It followed me home (Part 2)

I have been working on a mask for an adze it is an old Douglas Hunt with a great stamp and a rich warm handle, looks like it hardly got any use. I have no idea on the age of it, I am still trying to research it. I tooled the mask myself but the dye kinda buried it. I think that on my next one I will leave it as natural leather with a sealer over it instead. It will darken it some but not as much as a dye. It is fully welted and I'm trying to figure out how to secure it. Leaning toward a leather lace tie. There is also a hole shown in the end near the bit for a Chicago screw but mine are all too short, so looking for one of those too. Should I try to do more like this or work on tooling and stamping rather than portraits? Thanks for checking it out. [URL=http://s1296.photobucket.com/user/sluicebox1/media/Adze%20Leather%20Cabin%20Art%20003_zpsmzmtw6eu.jpg.html]
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garry3 said:
Looks like a pretty good one Agent H. Is this one dated?
Its no big deal to file the mushroomed eyes, but it is irritating. There is probably the right dremel tool out there that would do it fast.
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This one doesn’t have the numbering like the others we were talking about. By the way, I appreciate the pictures you shared of yours and your reasoning as to whether the numbers were weights or dates. Not seeing too many in person, I really wouldn’t have even thought of that. Sound reasoning on your part Garry3. This one is un-marked as far as I can tell. After work today, I’ll toss it on a scale but I would guess it is 2.5lbs. The metal wedge came out last night but my wife warned me if I woke our daughter up then I was going to have to be “on duty” so banging on the drift had to wait lol.

Sluicebox said:
Do some of those Lakesides have dates? I have a couple heads that have that cursive writing saying Lakeside and I have a 5" broad hatchet that is plain letter stamped Lakeside Saw and Tool Co. I have seen no dated Lakesides, but I'm a newbie. They have to be my favorite axe though. The heads have a real good musical ring to them off the handle. I think that all Lakesides are pretty old and Made in Oregon. I don't know the quality of the steel but thought the high pitched ring meant high quality.

@Agent H that is a nice one, I have been looking for a DB Lakeside and have yet to even see one in person. Real nice score you got there.
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They do have that ringing quality that makes me think that they are well made. Before Garry3 walking through what he made of the numbering of the older ones, I assumed that the numbers were a weight but the numbers didn’t always jive with the actual weights of the tools. Here is that discussion:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1276874-True-Temper-Flint-Edge-Cruiser

The Lakeside double bit I have I got off “auction” at a decent price- ended on Christmas Eve (probably the rest of the “normal world” was enjoying their families.)

jblyttle said:
I've had a Lakeside vise with the same logo, but that's the first Lakeside axe that I've seen. I wonder if they made it or contacted with another USA maker.
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You don’t have a picture of the script do you? Just curious to see if there is any difference.

Cool adze and mask Sluicebox!
 
$60. The red thing has the same design as a log dragger, but the jaws seem too small so it must be the same idea but for something else. The big weight I'm not sure about. The wrenches are cool, the big one is awesome. Two of those hammers are 16lbs, one a Hubbard. I like the spike pullers too. I'll be going there once a week now.

 
Sluicebox said:
...a Douglas Hunt with a great stamp and a rich warm handle, looks like it hardly got any use. I have no idea on the age of it. Thanks for checking it out.
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You can really distinguish from this strategic angle picture that the handle was not steam bent. End grain is as good as it gets and yet the runout is so bad it's scary. Lucky these were never used as splitters, or even choppers, although something tells me the supposedly "comfy" curves seen on most axes in the past 125 years originated with their practical use on adzes.
 
I do appreciate your post. I have been trying to carve handles out of Cherry and Oak shaping with a rasp. I now am researching steam bending and think that is the way to go. It doesn't look that hard to do, and the results would be much better. I mean that thank you as I would have spent days on handles that would have failed. The adze above came with that handle. I was only looking at the bit, stamp and end grain of the piece. Now I will look at run out as well. I still would have bought it don't get me wrong. However if I sell it like this I will point that out to the buyer. Likely will put it back in the mix and carve a new handle for it later down the road.
 
Adzes weren't meant for severe effort striking nor subject to accidental overstrikes and consequently could evolve into intricate and delicate shapes that signalled to the user just exactly where his hands were in relation to movement of the blade.
This adze handle of yours is an exceptional beauty and really can't be improved upon, nor is it necessary. But at same time would prove to be a 'one hit wonder' were it rehung on an 8 lb splitting maul. Steam bending has never really caught on for handles (except maybe for scythes!) even though you'd have thought it would be perfect technology for making curved axe and adze handles.
 
Part of what followed me home today. I actually have 2/3 of the Gibbs but my daughter is going back to the yard sale tomorrow so she has one of the missing ends, I hope the other end is there. The saw set is an Anderson no5. I have not seen it before. I think its pretty sweet. Don't know if it is rare or I just have not come across it before. The silver one is an Atkins no15 and the red one is a Anderson no3.

