Looking for more info on this Craftsman rafting axe

J

jflendy

Joined
Feb 3, 2023
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3
I recently restored this Craftsman rafting axe and I was looking for some more info.

https://imgur.com/a/XXA0fWB


Age?
Is the poll hardened?

I'm new to the game and very appreciative of all the expertise and info you can provide.

Thank you!
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Are you sure it's a rafting axe? Looks more like a big Dayton to me.
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At first I thought it was a Hudson Bay. I posted on FB and someone else said rafting. I looked up that pattern and it seemed to resemble more what I posted than Hudson Bay.

But no, I'm not positive of the pattern. A lot of the patterns out there are so similar it's hard to tell them apart
 
Correct me if I am wrong but it looks more like a Cedar pattern to me. Edit: now that I look at it a little closer, probably not a cedar pattern.

Its in good shape. Nice axe, very clean.
 
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DEFINITELY not a Hudson Bay nor a Cedar in the slightest. This most closely resembles a Dayton to me though SOME Rafting patterns had a weird pseudo-Dayton shape with unchamfered polls while still being hardened. Most were properly true to form with a chamfered poll and a shape that was ALMOST symmetrical flipped over a horizontal axis.

il_fullxfull.3839365604_qnt2.jpg
 
jflendy said:
Hey thank you for the reply.

What's the method to test it and what am I looking for?
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Take any metal file and run it against the poll, to get an idea of if it has been hardened or not you can also run it near the eye which should not be hardened. Typically you will feel like its "skating" or not biting into the steel. But if you feel a grab, then it most definitely is not hardened. Also, typically a rafting pattern has a wide square-ish chamfered poll (no sharp corners)

To me and looking at what i can see, it closely resembles a hoosier pattern or a more modern description of a camp axe. And going off of the picture, it looks like you do have sharp corners, so i dont think the poll is hardened.

collinsraftertop.jpg

collinsrafterwedge.jpg
 
jflendy said:
Hey thank you for the reply.

What's the method to test it and what am I looking for?
Click to expand...
If the poll files very easily it's not hardened.

This is a more modern 60's-70's axe, so that will be a factor in what pattern it is because in more modern times axe patterns started to change into the less refined more crude shapes we have today which don't very well resemble what you see on the charts.

It's hard to tell from the picture, is the A in Craftsman pointed or flat on top like a barn roof ?
The point of the A in Craftsman was flattened in the early 70's, I wanna say around '72 but don't remember off the top of my head.
 
likely not a rafting axe. what was it that made you think it was a rafting axe? did you buy it off ebay and the seller advertised it as a rafting axe? Ebay sellers are clueless at best and intentionally misleading at worst. Never trust for a second any information that an ebay (or almost any other) salesman has to say about their items.

as other's have said, rafting axes generaly have chamfered corners at the poll and the poll will look either super clean or it may have chips taken out of it - because the poll is too hard to deform when struck with another metal surface, but can chip. Soft metal will deform but generally will not chip.
 
FLINT77 said:
Ebay sellers are clueless at best and intentionally misleading at worst. Never trust for a second any information that an ebay (or almost any other) salesman has to say about their items.
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I think, like with any industry, you are going to have direct & honest interactions and also run into people taking short cuts, looking for the big pay out.

Its on you to do your homework, like with buying cars, houses, encyclopedias, aluminum siding, vacuums, televisions and axes.

jflendy said:
At first I thought it was a Hudson Bay. I posted on FB and someone else said rafting. I looked up that pattern and it seemed to resemble more what I posted than Hudson Bay.

But no, I'm not positive of the pattern. A lot of the patterns out there are so similar it's hard to tell them apart
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Its good to get more than one point of view, ask questions and branch out to others, other groups, every little bit you learn brings you where you want to be.

This is one of the best informed and straight shooting groups you will want to find for ax and other edged tools.

I think this is not a rafter but more like what i believe FortyTwoBlades FortyTwoBlades mentioned earlier. A modern Dayton - -esq- Michigan pattern.

Axe On!
 
Hickory n steel said:
Test it with a file and find out.
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jflendy said:
Hey thank you for the reply.

What's the method to test it and what am I looking for?
Click to expand...
Typically the eye of a good axe will be softer than the bit so that it doesn't easily crack. You can crack a hard eye just by wedging it too tightly, I've done it.

Put your axe head in the vise and break out a good sharp file. File a corner of the top of the axe, starting at the eye and working towards the bit. You'll recognize right away when you hit the hardened steel at the bit. Sample both regions with a few more file strokes until you're keen with the difference. Then file the corner from the eye back toward the poll? If the poll is hard you'll know it immediately.
 
I suspect a rafting pattern but without better pictures it's hard to say. On some of the later rafting patterns the beveled polls kind of went away, less defined and just kind of rounded.

This Norland here demonstrates what I am talking about pretty well, of course it's a much heavier head with more poll.

 
garry3 said:
I suspect a rafting pattern but without better pictures it's hard to say. On some of the later rafting patterns the beveled polls kind of went away, less defined and just kind of rounded.

This Norland here demonstrates what I am talking about pretty well, of course it's a much heavier head with more poll.

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I used to own a Norlund rafting axe. It didn't have a beveled poll. It did have a large poll and nice thick eye walls. I sold it.
Norlund%201.jpg
Norlund%202.jpg
Norlund%204.jpg
Norlund%2013.jpg
 
Interesting that they left all the edges square and sharp. I can see why you sold it. ;)

Here's a later Mann I assume. They at least came kind of rounded off the square edges. They were ground rough as could be, but the heat treat was really good.
I sold this one too, but didn't get the return you did.....

 
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