Octagon handles history thread

Brent Halverson said:
A chapter in axe history everyone is interested in. A thread specifically for this type of handle with photos of original old examples and period literature scans.
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So far 36% of those posting have actually said something about the stated subject of the thread instead of talking about their favorite subject, themselves, or something unrelated. No surprise at all, but maybe a record high for this forum, thank-you and congratulations. I have just "unwatched" my own thread.
 
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TexBen said:
Just joined. Found this thread doing a Google search on axe handles.
Just saying hi.
I tried posting a photo of the octagon axe I have using two different image hosting services but neither worked.
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Try posting pics to Imgur then use the URL's they provide to post them here.
 
Brent Halverson said:
A chapter in axe history everyone is interested in. A thread specifically for this type of handle with photos of original old examples and period literature scans.

I was introduced to octagon cross-section handles a few decades ago when I picked up an old double-bit the widow of it's original owner had stuck between wall joists at a garage sale. In the following years of picking up many dozens of axes and hatchets only locally and in "the wild", I found that old examples of octagon-handled axes were very scarce compared to the common oval cross-section handles. My guess is that getting the octagon shape into the handle requires more expense and may not be something that can be mass-produced with common handle lathes and manufacturing methods post WWII, so they died out along with cheap labor in the baby-boom era.

The most common octagon handles back in the "old days" around and before WWII are the straight handles usually put onto double-bit axes;

https://imgur.com/a/B68wHPy

Although I have found "S" form handles with an octagon shape such as on this 1930s Craftsman hatchet, so both straight and "S" form handles were known and existed in the old days.;

https://imgur.com/DdOr0Ov

https://imgur.com/DcZsBVc

https://imgur.com/nfQTF1c

https://imgur.com/lg4Lr4Y

My hope is to add some old literature scans and more photos of original examples in the near future.
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I just got into Blacksmithing and rehanging axes and old hammers scrounged from flea markets and I have to say that I fell in love with the octagonal handle shape so I started fashioning my handles with flats for easy indexing.
 
rjdankert said:
HANDLES
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ca 1910
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archive.org

Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co. : Catalog : 1910 : Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

1908 p., illus., 26.7 cm, trade catalog
archive.org



Bob
 
This Hartwell Grey Gorge actually rides in my tool bucket. It's not doing it any good, but I love the suction grip haft.
I remember these hafts from my youth because they were pretty common on ball pen hammers.





Anyone know who made Hartwell's hammers and axes?
 
These are probably my oldest surviving octagon hafts, late 1800's early 1900's perhaps.

Both of these are Y&P in light and medium. The haft on the light appears to have been whitewashed, badly twisted at this point.

It's worth noting that the haft on medium is notably thicker than on the light, they didn't miss a trick back then and today manufactures are making rigging axes with no nail notch.

The octagon continues down lower on the light so just the very grip is oval.

I wonder if these were made octagon on a belt sander just like they are today?





 
garry3 said:
Anyone know who made Hartwell's hammers and axes?
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S

Post in thread 'History on Hartwell Grey Gorge Puget sound pattern double bit?'

Grey Gorge axes are from the Hartwell Company of Memphis. The following source says that Hartwell was primarily a handle maker, and Hartwell's axe heads (and hammer heads) were sourced from Warren Axe & Tool.

http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101117/m1/294/

[Off topic, the link also gives an interesting history of the Cedar Pattern axe, and its Texas origins.]

from a previous thread, found by searching for Hartwell
www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1210513-Grey-Gorge-or-Forge-axe-head


Bob
 
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