need help with a sager axe .

J

JC1971

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Nov 13, 2014
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3
Growing up with my granddad I had always heard the only axe to have was a sager , sometime in the late 80's I found one in pile of scrap metal the same grand dad gave 50 buck for ,of course i jumped on it , it has been in the shed every since , used some but not heavy having since become a sentimental piece . After recently doing a bit of web crawling I noticed all the sagers I've seen are dated and/or have references to Warren Axe and Tool . mine only has SAGER in bold letters in the center of the blade ( double bit ) . I've cleaned the area off with a dremel w/wire brush , not down to the white but clean and there is nothing there but SAGER , I was simply curious as the age of the axe , or any other info . any help would be appreciated and i'll say thanks up front .
 
Sounds like 1950 at the latest,

Information related to William J. Sager prior to his involvement in the Warren Axe & Tool Company is quite sparse. It is known that he worked for or was involved in more than one company associated with the making of axes. One company was in Ohio and the others were in other parts of the Northeast, possibly North eastern New York State. That was prior to 1893 when he, along with three of his sons and his son-in-law founded the Warren Axe & Tool Co. The three sons that were involved were Frank, W. Ross and Martin Luther. His son-in-law was M. T. Christopher. Whether William J. Sager had additional children is not currently known.
In 1895 William J. Sager, then of Warren, Pennsylvania, was issued a patent for a chemical treatment that was intended to reduce oxidation and prolong the finish of the metal that it was applied to. The process was actually a two part procedure. The first involved dipping the metal to be forged into a chemical mixture and then hammering the metal. That was done when the metal was very hot. The second stage was part of the quenching process implemented when the metal was heated to a red hot color after being tempered. The chemical solution was actually the quenching solution. The end result was a metal tool with a deep lustrous blue coloring that was claimed to be a higher quality and more durable than metal not treated in a similar fashion. The blue coloring itself was protected by a coating of clear finish. Although the process was most commonly associated with axes it was also used on other logging tools made by the Warren Axe & Tool Co.
The exact year that the Warren Axe & Tool Co. started to utilize the process is not clear but is thought to be around the time Sager was issued a patent for the process. It may even have been prior to the actual issuance of the patent. The earliest known labels referring to the process have been dated as being first used in 1895. That label was used until 1912 when it was replaced with a similar label that continued in use until 1950. In addition to the paper labels Sager Chemical Process axes were also stamped with any of a variety of impressions with the name and/or location of the company.
Right around the turn of the century, between 1899 and 1904, another individual became involved in the company. He was Herbert P. Stone and his position was that of “General Manager and Treasurer”. Although the specifics are not known Stone apparently rose to a position where he had the major control of the company. Whether Sager was forced out, bought out or elected to turn over his authority to Stone is not known. In 1912 Stone was instrumental in establishing another similar company in Canada. It was called the Canadian-Warren Axe & Tool Co. and Stone himself was the man in charge. No mention of William J. Sager has been revealed thus suggesting Sager was not involved personally but his Chemical Process certainly was.
Sometime around 1907 or 1908 William J. Sager became involved with another axe manufacturing company namely the Louisville Axe & Tool Co. In their advertisements they included a claim that they used a special chemical treatment that in certain respects affected the metal and protected it from oxidation while coloring it. In that case the final coloring is believed to have been brownish.
A review of patents dated in 1896 (as noted in the advertisements) indicated they did not involve any treatment patent issued to William J. Sager but did refer to one related to the treatment of edge tools. It was issued to William K. Thompson of Alexandria, Indiana.
It is currently believed that Sager procured the right to use that patented process and included a claim for that chemical treatment in the advertisements which in effect may have suggested it was the process commonly referred to as the SAGER CHEMICAL TREATMENT PROCESS. Research has shown that was not the case. The Thompson patent involved a coloring process that resulted in a brown patina being applied to the metal, supposedly to inhibit oxidation.
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The Warren Axe & Tool Co. remained in existence until 1950 when it was sold to the Collins & Co. of Collinsville, Connecticut. Tools from Warren Axe & Tool are highly collectible today.
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Labels illustrated. Several have bold "SAGER" and other text beneath in much finer print. http://www.yesteryearstools.com/Yesteryears Tools/Sager and Chemical Axes.html

Threads
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/954436-Sager-Chemical-Double-Bit-Axe
http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2012/07/warren-axe-and-tool-co-guest-post-by.html
http://alleghenybook.com/collectibles/warren-axe-tool-company
 
Thanks for the links , apparently my axe is a canadian sager , would be curious to know how an old axe from canada made it to east tennessee .
 
I bought a Sager from Canada that was labeled Sager in a rectangle and no date or chemical process words. That is all I know about it other than it seems as high quality as my other Sagers.
 
I;ve got a Sager also, given to me by a retiring forester in 1991. Like yours, mine only has SAGER in bold letters on the head; parallel to the handle.

I've learned from this site that mine is the Reversible pattern. I re-handled mine after receiving it and made a leather head cover for it. It has become my favorite when we horsepack into the Bob Mardhall Wilderness. One side of the bit for trail-clearing work and the other side for firewood collection. Good steel.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies and info . Larry we have the same blade , mine also is a reversible , i plan on doing the same to mine . thanks again .
 
JC1971 said:
Thanks everyone for the replies and info . Larry we have the same blade , mine also is a reversible , i plan on doing the same to mine . thanks again .
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I've got one of those, too. Still sitting in my shop in the "to be hafted" pile. I'm guessing it was made after Collins came in but while they were still keeping the Sager name alive.

It's a very nice axe head, despite some ham-fisted goof sharpening it with a grinder. It'll file out...
 
Warren Axe and Tool made Sager axes and Sager Chemical axes, two different lines. The Sager Chemical axes are dated, the Sagers are not.
 
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