Looking for information on a Kelly Flint Edge cruiser.

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Slickwillytfcf

Joined
Oct 1, 2017
Messages
17
Hey gents, I'm new here and new to this axe obsession as well. I salvaged a 4.2 Plumb jersey when we were cleaning out my grandmothers house to put it on the market for her. It's been sitting in my granddad's old shop for the last 30 years and is still in amazing shape. It's been getting plenty of use over the last month since Irma hit Florida. Anyway, getting that thing hung on a new haft brought out an unknown appreciation for old, well-made tools.

Since then I've been perusing some auctions to find a few more random axes to get back into working order and I just got a Kelly Flint Edge 2.2 double bit delivered yesterday. It looked to be in really good shape (I would venture a guess that it's hardly ever been used though I don't have anything to base that off of), but I threw it in some vinegar just to clean off the little bit of rust I saw. After about an hour I pulled it out and in the center of the cheek there looked to be a bit of bare metal, same with the cutting edges, but the rest looked to have some sort of black paint across it.

So my question is: did Kelly Flint Edge axes come from the factory with such a coating or was that likely put on at some point over the years?

Thanks for all the help. I'm sure I'll be back for some more knowledge sooner than later.
 
The 1957 True Temper catalog specifies a "permanent black" finish on the Flint Edge axes (including cruisers), and the 1938 catalog specifies "cannon finish, black, with honed cutting edges" for the Flint Edge cruiser.

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True Temper 1938 catalog


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True Temper 1957 catalog
 
Slickwillytfcf said:
and I just got a Kelly Flint Edge 2.2 double bit delivered yesterday. .
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Head weight on many axes is often stamped as 2 1/4 or 3 1/2 or some version of numbers and Steve Tall has suggested that the second (and usually elevated) digit indicates weight in quarters of a pound; meaning that 2 . 2 is 2 2/4. We've (myself, anyway) yet to see a 2 . 1 or a 2 . 3 to confirm this but it is curious.
 
300Six said:
Head weight on many axes is often stamped as 2 1/4 or 3 1/2 or some version of numbers and Steve Tall has suggested that the second (and usually elevated) digit indicates weight in quarters of a pound; meaning that 2 . 2 is 2 2/4. We've (myself, anyway) yet to see a 2 . 1 or a 2 . 3 to confirm this but it is curious.
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I've read that somewhere (it's not my theory). Here's an example of that marking for 3^3 on some 3-3/4 pound Pulaskis:

vintage-firemen-true-temper-pulaski_1_ec78a0aca87b82952dacd8bf392cc1ef.jpg


vintage-true-temper-polasky-3-pound_1_2b5338f794d089100afeab83d049db2e.jpg
 
I've seen a lot of posts on multiple forums dealing with the weight of axes, how they're numbered, and what category It puts them in (i.e. cruisers, felling, etc). It seems pretty widely accepted that the little superscript number is an indication of quarter pounds, but I haven't seen anything other than a two on most stuff either. Since it's not hung at the moment I'm going to weigh it when it comes out of the vinegar later today or tomorrow and see how close to 2 1/2 lbs it actually is. From what I saw already it looks like most of the hardened bit metal is still there and probably 95% of the black finish is still on it.
 
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Thanks for the info Steve. Do you know of a resource that can help me narrow down the year of manufacture based on the logo, or something that at least has the different variations of logo in a chronological order?

This is the auction so you can see it for yourself.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/263221976375
 
Slickwillytfcf said:
Thanks for the info Steve. Do you know of a resource that can help me narrow down the year of manufacture based on the logo, or something that at least has the different variations of logo in a chronological order?

This is the auction so you can see it for yourself.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/263221976375
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I'm not aware of a handy reference about axe stamp dates. Sometimes the old catalogs or advertisements will show the stamp, but this isn't foolproof. The Kelly Works name is said to have been used only after Kelly was bought by American Fork & Hoe in 1930. The actual stamping on that cruiser (shown below) looks identical to the stamping shown in the 1957 catalog. There are some advertisements which indicate that in 1960 True Temper started using the eye ridges, and some photos of Flint Edges having eye ridges show a label with no stamping on the head (as shown in this thread), so my guesstimate would be pre-1960 for that cruiser (if without eye ridges).

