NOS Double Bit

[nickzdon]

Just got this guy a few days ago. New Old Stock. Never used. It's the most I've ever spent on an axe by a wide margin. It's also my first that I don't intend on hanging. I'm usually a sucker for the cheap ugly ducklings but I found it hard to pass this one up. Blew my axe budget for then next couple months, at least.

You can see where the paper label used to be. No idea on a manufacturer. It has a '5' lb stamp, which is heavy for a double bit, at least it's the heaviest I've got. There's also a 'CAST STEEL' stamp, and another unidentifiable stamp on the same side. It will take some sleuthing (or maybe a miracle) to determine a manufacturer.

Also I don't have a photo of it, but the profile on this puppy is really great. They really knew how to make 'em back in the day!

 

[screened porch]

That's a beauty. It would be nice to know when the "cast steel" stamping started and stopped. I wonder if B Levine would know.

 

[Operator1975]

Witherell

 

[trailmaker]

That's a beauty, thanks for the pics.

 

[screened porch]

That's a beauty. It would be nice to know when the "cast steel" stamping started and stopped. I wonder if B Levine would know.

I looked it up in my old Levine- cast steel was usual in better knives from 1800-1920, and ceased to be commercially made around 1940. That doesn't tell us when axes started using it, or how long it was useful to advertise its use. But I'd guess that your axe is older than 1940, for what that's worth.