It followed me home (Part 2)

Downwindtracker2 said:
Fleamarket finds this Sunday, an adze and a DB. Both very rusty and very unnamed except the adze was once owned by S.F.. He had center punched his initials on both sides . A fancy job the second time he did it. I was very pleased to find one, the first I've seen in the wild. The back side will have to be belt sanded as it has pits. It's a project. I'll do it when I do the broad axe. The DB looks to need only a sharpening and polish. It's that same pattern as my grandfather's that was stolen and the one I'm currently working on. I think I'm seeing a pattern here. GROAN. They will both have to wait for hafts since I've used up the local supply of good DB hafts, all one of them. The second one I picked up should be OK. After that, a oh well, I'll pass.
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May i ask, who is S.F.? I feel like I am supposed to know who that is!
 
Maybe you do, I don't. You know anyone with those initials who worked as a shipwright during the early part of the last century in BC. Big fir timbers were the main export since the beginning, so would be readily available. There would be little use for an adze to flatten logs here on the coast. However, they built wooden ships and barges here, ships are fair, not square. An adze would come in handy to make the curves. There is a heavy fillet weld between the square eye and the bit, but no sign of any reason for it. I looked close. Being arc welded would suggest after the war as well as being in use in a shipyard where arc welders were available. Sawmills would also fit. In the square eye, the wedges were on the diagonals . Even sized, I wish I was as good. The haft had broken at the eye.

The adze was hand made. When I first really looked at it, I saw the weld and the leaning poll and thought, oh dear. But with closer inspection , the eye and the bit line up, the left side of the poll was made wrong, as was the top, it had that left lean too. Right side good. A project.

I checked the angles of the DB, one was 25 and the other 24.

Interesting what you can read from a couple of pieces of scrap iron.
 
ithinkverydeeply said:
Not sure where to post this so I guess it goes here...?
It’s an exquisite antique logging jack from the 1800’s. The hand cranked ones were very early and very dangerous! It still works great.
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It's been bugging me that I've seen that type of jack before, but not in logging. Finally hit me, that it's a wagon jack. As in Conestoga.

As many tools in history evolve from one original practical use use to another, it seems like this one may have too.

I'd love to see some pictures of it in use. It takes a lot of jack to lift a big tree, and how you set it up is crucial to success. There was no doubt some precision chopping to go along with the crosscut saw to set that in right. I wonder what it can lift? Fascinating!

And as to me using it.....no thanks,:eek:
I'll take my Silveys.
 
muleman77 said:
It's been bugging me that I've seen that type of jack before, but not in logging. Finally hit me, that it's a wagon jack. As in Conestoga.

As many tools in history evolve from one original practical use use to another, it seems like this one may have too.

I'd love to see some pictures of it in use. It takes a lot of jack to lift a big tree, and how you set it up is crucial to success. There was no doubt some precision chopping to go along with the crosscut saw to set that in right. I wonder what it can lift? Fascinating!

And as to me using it.....no thanks,:eek:
I'll take my Silveys.
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Thanks, you may be right!
My understanding was that they were used for logging and general purpose use. The spikes on the bottom would indicated that it was for use on loose dirt.

I ordered a copy of the Dictionary Of American Hand tools and hope to find it in there but it hasn’t arrived yet. Does anyone have a copy handy?

Regardless I should try to get some better pictures that really capture how incredible it looks.
 
ithinkverydeeply said:
Well I just got this and my excitement is somewhat diminished because right after spending all my “axe money” on it I missed winning an auction for one that was in even better condition. But it is pretty nice, I suppose I should be happy with what I got. It’s my first Connie!
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That is damn sweet. Love the handle, near full bit and the pole looks crisp in these pics.

Well done. No regrets from where I sit sir :thumbsup:
 
ithinkverydeeply said:
Thanks. The poll is in good shape has a 3 stamp. The bit is 5” but it’s only 6 5/8” across. The one I missed right after was a full 7”. But you have cheered me up a bit! lol
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Yeah I don't see anything disappointing about that connie. It's beautiful! And the fact that it only ever weighed 3 lbs might explain the slightly smaller dimensions. Always on the lookout for connies though. Also that haft appears to have absolutely perfect grain orientation.
 
ithinkverydeeply said:
Well I just got this and my excitement is somewhat diminished because right after spending all my “axe money” on it I missed winning an auction for one that was in even better condition. But it is pretty nice, I suppose I should be happy with what I got. It’s my first Connie!
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That is a beautiful axe! I would almost think a 3lber might be harder to come by than a 3.5lb?
 
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