Some photos from that auction that ended:

s-l1600.jpg

s-l1600.jpg
 
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Vinegar :( you're killing me man, next time would you please try using a wire wheel or wire cup brush in an an angle grinder to remove the rust.

Nice axe, and a great score :thumbsup:
I hope it serves you well.
 
Haha. That was my original plan, but wanted to try the vinegar out on a head or two to see how it would look. Kind of glad I didn't take the wire wheel to it right off the bat because I probably would have lost what I assume is the original finish. Not sure how resilient that stuff is. I ended up leaving my grandfather's old Plumb as-is because there was no noticeable rust and I like the patina, but what's the general consensus around here when restoring an axe? Do many people take it back to shiny metal or even mirror polish it? What's the best way to clean up the rust and keep a good bit of the old patina intact without leaving spots that were noticeably cleaned up with a wheel or cup?
 
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These convenient vinegar bath routines are 'hit and miss'. I'm thinking some folks on here are of the belief that if a 1 day soak is "good" then 30 days is considerably "better". Whatever. In any case some of the end products that have been shown on here are not ruined but sure look like something else when it comes to displaying visibly cratered and pock-marked exteriors.
 
300Six said:
These convenient vinegar bath routines are 'hit and miss'. I'm thinking some folks on here are of the belief that if a 1 day soak is "good" then 30 days is considerably "better". Whatever. In any case some of the end products that have been shown on here are not ruined but sure look like something else when it comes to displaying visibly cratered and pock-marked exteriors.
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I'm about to go over to the shop and take them out now because it's been just over 24 hours. I don't see a reason to keep them in there any longer considering how little rust was actually on them. Not to mention that vinegar, while not a strong acid in the grand scheme of things, is still powerful enough to etch metal if left too long.
 
Update: just checked on them and I don't mind how they look after the vinegar bath, but it'll be the only time I use that method. Took a little too much patina off for my liking. They're fairly spotless now though and a little 0000 steel wool put a decent buff on them.

Got a Collins Legitimus in today that I dipped in the vinegar for about five minutes and that was enough to loosen the few minor rust spots it had so I could wipe it down with some oil. Can't wait to get them hung in the next few days.

Which brings me to another question, though I'm not sure if it should be a new post since there are quite a few on the subject anyway. I ran across a few posts that talked about sourcing handles but it doesn't seem that there is a single place with consistent product. Where do you guys get your handles from?
 
Slickwillytfcf said:
Haha. That was my original plan, but wanted to try the vinegar out on a head or two to see how it would look. Kind of glad I didn't take the wire wheel to it right off the bat because I probably would have lost what I assume is the original finish. Not sure how resilient that stuff is. I ended up leaving my grandfather's old Plumb as-is because there was no noticeable rust and I like the patina, but what's the general consensus around here when restoring an axe? Do many people take it back to shiny metal or even mirror polish it? What's the best way to clean up the rust and keep a good bit of the old patina intact without leaving spots that were noticeably cleaned up with a wheel or cup?
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I don't know of anyone here that polishes them back up, and I certainly wouldn't. Too much work, you have to remove too much metal to get a good polish in must cases, and patina just looks so good.

IMHO best method by far is just the wire wheel / cup and some care, as long as you don't bear down on the thing you'll be fine.
This 1950's Vaughan made Craftsman hammertooth framer was cleaned up with a wire wheel and some care.

For really heavy rust on axes the angle grinder is great, but for lighter rust or smaller tools a drill which is much less powerful works great.
With anything more than a small wire wheel in a drill you want to be careful and secure the head so it doesn't catch and get tossed, plus wear a face shield because the wires fly off on cheap ones.

There's really nothing really harmful about doing a vinegar soak if you only soak a head overnight or less, but the patina is always ruined.

Btw you didn't do too bad with this head, and I've seen worse results:thumbsup:
If you use it a good deal it won't take too long for some new patina to form, then it won't really look like it had a vinegar bath.
 
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