need some help with this-unidentified axe(perhaps swedish)

K

kgf

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Jul 16, 2015
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hi everyone,i havent had a chance to look around the forum yet,this is my first post,so please excuse me if its been answered elsewhere.
i recently found an axe head which i had to rehandle.i've done that but im still trying to find some info on it,ive been looking online for a few days now with no luck.
anyway,i hope someone has seen this before or has some idea to what it is.
i bought this head for 20 euros(thats like 21-22$) and the guy that gave it to me told me its swedish.im not sure about that cause although there are some markings on it,i dont see crowns anywhere and i cant match it with known swedish makers.so...i dont know...lol

the markings are KB41 and theres some markings as well that look like exclamatiion marks? (!) thats how i can best describe it.
please look at the pictures.

my thanks in advance to anyone who bothers to answer:)


 
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I think the marks that look like exclamation points were made by a vice. I suspect it could be German, but that's just a hunch.
 
ha! i havent thought of that! about the vice i mean:thumbup: thank you!
funny you should say that,cause ive been thinking that myself for some reason.that it may be german i mean.
the reason im not sure is the KB41 marking and the fact that there are swedish models with that same mark.
now the guy that sold it to me,he had both for sale.he had this one which i got and the swdish army axe head as well.(with the three crowns).
the guy said that this one is also swedish but instead of the army,its a model that was used by lumberjacks.

he seemed prety sure,but im not:D
still:D
 
fair enough,thanks for the answer:)
i havent thought of russia at all,but i guess it could be.
i just finished rehandling it today so i havent used it yet.im prety sure its gonna be good but i'll find out this weekend for sure.:)
 
actualy now that the vice explanation was mentioned,i notice that there are similar marks on the other side of it,so im prety sure thats what it is.
theres only two of them but they are there,so that definately makes sense.thank you very much Curt:thumbup:
 
thats very helpful rjdankert! thank you! so the number stands for year.(if its in fact swedish that is)the shape is different but that could be consistent with what the guy told me about its intended use.
im not sure tho.
but at least its something to go with:)
unless ofcourse it was reshaped at some point...
i dont think so cause it looks old but i guess its possible...
 
KB = Kolefors Bruk ?

Perhaps it's from Kölefors Bruk (in Sweden) instead of the theory of it coming from Kimo Bruk (in Finland).

According to this discussion on Finnish axe history, Kimo ironworks was established in the early 1700s, but by the late 1800s, "only Billnäs, Kellokoski-Mariefors and Strömfors remained [in Finland] as main manufacturers of axes."
http://northernwildernesskills.blogspot.com/2013/08/all-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about.html

The history page at the Gransfors site mentions an axe factory at Kölefors being one of the most well-known axe forges in Sweden at the end of the 19th century.

An example of an axe marked "Kölefors Bruk":

102446-19fb744577ed43ea85bb99efa6f1cd89.jpeg
 
hmm...the plot thickens:D
thanks for the reply:thumbup:
thats interesting,but that would mean that the marking KB41 is just a coincidence?
also,i think mine is in too good a condition to be that old.

unless im missing something:confused:
 
Forum member aikonen is 'up' on these and if I recall also got hold of a KB41 recently. It is possible that your's has been reshaped sometime during the past 70 years?

The 'exclamation marks' are easy to explain: jaws of a vice. Axe eyes are soft and folks often clamp them too tight while trying to remove a broken haft and/or fit a new one.
 
thanks for the reply!yeah i guess that could be the case,that could explain the vice marks at least.
i have some doubts about whether anyone would go through the trouble of doing that here,and the guy i got it from getting his hands on it,but i guess its possible.
the thing is that i dont see grind marks on that side, so if someone did it,they would have to have done it by hammering(ennealing it etc).
then again i dont see hammer marks either...
i dont know.in any case,im curious to see how it chops:)
 
It's very likely that yours have been reshaped by someone, possibly with a hacksaw and some files, but I could be totally wrong. I have never seen an axe of that style with the markings KB41, that's why I believe someone reshaped it. It's swedish, that's for sure, but the maker is unknown to me. Kölefors Bruk is a good guess. Thank you Steve for the info!



IMG_0742_zps0chjq0si.jpg
 
thanks for your input!yeah im starting to believe too that it was reshaped at some point.its weird that it ended up here tho and that guy got his hands on it.
whoever reshaped it did a good job too,it doesent look bad:D
ill post another picture of it once i finish its blade cover.

thanks everybody for your help!:thumbup:
 
aikonen said:
It's very likely that yours have been reshaped by someone, possibly with a hacksaw and some files, but I could be totally wrong.
Click to expand...


I think you nailed it. Looks like an axe butcher got to that one. There's a lot of people butchering axes these days. If it's a POS axe then who cares? But I hate to see a good axe get massacred.
 
Square_peg said:
Looks like an axe butcher got to that one.
Click to expand...
lol yeah i guess someone did:D.i dont mind it tho.i like the shape and its a good axe,so...
anyway,i finished the blade cover and cold blue'd the head.just needs a couple more passes.
it didnt turn out too bad i think.
i just need to try it out now.cant wait:)

edit:i forgot to mention,i think the wood is olive.i believe it is anyway cause i got that smell when i was sanding it.
i couldnt find hikory here,but the olive should do.its very tough wood.the wedge i made from a piece of oregon pine i had lying around and i also put that metal ring-wedge thing down the middle.(cant remember what its called now...)


 
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