New Puget Sound patterns

S

Square_peg

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Last week I won an auction on the bay for 3 Puget Sound pattern axes. The one in the middle was listed as a 1938 Sager Chemical Axe with a CCC stamp (Civilian Conservation Corps). The other two were unknown commodities. Living in the Puget Sound region myself and not owning a Puget Sound pattern axe I was keen on getting these.

372B606FEE424F91B5CCEBAEAFA651EE.jpg



Well they arrived today and I started cleaning up the two unknowns. The rust bucket on the right with the taped up handle turned out to be a Kelly-Charleston. I found no markings on the 3rd axe but it's still a good axe. Here's the Kelly.

Kelly_1.JPG



The stamp isn't deep and it didn't show up through all the rust. But after a little work with a brass wire cup on an angle grinder the stamp is pretty clear.

Kelly_2.jpg


I'm pretty happy with the trio. This definitely rearranges my to-do list. Gotta hang one of these Puget Sound axes.
 
To date I havent seen anyone actually use a Puget to drop a tree (apart from real old footage). You oughtta go find a nice big tree and notch it with a Puget and document it =D
 
G-pig said:
To date I havent seen anyone actually use a Puget to drop a tree (apart from real old footage). You oughtta go find a nice big tree and notch it with a Puget and document it =D
Click to expand...

Great idea! I like your style, G.
 
Never knew those existed, and growing up in Tacoma and being around the Puget Sound I am happy to see those. Now I have a axe to start looking for. Id like to know if there was a manufacturer in the Puget Sound that began this pattern? Nice find.
 
BobSig said:
Never knew those existed, and growing up in Tacoma and being around the Puget Sound I am happy to see those. Now I have a axe to start looking for. Id like to know if there was a manufacturer in the Puget Sound that began this pattern? Nice find.
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If you find one, you'll also need to find a springboard for it...Just kidding. But can you,imagine swinging a Puget Sound with a 44" haft, standing on a springboard? Those guys sure knew what they were doing.

[URL=http://s810.photobucket.com/albums/zz21/doubleott/?action=view&current=axe_to_grind.gif][/URL]
 
G-pig said:
To date I havent seen anyone actually use a Puget to drop a tree (apart from real old footage). You oughtta go find a nice big tree and notch it with a Puget and document it =D
Click to expand...

Ya know, I've got a couple of 'Pugets' myself (a Zenith...MW and a Kelly TT), but never have dropped a tree with one either. I got them more for an addition to my collection. Now maybe it's time to use one... Where are those damn redwoods :D

See pegs... I told you you 'needed' a puget sound felling axe ;)
 
Square_peg said:
That's a fine looking axe, Tom. It hardly looks used. Where did you get it?
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Peg, I have never seen a Puget Sound pattern around here, North Central WI and the U.P. MI. So that one came from Ebay. It was a steal at around $35.00 + shipping. It was covered in rust, but it had sharp square bits and it didn't appear to be pitted under the rust. I lucked out and it cleaned up nicely. It has a 36" haft and I want to order a 44" octagon for it someday.
 
You know what, I think I got one of these in the garage, finding was easier than I thought, well if I can find it. I pulled it out of the trash when a builder/friend emptied his huge shop, throwing a lot of stuff in one of those big semi truck trash cans. He said there were a lot of hammers, axes, pics in the bottom. I started digging, but he loaded large debris on top with his front loader. It was a sad day. But I found that axe


Double Ott said:
If you find one, you'll also need to find a springboard for it...Just kidding. But can you,imagine swinging a Puget Sound with a 44" haft, standing on a springboard? Those guys sure knew what they were doing.

[URL=http://s810.photobucket.com/albums/zz21/doubleott/?action=view¤t=axe_to_grind.gif][/URL]
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Just looked at steves post, looks like a fun time, for about an hour. I just realized a few days ago what the notches were for looking at some old logging pics, some mighty trees were dropped back then.

Steve Tall said:
fallerswithlargetree.jpg


On the linked page below is a photo of a logger on a springboard chopping with what must be a Puget Sound pattern. The haft is surely more than 40 inches, and he is choking up on the handle for cutting the near side of the notch. And what a notch it is.

http://books.google.com/books?id=E0LT0kiKVx0C&lpg=PA53&ots=ECNHt3cPgp&dq=puget%20sound%20axe%20springboard&pg=PA53#v=onepage&q=puget%20sound%20axe%20springboard&f=false
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Thanks for sharing.
 
Steve Tall said:
On the linked page below is a photo of a logger on a springboard chopping with what must be a Puget Sound pattern. The haft is surely more than 40 inches, and he is choking up on the handle for cutting the near side of the notch. And what a notch it is.

http://books.google.com/books?id=E0LT0kiKVx0C&lpg=PA53&ots=ECNHt3cPgp&dq=puget%20sound%20axe%20springboard&pg=PA53#v=onepage&q=puget%20sound%20axe%20springboard&f=false
Click to expand...


Thanks for that, Steve. Now the long handles make sense. I see stumps of trees like that all the time. Many still show the springboard notches. But I never really considered what it would take to notch one. An axe with longer reach would mean you wouldn't have to move the board so often. Our NW Doug Firs are pretty hard stuff so I can understand why they used the narrow bits.
 
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