Lugged hatchet identification / " authentication " ?

Hickory n steel

Hickory n steel

Gold Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2016
Messages
20,254
I just bought this off a forum member who has allowed me to use the pictures they sent me to try and glean whatever I can before it arrives and I proceed to work on it.
I will try to get the best pictures I possibly can when it arrives, but at this time I'm just expecting to hopefully infer it's potential age.





I cannot make out the top line of the stamp and will have to probably peel the mushroomed steel back carefully with a cold chisel, but you can clearly see a date of DEC 23 /62 ( could be 28 ).

Based on it's looks I would say the date could be 1862 and it seems much more likely than 1962, but I am just not that lucky.
I would like it to be so but what I would like and what actually is are usually 2 different things.
 
Last edited:
Here is an old W. Beatty from the 1860's , you can see some very definite similarities particularly to how the steel in the bit has aged.

The hatchet in question is obviously not stamped Beatty, but it sure does closely resemble a head of the era.
 
I think you guys have pretty much covered it...(that neat old Wm Beatty is a very good match,same time period,probably also Eastern US,someplace with a hefty % of German settlers:)).

It's definitely "hand-forged",but my guess would be that it was done not in some poor,fly by night rural forge,but in a fairly well-organised tool production shop,with maybe an employee or two.
It's neatly ground all over,and the stamping of the date(and maybe of the maker-good luck with that,H&S,hope it'll become legible).
A beautiful example of an American axe of that period,practically as nice as these two of Bernie's.

Looking at it again i can actually make out the laminate parts in that photo of the eye-neat welding sequence,would be nice to see some better-light photos of that.
 
jake pogg said:
I think you guys have pretty much covered it...(that neat old Wm Beatty is a very good match,same time period,probably also Eastern US,someplace with a hefty % of German settlers:)).

It's definitely "hand-forged",but my guess would be that it was done not in some poor,fly by night rural forge,but in a fairly well-organised tool production shop,with maybe an employee or two.
It's neatly ground all over,and the stamping of the date(and maybe of the maker-good luck with that,H&S,hope it'll become legible).
A beautiful example of an American axe of that period,practically as nice as these two of Bernie's.

Looking at it again i can actually make out the laminate parts in that photo of the eye-neat welding sequence,would be nice to see some better-light photos of that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the Input.

I will definitely get the best pictures I can before and after I work on it.
My phone may not have the greatest camera in the world, but I can manage the the set of clip on lenses I have ( if I can find them ) should help.

Being this old I'm not sure how far i should go, but I definitely want to do my best to tackle the mushrooming on the poll.
The damage on top of the head may not be so easy to deal with unless I grind on it, but I'm not sure I'd want to do that.
The contrast between the aged sides and clean stee on top bottom and poll could look pretty nice though.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I will definitely get the best pictures I can before and after I work on it.
My phone may not have the greatest camera in the world, but I can manage the the set of clip on lenses I have ( if I can find them ) should help.
Click to expand...
Right on,but it shouldn't be that difficult to see or to photograph the dissimilarity between laminate parts.
Air is slightly acidic,so is the oil on our fingers,in any case the contrast in steel self-etches in most cases quite distinctly.
The weld-line itself is most often quite visible with the naked eye.
Even if the weld was blended in very well,often the corrosion on parts of the composite differs by color or type of pitting et c.
 
jake pogg said:
Right on,but it shouldn't be that difficult to see or to photograph the dissimilarity between laminate parts.
Air is slightly acidic,so is the oil on our fingers,in any case the contrast in steel self-etches in most cases quite distinctly.
The weld-line itself is most often quite visible with the naked eye.
Even if the weld was blended in very well,often the corrosion on parts of the composite differs by color or type of pitting et c.
Click to expand...
The lense attachment would be for pictures of the stamping if necessary.
 
I think the time period is right, could even be earlier. Also Jake is correct in saying that it is a factory made axe just by the overall shape and finish.

You can plainly see the bit steel running clear into the eye. The eye is undoubtedly wrought iron. The poll is constructed with a dissimilar metal joining the 2 pieces of wrought and appears to also be capped with a dissimilar metal. Jake explained to us earlier about how a dissimilar metal makes a stronger forge weld with wrought than wrought makes to itself.

As chance would have it I've also recently picked up an old axe that is simmilarly made. I'll try to get pics up later today.
 
Square_peg said:
I think the time period is right, could even be earlier. Also Jake is correct in saying that it is a factory made axe just by the overall shape and finish.

You can plainly see the bit steel running clear into the eye. The eye is undoubtedly wrought iron. The poll is constructed with a dissimilar metal joining the 2 pieces of wrought and appears to also be capped with a dissimilar metal. Jake explained to us earlier about how a dissimilar metal makes a stronger forge weld with wrought than wrought makes to itself.

As chance would have it I've also recently picked up an old axe that is simmilarly made. I'll try to get pics up later today.
Click to expand...
I'd sure love to see it.
 
As for what to do with regarding any possible restoration, it depends on how you feel about the piece. Some would argue that an axe of this age should be left entirely alone. I can surely understand your desire to reveal the rest of the lettering on the poll. Only you can decide which is best for your piece. Cleaninf with a brass wire wheel would likely reveal much about its construction and composition. A vinegar bath would lay it naked so that all of its contruction details were plain to see but this would be at the expense of losing the patina.

In my mind the mushrooming and the patina are equally part of this axe. There are good reasons to save or remove either. I'm anxious to see what you do with it.
It kind of reminds me of an old Spiller.
 
Square_peg said:
As for what to do with regarding any possible restoration, it depends on how you feel about the piece. Some would argue that an axe of this age should be left entirely alone. I can surely understand your desire to reveal the rest of the lettering on the poll. Only you can decide which is best for your piece. Cleaninf with a brass wire wheel would likely reveal much about its construction and composition. A vinegar bath would lay it naked so that all of its contruction details were plain to see but this would be at the expense of losing the patina.

In my mind the mushrooming and the patina are equally part of this axe. There are good reasons to save or remove either. I'm anxious to see what you do with it.
It kind of reminds me of an old Spiller.
Click to expand...
No vinegar here, no polishing either.
Patina all the way whether 10 years old or 160, the patina stays.

I would just adress the damage on the top of the head, carefully remove the mushrooming on the poll, then get the eye good to go for a handle of a style that could have been on it originally.
I just want it to look like it would have in the era if being used and relied on by a woodsman or trapper who cared at least a little about their tools.

just adress the major abuse that is an eyesore.
 
Last edited:
Well all it needed was a minor wire wheeling and better picture to reveal what's left of the stamp.
You can clearly read . YERK, but I know nothing about it.


And the very clear metal differences.





The head weighs 1lb.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top