New, and my collection!

[Twoinch]

Hello fellas, i have lurked on the site on and off for some time, and have used it many times for obscure info that i struggled to find in other ways.. you guys have a great resource and collection of information between you all. i appreciate it much.

i decided to throw up my collection, i figured some of you guys would get a kick out of some of them. nothing too super fancy, but a work in progress! every single ax has been re-hung on fresh handles, some Seymour Links, some old OP Links, some Bakers, some Craftsman(Link)

here is my first. a permabond Plumb 3.5lb michigan. this ax has the hardest bit of any ax i have put a file to. holds edge very well, as long as nothing hard is hit. nearly flat thin cheeks. penetrates very well but sticks depending on wood type. hung on a straight haft, about 34"OAL


next is a Plumb (connecticut?) 3.5lb 5" bit, fairly hard bit, holds edge very well. very nice profile with a high center. hung on a straight haft, 34" OAL


here is a "Fulton No. 4" with the #4 very faint and hard to make out, actually not positive its a 4 or only a 4. it has a decently hard bit, holds an edge well. decent profile with slightly high center. hung on a fawn foot of about 35" OAL


here is an unmarked ax i found in a local antique shop. it has a decently hard bit, and holds an edge pretty well. a hair over 4lbs and a large 5" bit. connecticut? wide dayton? has what appears to have once been a triangle mark, that has since pitted out. fairly high center. hung on a beautiful, slim, fawn foot of about 34" OAL



more to come...

 

[Twoinch]

on we go...

next is the Woodslasher 3.5lb. decently hard bit holds an edge pretty well. hung on a Baker haft that i slimmed down considerably with a cabinet scraper(very handy by the way) OAL of about 35"


then the cruiser. unmarked, about 2.75lbs with a true cruiser eye. hung on an OP Link cruiser handle with an OAL of about 26". holds a good edge and has decently hard bits. sharpens easily.


then the Plumb boys ax. holds a superb edge and is pretty hard, good high center profile. hung on a Seymour Link haft that has been slimmed and shaped a whole bunch. OAL of about 27"


here is one of the most recent, a Vaughn boys ax. nice hard bit, holds an edge very well. hung on a Seymour Link Haft, but needed no slimming or shaping. hung slightly open, and the bit needs a bit of reshaping, but the profile is good with a high center line. OAL of about 26.75"

 

[digitalurbancamo]

WOW! What an introduction. Fine collection you have there.

 

[Twoinch]

this is a hatchet i found at a local shop. it has beveled cheeks, one side says PAT APR 17 00, and the other side says "______ TOOL CO CAST STEEL ST. LOUIS MO. had to do a ton of work on the cheeks, as someone had put about a 45* bevel. so it still has a steep profile, but is functional.



here is another local find, a GTW hatchet that is poorly hung(by me) on a craftsman haft. holds a good edge.


here is a hewing hatchet that my ol' lady found half buried next to a tree in the woods way back at the edge of the property. this head is beyond saving. had no remnants of a haft, so i stuck it on a Craftsman boys ax handle that i had laying around that apparently was made with a hatchet sized eye for some reason. local sears had a number of these boys handles with the hatchet eye. didnt notice until i got home, as i was paying more attention to grain and straightness and trusted that the eye was properly turned. it wasnt... this ax is a wall hanger in the house.


here is a group shot

 

[SC T100]

Very nice! Thanks for posting up each and the impressions you have for each. What treatment did you use for the handles?

And I'm also jealous of your Plumb boy's axe. I've been looking for something similar, and I found an unstamped Plumb (I knew because it had permabond on the head), but I'm hoping to find one with a nice mark.

Those all seem like great axes. That Plumb CT is awesome!

Oooh...edit. That hewing hatchet might be salvageable with a vinegar soak or a wire brush cup on an angle grinder. Is it cracked or otherwise shot? it sort of looks fine (just rusty) from the pic!

 

[Steve Tall]

Welcome to the forum. That's a nice assortment of axes, my favorite's the Plumb Connecticut on the straight haft.

...it has beveled cheeks, one side says PAT APR 17 00, and the other side says "______ TOOL CO CAST STEEL ST. LOUIS MO...

The patent date led to this:

Publication number US647609 A
Publication date Apr 17, 1900
Filing date Mar 2, 1898
Inventor: Fred T Powell, of Jamestown, NY

"My invention relates to the construction of axes, and has for its object to provide an ax which will offer a minimum resistance to entering the wood in the act of chopping, together with a minimum or resistance in removing the art from the wood when chopping; and my invention consists in forming the blade of the an with a wedge-shaped edge merging into concave surfaces, between which is interposed a ridge running approximately through the center of the ax...

