Plumb Hatchet....question about era.

D

Drum4fun

Joined
Mar 21, 2018
Messages
371
Sirs,

I picked this hatchet up today. Sports the PLUMB (in
rectangle) logo. No other obvious markings (have not
cleaned up). It has a "screw in" wedge (1920-43 ?).. The
butt of the handle has an imprinted 2962. I referenced Yesteryear ,
but, not sure I'm interpreting correctly as this is my first
PLUMB hatchet. This tool is in pretty good shape.... without
committing sacrilege I wonder (not sure of / if any "rarity")
what the consensus on re-conditioning would be ? To my
untrained eye / hand... good balance, nice heft, wants to move
forward. Other questions...is this a Philadelphia original (circa 1920
logo) ? (I was hoping for a WWII era piece). Is this the style handle
that would have been used originally ? The head has about 1/4"- 1/2"
inferior to superior movement. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.

Charles
https://imgur.com/a/dG7wp
 
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1922 to 1943 has so far been established to be the era of Plumb 'take-up' wedges. Private individuals may have retrofitted these into older (or newer) hangs, and Plumb may have continued using these on some of their hammers (such as yours) for a few years beyond giving up on that system for fitting axes. Your handle still shows evidence of the OEM Plumb 'tested hickory' sticker. In around 1955 Plumb began to set most of their hafts in epoxy.
 
300six... thank you very much for the reply.... I removed some scotch tape stickers the owner
had on the handle. Any thoughts on re-furbishing ? Is it possible / advisable to tighten via the
take up wedge ? (fear cracking the handle)...or soak in linseed oil ?
Amazing...could be 75- 98 years old range. Thank you.
Charles
 
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Follow-up before and after.....

disclaimer.... I lack the skills of almost all here on the
forum seem to hold.

My goal was to take this rusty $5.00 Plumb hatchet and
put it back in to serviceable condition. The blade edge had
one significant "chinger" that I had to file out. I think it cleaned
up nicely. Not sure what the target edge sharpness should be.
Removing the oxidation seems to have exposed the Hammond.
I linseed oiled the handle and oiled the blade.

Any critique humbly accepted.
Charles
https://imgur.com/a/FOQxo
 
What you've accomplished looks beautiful and will be useful to you, and equally important postponed the 'old girl' from suffering through the ignomy of becoming some part of an econo-box car, fridge, stove, or soup can. Throughout much of their existence Plumb Industries prided itself at making "first class" implements and you've actually got one from that era.
 
Thank you 300Six...you nailed it.... a personal motivator was a
reprieve from the re-cycle. The added benefit of owning a small
piece of vintage foundry history is icing on the cake. And, i enjoyed
the process. No shelf sitter here... it will be used. Thanks again.

(side note .... my great-grandfather was a "moulder" in a foundry in
Providence, Rhode Island... his "career" may have been related to a
premature passing from "softening of the brain". Well before OSHA).
Those foundry workers served hard time !

Charles
 
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