L.L. Bean Hudson Bay Axe

I handled some of the new mfg S&N's back last year at the Maine Axe and Saw meet and I was fairly impressed, but they did say the heads aren't forged in Maine though they're ground, finished, and hafted here in Maine if I remember correctly.

The quality seemed to be in-line with CT's Velvicut line at roughly half the cost.
 
DarthTaco123 said:
I handled some of the new mfg S&N's back last year at the Maine Axe and Saw meet and I was fairly impressed, but they did say the heads aren't forged in Maine though they're ground, finished, and hafted here in Maine if I remember correctly.

The quality seemed to be in-line with CT's Velvicut line at roughly half the cost.
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This sounds impressive. Now, if they only forged them in Maine as well.

I posted the source, so that everyone is aware I didn't pull it off of their site.
 
DarthTaco123 said:
I handled some of the new mfg S&N's back last year at the Maine Axe and Saw meet and I was fairly impressed, but they did say the heads aren't forged in Maine though they're ground, finished, and hafted here in Maine if I remember correctly.

The quality seemed to be in-line with CT's Velvicut line at roughly half the cost.
Click to expand...

Yes, I was told that their heads are rough-forged for them by a large industrial drop forgings contractor in the midwest, which purportedly as a lot of experience in forging eyed tools for various big name tool companies and then those rough forgings are finish-ground, heat treated, and hafted in their Smyrna, Maine facility. Pretty much the same kind of manufacturing and assembly structure they had when sourcing from China except they've switched to a USA source for their rough forgings instead.
 
This really doesn't tell us much about the quality of the S&N. Being made in China doesn't mean something is garage as being made in the US doesn't mean it's great. Norinco wood be happy to forge you heads from 9310 steel with strict QC if your willing to pay for it.
 
Whiskey_Jim said:
This really doesn't tell us much about the quality of the S&N. Being made in China doesn't mean something is garage as being made in the US doesn't mean it's great. Norinco wood be happy to forge you heads from 9310 steel with strict QC if your willing to pay for it.
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The old Chinese heads were butter-soft. Garbage. The new ones take and hold a much better edge.
 
Whiskey_Jim said:
Could possibly be made by Seymour Midwest in Indiana. They own the Link handle brand.
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Seymour forges their own shovels and makes their own handles, but their axe heads are all sourced from India (garbage.) They are certainly not the forging contractor for Snow & Nealley's rough forgings.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if it was Green Bay Drop Forge in Wisconsin. They have prominent listings for both hand tools and agricultural items on their site.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Yes, I was told that their heads are rough-forged for them by a large industrial drop forgings contractor in the midwest, which purportedly as a lot of experience in forging eyed tools for various big name tool companies and then those rough forgings are finish-ground, heat treated, and hafted in their Smyrna, Maine facility. Pretty much the same kind of manufacturing and assembly structure they had when sourcing from China except they've switched to a USA source for their rough forgings instead.
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I have no info on who S&N is using. But I know that Beall Mfg in East Alton IL has run a tool forging plant for over 100 years. They specialized in mining tools. Some years back they started a subsidiary, Cutting Specialists Inc., to market their industrial mower blades. That business surpassed their mining tools and continues. But recently (since last year) Beall has sold off their forging works Star Mfg. of Freeport IL. Star is likely still capable of forging axes and mining tools.

"Beall Mfg. in East Alton, IL has agreed to sell most of it’s assets to Star Mfg. of Freeport, IL. Tooling, prints and customer contact info are being moved immediately. Contact Star at 815-235-7750 for more information.

This DOES NOT have any effect on Cutting Specialists, Inc. It will continue to operate under the same ownership and in the same location"
http://www.supertufmowerblades.com/...her-than-the-tillage-shanks-and-mower-blades/

Beall and Warwood are 2 American makers that survived by filling an industrial niche.
 
Square_peg said:
I have no info on who S&N is using. But I know that Beall Mfg in East Alton IL has run a tool forging plant for over 100 years. They specialized in mining tools. Some years back they started a subsidiary, Cutting Specialists Inc., to market their industrial mower blades. That business surpassed their mining tools and continues. But recently (since last year) Beall has sold off their forging works Star Mfg. of Freeport IL. Star is likely still capable of forging axes and mining tools.

"Beall Mfg. in East Alton, IL has agreed to sell most of it’s assets to Star Mfg. of Freeport, IL. Tooling, prints and customer contact info are being moved immediately. Contact Star at 815-235-7750 for more information.

This DOES NOT have any effect on Cutting Specialists, Inc. It will continue to operate under the same ownership and in the same location"
http://www.supertufmowerblades.com/...her-than-the-tillage-shanks-and-mower-blades/

Beall and Warwood are 2 American makers that survived by filling an industrial niche.
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Yeah there's a plethora of drop forging manufacturers up in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan that are all more than capable of producing axes. Compared to some of the parts that they forge on the regular, axes are actually pretty geometrically simple.

Unless I'm mistaken, Warwood is the last US maker of adzes, aren't they? They're the only ones I've managed to turn up.
 
I don't know of another adze maker. I see a lot of Warwood grub hoes. They aren't as hard or strong as they used to be. I've seen several come in bent up.
 
Makes me wonder if people are also less proficient in using them, to boot. A dull blade and brutish swings could cause that. Not surprising that the hardness would have gone down over the years, though.
 
I don't think it's just newbie damage. Our state trails association has at least dozens of grub hoes, maybe close to 100 in all locales. The only ones I've seen come in bent are new Warwoods. Several of the other guys have commented on noticing the same thing.

There's at least 27 grub hoes in this photo.

Grub%20hoes%20%26%20shovels.jpg
 
Hmmm...have they notified Warwood of this? Should be an easy heat treatment fix, I'd figure.
 
The new hoes are slightly thinner and I suspect are made out of a lesser alloy. It's clearly a conscious change by Warwood. They don't really have any competitor in this market.
 
A clear example of why monopoly is a bad thing. It's like Seymour with their wooden American pattern scythe snaths.
 
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