PLEASE HELP!! PAULCO JAPAN hatchet head ???

[Hickory n steel]

Thanks for the images. I notice some things and I can speculate about some things for what that's worth. It's likely from the 60's or 70's as that's the time when Japanese forgings started showing up here in the states. Japanese-made mauls and wedges from that period are still commonly found here. The quality of those pieces tended to be equivalent to the lower end US made stuff - homeowner products rather than contractor grade products. Better than current import stuff and perfectly serviceable.

The finish of your hatchet looks pretty good. The die marks have all been polished off. The overall shape is good. The eye is well formed. It has a slight high centerline (convex bit) which is good. It does appear that the bit is slightly skewed to the right in your top down photo.

All in all it's a decent user. Hang it and enjoy it.

That's what I would say, it actually looks like it may be ok.
And my experience with my harbor freight hatchet has taught me that cheapo import stuff can be surprisingly serviceable sometimes.

 

[Jordan116]

Awesome post thanks a bunch I will hang and post up some pics appreciate all the help

Thanks for the images. I notice some things and I can speculate about some things for what that's worth. It's likely from the 60's or 70's as that's the time when Japanese forgings started showing up here in the states. Japanese-made mauls and wedges from that period are still commonly found here. The quality of those pieces tended to be equivalent to the lower end US made stuff - homeowner products rather than contractor grade products. Better than current import stuff and perfectly serviceable.

The finish of your hatchet looks pretty good. The die marks have all been polished off. The overall shape is good. The eye is well formed. It has a slight high centerline (convex bit) which is good. It does appear that the bit is slightly skewed to the right in your top down photo.

All in all it's a decent user. Hang it and enjoy it

 

[Miller '72]

Try one elwell connecticut pattern from England and you'll be amazed how much better they are then the american made ones

I will have to try getting my hands on an Elwell Connie myself.
I am thinking it's more CT than Dayton only because the level surface over the eye toward the pole from the upward angle to the bit.
I looked at a few Dayton pics and they seem to flare up at or toward the pole from the eye.

Either way I will be planting a seed in my wife's aunt's ear to watch the Flea markets back home (Merry England) when I pick her up at the airport Tuesday next.

Imagine a 73 year old English lady wondering the flea markets with her score of crystal or fine China in one hand and an axe in the other for her American nephew in law.
Stranger things...I will remain optimistic

 

[Hickory n steel]

I will have to try getting my hands on an Elwell Connie myself.
I am thinking it's more CT than Dayton only because the level surface over the eye toward the pole from the upward angle to the bit.
I looked at a few Dayton pics and they seem to flare up at or toward the pole from the eye.

Either way I will be planting a seed in my wife's aunt's ear to watch the Flea markets back home (Merry England) when I pick her up at the airport Tuesday next.

Imagine a 73 year old English lady wondering the flea markets with her score of crystal or fine China in one hand and an axe in the other for her American nephew in law.
Stranger things...I will remain optimistic

I think it's in between an Ohio and a Dayton, but I guess it doesn't matter too much.
Connie's are much broader with much more flare.

Btw in pictures they're drawn with a flare up at the poll fir some reason, but I've never actually seen one like this in catalog photos.
And modern day toons may flare up some at the toe, but not all and many old ones didn't much.
The standard council Dayton dies, but their classic Dayton ( could be one if their velvicuts ) doesn't appear to flare up much at the toe.

 

[Kevin Houtzager]

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[Miller '72]

I think it's in between an Ohio and a Dayton, but I guess it doesn't matter too much.
Connie's are much broader with much more flare.

Btw in pictures they're drawn with a flare up at the poll fir some reason, but I've never actually seen one like this in catalog photos.
And modern day toons may flare up some at the toe, but not all and many old ones didn't much.
The standard council Dayton dies, but their classic Dayton ( could be one if their velvicuts ) doesn't appear to flare up much at the toe.

That's something because I was considering it a cross between the CT, Dayton and Ohio.
That's good information I didn't and one cannot get from just the pics.
Thanks Hn'S

hahaha, that would Be awesome to See granny like that

She is one fantastic lady with a heart of gold.
If she ever did that or anything remotely close I will definitely get and post pics of her holding an axe or head pre shipping states side LOL!!!

