Okay...What do I have from Estwing
- Thread starter bobjones223
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I'm still trying to figure out what's going on with the end of the combination tool handle???????
Its a cats paw(nail puller) that is adjustable for depth. Might work very nice for pulling counter sunk nails in a piece of trim that you would want to re-use. Note the piece of steel that will cut wood fibers so that when you pull the nail you won't splinter the wood.
Very interesting.
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It doesn't look like it would grip a nail very well - perhaps the reason it didn't catch on.
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After thinking about this some more I'm going to reverse myself and say that this is a one-off made by Estwing rather some some later smith's modification of an Estwing hatchet. The tell tale sign is that little bit of extra steel at the corner where the blade meets the handle. That steel and the forging lines on it match the rest of the handle.
If this were just a hatchet that somebody modified then that steel couldn't be there. Estwing may not remember it but they made it and you have a rare find there.
If this were just a hatchet that somebody modified then that steel couldn't be there. Estwing may not remember it but they made it and you have a rare find there.
Kind of looks like someone ran a bead up the edge of the handle onto the blade. My vote is utilitarian folk art. Any number of metal workers could have pieced it together. It looks like the blade is a separate piece from the handle.
Factory 'one-offs' and experimentals do exist in many manufacture items and often wind up forgotten, tossed or sneaking home in somebody's lunch box during major clean-ups, renos or moves. I'd agree with square-peg, and yourself, that the rear junction between blade and shaft looks to be original and not at all aftermarket.
You'd think that something like this would have had more than one copy made solely for testing purposes. I don't know how much differential tempering Estwing ever did but a hard blade on a soft shaft might have been too problematic to manufacture.
Another thing to consider is that Estwing guarantees their tools (?) and would therefore be leery of admitting to having produced a few oddballs that never went into commercial production because of some design flaw, failure or defect.
You'd think that something like this would have had more than one copy made solely for testing purposes. I don't know how much differential tempering Estwing ever did but a hard blade on a soft shaft might have been too problematic to manufacture.
Another thing to consider is that Estwing guarantees their tools (?) and would therefore be leery of admitting to having produced a few oddballs that never went into commercial production because of some design flaw, failure or defect.
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Either way, I wish they made something like this! Slap a leather sheath on that puppy and it'd be a welcome addition to the homestead or backpack for all sorts of tasks. I like it a lot!
If it's a modified piece rather than in-house fabrication it's possible that the blade came off a pro-grade cleaver.
If it's a modified piece rather than in-house fabrication it's possible that the blade came off a pro-grade cleaver.
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Funny you mention that! It sits in my hunting bag for clearing shooting lanes, that is why I am here. I would hate to lose it then find out it was a one of a kind Estwing production. So the final question. Clean it up, oil it up, and put it away? Or keep cutting down tree with it??????
Much as I get a real kick out of seeing this unique Estwing it is not something I have any desire to own, even less so if were I expected to be a highest bidder. Keep 'er sharp, rust free and just enjoy it for what it is! And keep digging for answers. You might submit pictures of it to various tool and woodworker magazines to see if they'd run a byline on it. Somebody out there fabricated this thing and hopefully is still alive or one of their relatives knows something or someone else has an identical one kicking around.
not2sharp
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I would put that one away and replace it with a more common tool. There is little to be gain by beating on what is likely an uncommon production item or folk art, and I am sure that Estwing has another tool that works just as well and likely available with a factory sheath.
n2s
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Or have someone forge you a custom one! 