My Neighbor's Plumb hatchet, a 50+ year marriage.

[gben]

This is my neighbor from across the street, he is a retired mechanic in his 70s. I showed him the Plumb axe I got at a house sale and he said he had a Plumb hatchet and quickly produced it. He said he got it when he was 15 years old.
He was working on a drilling rig and a lady who lived in a house nearby let him borrow it for something, then when he tried to give it back she told him to keep it, and he has had it ever since.

It looked like he kept it in good shape and it even has a sheath with a Plumb logo on it's snap. The sheath has slots on the back so it can go on a belt. The top of the hatchet has some sort of plastic looking stuff poured over the top of the handle.

 

[300Six]

One thing that was established within this forum over the past few weeks is the timeline for the Plumb "Permabond" eye bonding method. This is an epoxied-in-place handle fastening system developed by Plumb and fully initiated by 1956 and used until the end of axe production (in the early 1990s I think). The hatchet you describe features this along with (obviously) its original wine coloured handle. If the old gent says he was 15 at the time and he's now 70 (ie we're going back to 1960) then he has one of the early Plumb Permabond implements. And if this wood-steel lock is still holding and the handle is not loose then kudos to Plumb!

 

[gben]

300,

My neighbor was the best heavy diesel mechanic around, he rebuilt all the engines for tractor trailers for the best trucking company in the area. He always uses the right tool for the job and he never abuses his tools either. I was impressed with the condition of this hatchet, but not surprised because this man treats all his tools very well. I guess when the lady gave it to him it was a pretty new hatchet.

 

[garry3]

Beautiful little hatchet. It was a very nice gift.

 

[vanwag44]

Awesome story.