 

[Hickory n steel]

hahaha, that would Be awesome to See granny like that

My grandmother picked me up 4 hammers from a yardsale a couple years ago, but told me she didn't find any axes while at the flea market that same day.
She did gind some Grandma type stuff though ( hippy stuff in this case )

 

[Miller '72]

My grandmother picked me up 4 hammers from a yardsale a couple years ago, but told me she didn't find any axes while at the flea market that same day.
She did gind some Grandma type stuff though ( hippy stuff in this case )

That's one cool grandma!!
Nothing wrong with a little hippie, we should all have a little hippie in each of us
Just a little.

I am hoping my mother in law brings back an axe or heads of axes and hatchets and hammers from Texas...one can hope

 

[Jordan116]

It does like quite bad in that photo I think it may be the photo angle I took another to show the blade is quite straight but also how off center the handle hole is to the blade is that correct to be like that or is this just really bad workmanship lol
https://postimg.org/image/1tlgbakyjf/

Thanks for the images. I notice some things and I can speculate about some things for what that's worth. It's likely from the 60's or 70's as that's the time when Japanese forgings started showing up here in the states. Japanese-made mauls and wedges from that period are still commonly found here. The quality of those pieces tended to be equivalent to the lower end US made stuff - homeowner products rather than contractor grade products. Better than current import stuff and perfectly serviceable.

The finish of your hatchet looks pretty good. The die marks have all been polished off. The overall shape is good. The eye is well formed. It has a slight high centerline (convex bit) which is good. It does appear that the bit is slightly skewed to the right in your top down photo.

All in all it's a decent user. Hang it and enjoy it.

 

[Kevin Houtzager]

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[300Six]

U verzoekt wij draaien:

I was wrong on the year though. Its 1943 stamped on the head. That an Elwell head, and American Hickory handle and Third Reich metal wedges. Came like that when I bought it, exept for a damaged edge, German olive drab paint all over the handle and bit, and a very loose handle. Had to cut it down a little so it would fit again. I actually fell in love with the handle. Not so much with the axe itself, until I removed the paint. Paint as thick as a 1/4" so all the lines where gone. Has a raised centre and all the bells and whistles yoy can think of. I found it in Germany, so what I think happend is that the it fell into the hands of the German's sometime during the war, And put it back together with spare parts laying around.

I found an old pick of both the wdges that came out from the front and the back. Markings date back to the third Reich:

As for affordability: Can't comment about that, but it's probably priced higher to begin with due to a higher Pound compared to the US Dollar. This isn't a military grade item though, but a highend one used for the homefront. Very thin handle that widens at the end.

Neat find! It's even got the British Ordnance mark on it! Perhaps the American Jeeps that were sent over weren't outfitted with axes or shovels. And Jerry was quick to scavenge usable stuff whenever they could. You can hide a lot of markings under a thick coat of paint.

 

[Hickory n steel]

As for measurements: about 6" cutting edge and weighing in somewhere at the 6 pound mark. But you probably mean the ratio of flare compared to the poll?

Google Connecticut pattern axe, Connie's are much broader.
They've got a real deep eye with lots of flare from poll to toe and poll to heel.
I don't own one, but I've seen enough pictures here and their shape is very distinctive.

 

[Kevin Houtzager]

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[Square_peg]

I'd call it a Dayton.

 

[Steve Tall]

I'd call it a Dayton.

Me too, although Elwell might have called it a "Yankee Pattern" felling axe, or an "American Pattern" felling axe, which is what another British manufacturer (Marples) called similar axes in their 1928 catalog (pages 33-34).
[It can be found online for downloading.]

 

[Square_peg]

The slightly raised toe could be a consession to European consumers who had been accustomed to high toes on common central European axes. It's still seen in most Ochsenkopf axes.

 

[Kevin Houtzager]

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[Kevin Houtzager]

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[300Six]

As for the history of Elwell:

https://thehistoryofwednesbury.wordpress.com/tag/edward-elwell/

No product catalog though!

Interesting. Doesn't indicate when Elwell ceased producing tools under their own name. The article suggests that Spear & Jackson took over the facilities in 1930, and yet you have an Elwell axe stamped 1943.

 

[Kevin Houtzager]

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