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Garry, What a sweeeeet hall for you. The Anderson saw set is fairly rare and commands good prices when one shows up on the bay. The Anderson #3 raker gauge is not as rare, but are sought after by sawyers who file their own saws. The Gibbs is also a nice grab. Hope you can find the ends for it. A Gibbs will start at $250 on the bay.

Tom
 
Not totally versed in saw setting/sharpening gear but those tools look really well-made and not too common to come across. Nice score Garry.

JB- those red "pinchers", I'm not thinking wood with them. Maybe something to negotiate moving/dragging piping, cable, or other equipment? The cable connection between the arms looks like a guy could grab it with gloves or hang it on another tool with a larger hook attachment. Is there metal on metal wear on it there or scrapes/rust?

I don't know, just speculating out of interest and curiosity now lol.
 
Double Ott said:
Garry, What a sweeeeet hall for you. The Anderson saw set is fairly rare and commands good prices when one shows up on the bay. The Anderson #3 raker gauge is not as rare, but are sought after by sawyers who file their own saws. The Gibbs is also a nice grab. Hope you can find the ends for it. A Gibbs will start at $250 on the bay.

Tom
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I know the Gibbs is very sought after but not much on the other stuff. The other end of the Gibbs did not show up but at least I have one end and a pattern.
I am very much on the fence with keeping the Gibbs and the Anderson saw set. As I have fumbled around with it a little. I have much to learn.

Its funny going to garage sales, there will always be those guys commenting on what you are buying. Not malicious, just poking a little fun. If only they knew!

Thank you for the information Tom, I appreciate it.
 
So glad spring is here and I can go out picking again. I have things I am looking for but sometimes I just come across stuff I think are kind of neat. That's how this carborundum stone followed me home. I assume it was a hardware store display kind of thing.
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garry3 said:
So glad spring is here and I can go out picking again. I have things I am looking for but sometimes I just come across stuff I think are kind of neat. That's how this carborundum stone followed me home. I assume it was a hardware store display kind of thing.
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This is cool on a couple of counts. First for what it is, second for what it represents. It represents that there was a time where it was just assumed that most people carried a knife and also that they knew how to sharpen it.
 
@ 300Six, you talked me into it, I'm going to keep it lol. So is it a bad idea to Steam Bend axe handles? As long as you start with nice straight grain wood? I riv out my blanks by hand then coat ends with vaseline and allow to dry in stacks. I have read that Red Oak works quite well for bending, any ideas on Cherry? I know it isn't real good for handles but these would be more for wall hangers. Thanks for your time.
 
Many things may be following me home today. I got an e-mail from a cleanout guy about 30-40 minutes away from me yesterday with a sample pic of a pile of axes and hatchets. Only half of what he has, he guesstimates maybe 40 axes and hatchets in total. We generally agree on pricing, I am buying all of them this afternoon pending final inspection. Can't wait to see what's there.
 
Sluicebox said:
@ 300Six, you talked me into it, I'm going to keep it lol. So is it a bad idea to Steam Bend axe handles? As long as you start with nice straight grain wood? I riv out my blanks by hand then coat ends with vaseline and allow to dry in stacks. I have read that Red Oak works quite well for bending, any ideas on Cherry? I know it isn't real good for handles but these would be more for wall hangers. Thanks for your time.
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I have absolutely no experience with this at all. White Ash is what is (mostly 'was') commonly steamed here for wagon runners, lacrosse sticks, livestock yokes, snowshoes, toboggans etc. Well worth experimenting but it could be that consistently/uniformly bending the thick side of an oval is darn near impossible to still maintain the integrity of the wood. Years ago a then-already-old gentleman that built cedar strip canoes told me that steamed wood was considerably weakened by virtue of ruptured transport vesicles, cell walls and other high temperature wood damage.

I have some Black Cherry canoe paddles that can flex like a proverbial ballet dancer and I don't know if that's what you want in an axe handle. The wood is also lighter and much softer than Hickory/Oak/Maple. Only reason (I suspect) that Red Oak is not common in the handle industry is that it is very porous and somewhat brittle. I have a buddy out west that has been using Red Oak for hand-crafted axe handles for about 50 years and he's never suggested that this was second-rate. Nice thing about trying to steam form a handle for an adze is that the haft is not radically oval-shaped and the wood is relatively thin compared to handles for striking axes and mauls.
 
jblyttle said:
This is cool on a couple of counts. First for what it is, second for what it represents. It represents that there was a time where it was just assumed that most people carried a knife and also that they knew how to sharpen it.
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Being old enough to carry a pocket knife was a right of passage to becoming a man. Will never forget my first pocket knife.
 
Sluicebox said:
@ 300Six, you talked me into it, I'm going to keep it lol. So is it a bad idea to Steam Bend axe handles? As long as you start with nice straight grain wood? I riv out my blanks by hand then coat ends with vaseline and allow to dry in stacks. I have read that Red Oak works quite well for bending, any ideas on Cherry? I know it isn't real good for handles but these would be more for wall hangers. Thanks for your time.
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I have heat bend handles(and other wood items) a lot. Both steam and dry heat. I very much doubt any one will notice a difference in an axe handle.
 
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