Mom found it in the shed. I have questions. (edit: New England pattern)

C

CedarEater

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Aug 31, 2012
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We went to "the lake" for opening day of fishing season which hapens to be where my parents live. I spotted this head on top of their dog house and asked mom about it. She replied with something to the effect of "oh I found that when I was rummaging around in the green shed". It is a green metal shed that has been moved around the property since back when my grandfather owned the property. It must have been my grandfather's since neither of my parents remember it. They gave it to me in this condition.



It measures 7.5" long and has a 5.5" bit that is double beveled. The eye is hatchet size.



It is a Kelly "The World's Finest"



With True Temper stamped on the other side.




This thing is in fine condition aside from some light pitting. I doubt it was ever used much. It certainly was never hammered on and will make for an easy resto project. My problem is I am not entirely sure what it is. Kent pattern? What haft would be appropriate and how long? I am thinking 18" straight haft. What would the intended purpose of a head like this be? Is it basically a double beveled hewing hatchet? And what should the profile of the sharpened bit look like?

Thanks for looking and for any knowledge you might be able to pass on.
 
That's a hewing hatchet, probably mid-century. Great shape too. I'm not sure on the handle length, but you are probably close to where you want to be. These are for control more than power. What does the head weigh, 2lbs or so?
 
jblyttle said:
That's a hewing hatchet, probably mid-century. Great shape too. I'm not sure on the handle length, but you are probably close to where you want to be. These are for control more than power. What does the head weigh, 2lbs or so?
Click to expand...

I am not sure what the head weighs since I do not have a scale. I do know it is quite a bit larger than my single bevel hewing hatchets as seen below.

 
Belgrath04 said:
Can't quite see but it looks like it still has a nice single bevel profile on it.
"a shaper not a chopper"
Click to expand...

It is most definitely not a single bevel, nor was it mistakenly ground into a double bevel by someone that didn't know what they had. I have seen plenty of hewing axes/hatchets ruined by someone grinding the flat side of the chisel bit to turn it into a piece of scrap metal. It came from the factory double beveled and both sides of the edges of the cheeks are also beveled exactly the same way. It is not flat on one side like my hewing hatchets. As illustrated by the picture below you will see that the head looks the same as in the picture above except this side has the True Temper stamp on it.

 
Then it looks like it's a New England or Kent pattern center-bevel axe. Sweet find, that's in gorgeous shape! Didn't know TT made those.....
 
After a bit of google-fu I am convinced this is a Kent pattern axe head. This pattern appears to be fairly common in the UK but most definitely not commonly found in sheds in western Washington as Square_Pegs will confirm.

Why did my grandfather have this axe out at the lake cabin in the woods? Up until the early 90's (before my parents knocked it down to build a modern log house) a small log cabin stood on the property. This log cabin was constructed of verticle small diameter logs with fiber caulking stuffed between the logs. This was a very common style cabin found around the lakes and forests in the area. Anyway, my guess is that grandpa figured he would need an axe like this for repair work around the cabin while out at the lake fishing in the summertime. I don't think he used it much nor did he use his draw knife much. I have now inherited both.
 
I would probably call it a New England pattern broad hatchet. Very similar to one listed in the old AA&T Co catalog on page 97.

What ever you call it, its a nice hatchet.:thumbup:
 
garry3 said:
I would probably call it a New England pattern broad hatchet. Very similar to one listed in the old AA&T Co catalog on page 97.
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Here's that picture from the AA&T Co catalog (showing the New England pattern):

Broad+Axe+--+New+England.JPG
 
Thank you for the picture Steve.

Cedar, all of my hewing axes and hatchets have offset eyes and blades. Making them left or right handed. My guess is that pattern of axe is a more versatile tool, doing both hewing and general carpentry. Probably served your grandfather well with cabin building.
 
CedarEater said:
After a bit of google-fu I am convinced this is a Kent pattern axe head. This pattern appears to be fairly common in the UK but most definitely not commonly found in sheds in western Washington as Square_Pegs will confirm.
Click to expand...

Indeed. It does appear to be the less common double bevel from the factory. In your 2nd photo the shape of the cheeks just forward of the eyes confirms this. It's double beveled there. Single bevel hewing hatchets are flat on one side there. I'd call it a New England pattern hewing hatchet. Great find!
KIMG0078_zps57mefrr2.jpg
 
So, whats the difference between Kent and New England patterns anyway? As far as I can tell geography is the only difference because the Kent pattern was the preferred axe pattern used by New England shipwrights. That pattern became known as the New England pattern in the USA. Please correct me if I am wrong.
 
I don't think you're wrong. I'm sure that what we call a New England pattern derived from the Kent pattern. But I think of a Kent pattern as having longer nearly parallel sides back from the heel & toe. The New England rolls more into the bit.

Kent patterns:

kent-pattern.jpg


Compare to the New England Steve Tall posted above.
 
Square_peg said:
But I think of a Kent pattern as having longer nearly parallel sides back from the heel & toe. The New England rolls more into the bit.
Click to expand...

Ah. I have also noticed in the picture above and elsewhere that the lugs on the Kent pattern seem to be more elongated where as the lugs on mine are more symetrical like the New England pattern.

I really find this all quite fascinating.
 
CedarEater said:
Ah. I have also noticed in the picture above and elsewhere that the lugs on the Kent pattern seem to be more elongated where as the lugs on mine are more symetrical like the New England pattern.

I really find this all quite fascinating.
Click to expand...

Gotta agree with you there! Was it makers or users that dictated how regionally-made products evolved?
 
Yes, I am resurrecting this 7 year old thread. I have recently reprofiled the bit. Just need to sharpen it and hang it. The question is what do I hang it on? The eye is roughly the size of a boys axe eye and I have a crazy curly boys axe haft thats got horizontal grain orientation. I was thinking about hanging it on that but something just didn't feel right about putting a double bevel hewing head on that 28" haft. (edit: Ooops! I don't know why I was thinking it had a boys axe size eye, it's not even close to that size. My bad!) I was thinking about a haft in the 20" range but what shape should it have? Then somewhere in the bowels of the bladeforums I found a Kelly Axe and Tool Works True Temper catalog from 1925 with the following page in it:

T6RTtiG.jpg


As you can see in the bottom left corner if it would have come from the factory in 1925 it would have been hung on a 16" handle. I doubt mine is quite that old but it looks like I will be making a 16-18" handle for it. Now to decide on a species. I have beech, sugar maple, ash and maybe something else in my garage. Or, I could scour the internet for a proper hickory handle. Decisions!
 
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I’d carve a maple one myself, but ash is probably stronger. In any case, you’ll be more proud of the finished product if you make the haft yourself.

Parker
 
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