It will readily be understood that the merging of the wedge-shaped edge into concave facets on the side of the ax will greatly facilitate the entry of the ax into wood owing to the fact that the wood after being severed and after the wedge-shaped portion of the edge has passed through it will not come in contact or,- if at all, into but light contact with the concave facets, and it is also obvious that the existence of the ridges along the center of the blade of the ax will have the effect of breaking the chips, the more so on account of the concavity of the adjacent surfaces, and with the result of weakening the frictional hold which the severed portion of the wood would otherwise have upon the ax-blade and which would make it difficult to withdraw it."

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US647609.pdf

 

[Twoinch]

Very nice! Thanks for posting up each and the impressions you have for each. What treatment did you use for the handles?

And I'm also jealous of your Plumb boy's axe. I've been looking for something similar, and I found an unstamped Plumb (I knew because it had permabond on the head), but I'm hoping to find one with a nice mark.

Those all seem like great axes. That Plumb CT is awesome!

Oooh...edit. That hewing hatchet might be salvageable with a vinegar soak or a wire brush cup on an angle grinder. Is it cracked or otherwise shot? it sort of looks fine (just rusty) from the pic!

a couple of them have BLO and have spent some time outside in the sun and heat, which darkened the grain slightly. the others, that are more "colorful" with the very dark contrasting grain are all danish oils, which is one of either boiled linseed or tung oil, mixed somewhere near one part oil, one part mineral spirits, and one part varnish resins. i used to use BLO, but switch to mostly danish oils of different darkness. mostly use medium or dark walnut colors, to get the look you see in the pictures. i let the wood soak up what it will soak up, then i let them sit for about an hour with a heavy coat on. then i come out and wipe ALL the excess off. i let them sit for a few days and chack on them periodically and wipe them down to get any of the oils that seep back out off. once they settle after a day or two, they get the beeswax

from my research, danish oil provides more protection from weather and moisture than straight BLO, and have read many recommendations of using on hardwood tool handles. i must say, that i feel very little difference in performance in use when it comes to my hands compared to BLO, but definitely like the look of it much more.

as for the hewing hatchet head, it is what i call "cancerous rust" as the bit end, where it was underground for decades, has started to "flake" and separate in large chunks. in theory, i could grind off about a half inch back into the bit, and get into good steel. but that would also take a serious amount of material removal from every surface of the ax to get into a working condition. i much prefer to keep it in as found condition, and keep its character. it is SEVERELY pitted, and would take tons of time with a flap disc.

as for the vinegar and wirewheel, its well beyond that. but i do use vinegar frequently on ax projects, and many other tools. i generally try to take the rust off, and grind off the mushrooming, but leave most of the patina intact, while polishing the bit and cheeks. many of the axes in these pictures were in fairly rough shape before i got them to where they are now.

edit - after reviewing the picture of the hewing hatchet, the picture does not give full perspective of how bad of shape its in. it does look salvageable from the picture. maybe i can throw up a couple more angles of it soon to show it better.

 

[Twoinch]

Welcome to the forum. That's a nice assortment of axes, my favorite's the Plumb Connecticut on the straight haft.



The patent date led to this:

Publication number US647609 A
Publication date Apr 17, 1900
Filing date Mar 2, 1898
Inventor: Fred T Powell, of Jamestown, NY

thanks for the interest, that Plumb connecticut is also my favorite of all i have. im not positive it is a connecticut or not, but i thought it was when i first saw it. it has the "best" profile (imo) of all i own, and handles wood as well as any i have used.

as for the patent, i have spent a significant amount of time looking for info on that little hatchet, and that patent info was about all i could find. i mostly spent time searching for an ax or tool company out of St. Louis, as thats really the only other identifiable info i have about it, and came up empty. can not find another hatchet similar online anywhere. whats the luck that every single word on the ax is legible, EXCEPT the first word in the name of the company, which obviously is pretty much always the most important word... so if anyone out there recognizes this hatchet or has info on what it is, id love to hear about it.

 

[A Visitor]

Nice collection. I like the original patent drawing also Steve. If I found a axe with a rounded heel/ toe, I would have suspected damage or excessive grinding.

 

[Steve Tall]

..."______ TOOL CO CAST STEEL ST. LOUIS MO...

There evidently were some old auction listings that said:
"Vintage Bridge Tool Co Cast Steel Hatchet St Louis Mo"
and
"Vintage older 2 1 2 Lb Bridge Tool cast steel St Louis broadaxe axe hatchet"

Another source says that "Bridge Tool was a second line of the Shapleigh Hardware Company
of St. Louis (later owners of the Keen Kutter line)." --Old Tool Archive

 

[Twoinch]

thanks steve

i never came across a bridge tool co, the best i could do was a "mound city" tool co IIRC and shapleigh.

i bet thats it!