I just cleaned one up the other day. This one had the same paint scheme in a crème color. The Mann stamp did not reveal its self until the old paint and some rust was removed. I was amazed at the coarse grinding that was hiding under that factory paint.
My take on that Forrest King is 1970's Mann.
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Here is the one I recently cleaned up. That is factory grind marks! I have also seen them in the same color a sluiceboxes.

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garry3 said:
... My take on that Forrest King is 1970's Mann.
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Could be. Forest King and other brands of Warren Axe & Tool were acquired by Collins in 1950, and Collins was later acquired by Mann in 1966, according to YesteryearsTools.


"The Warren Axe & Tool Co. remained in existence until 1950 when it was sold to the Collins & Co. of Collinsville, Connecticut. Collins continued to use the Warren plant until 1958 when they sold off all the equipment and property. When Collins & Co. purchased the Warren Axe & Tool Co., they also acquired all the rights to the brands and patterns that Warren A. & T. Co. owned. Some brands were continued in order to supply existing accounts but over a period of time the goods was made in Connecticut. Collins relinquished all the Warren brands and patterns when they subsequently sold out to the Mann Edge Tool Co. of Lewistown. Pennsylvania in 1966."

http://www.yesteryearstools.com/Yesteryears%20Tools/Warren%20Axe%20%26%20Tool%20Co..html
 
Here is a older vintage handle I came across. It doesn't have a kerf cut in it. Nice and slim, with curves.;)

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garry3 said:
Here is a older vintage handle I came across. It doesn't have a kerf cut in it. Nice and slim, with curves.;)

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I would rub that stick with BLO so hard and often, youd think i was turning back into a teenager discovering his body for the first time! Man thats sexy!
 
Remzy said:
I would rub that stick with BLO so hard and often, youd think i was turning back into a teenager discovering his body for the first time! Man thats sexy!
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That isn't awkward at all. Really....;)

Kidding aside, that is a very sweet handle.
 
Here is a hatchet I would like to know more about.

There is a stamp, what I can make out says " ARL BLOMBACK" probably Carl or Karl? And maybe BLOMBACH? Below that it says "Germany".
Any body know anything about this one?

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cityofthesouth said:
Wow, congratulations right there. Do you think it is stained in some way from the factory?
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I am sure we are not looking at stain. I have several older hafted axes. It seems that the ones that are well preserved will turn dark with age. Some of these older hafts I am reasonably certain are oiled(linseed would not be a bad guess). Some have recent scratches revealing it is primarily the surface that has darkened. I was very suspicious of the first one I came across.
 
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