Puzzle of the day axe head ID

3

300Six

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Aug 29, 2013
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Steve Tall and a few others on here have been on a roll with routinely identifying otherwise obscure axes recently so I thought it opportune to throw this 'find' into the arena.
I found this crusty 5 1/4 lb head (the wood was rotted out inside the head, even) on a split-cedar 'snake rail' fence in eastern Ontario 30 years ago. Only because it had a visible stamp was it not left behind. Old and derelict farm properties are littered with unmarked rusty iron and steel implements, don't you know! But decades later I still know nothing about where this head might have come from or who made it.
5 + pounds is still a big axe by Ottawa Valley standards and this one was obviously was not used as a cedar rail splitting wedge in later life either unless the users politely wielded mallets.

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"There are four enterprising citizens engaged in the manufacture and importation of chairs, cabinet work and general upholstery; besides a number of establishments who supply these and the public with wood turning, sashes, blinds, and other articles of luxury and necessity. Ashburnham boasts of two axe factories, that of Mr PJ Ayres, and Mr G Story, which contribute largely to supply the demand for these indispensible implements. There are also several Cooper's shops, both in town and county, which represent a most important branch of industry, and in which a large amount of capital is invested."


from A sketch of the early settlement and subsequent progress of the town of Peterborough, and of each township in the county of Peterborough, by Thomas W. Poole, Published 1867

books




https://archive.org/stream/sketchpeterboro00pooluoft#page/n5/mode/2up

http://www.mocavo.com/A-Sketch-of-the-Early-Settlement-and-Subsequent-Progress-of-the-Town-of-Peterborough-Canada/950149/117
 
More information on the provenance (or pedigree?) of this axe. The "G" stands for George, as listed in the county directory, published in 1869 (looks like his last name was misspelled). By 1869, the town of Ashburnham had only one axe maker:

Storey, George, axe-maker, Driscoll Terrace [in Ashburnham]


ASHBURNHAM.

An incorporated village, situated in the township of Otonabee, on
The river of the same name, which separates it from Peterborough,,
the county town, was first settled by the Rev. Samuel Amour
in 1826 or '27, and for some time thereafter it was the rival of
Peterborough, but finally the latter place got the lead of it, and
since then it has formed, correctly speaking, merely a suburb of
the county seat. It was formerly known as the Scotch Village,
which name was changed to East Peterborough, but in 1857 or '58,
it was incorporated under its present name. The first store was
opened by Mr. A. Wark in 1833 or '34, and the post-office was
established on the first of January, 1859 — Mr. R. E). Rogers, the
present Reeve, being the first and present postmaster. On account
of its close proximity to Peterborough, it contains no church edifice ;
but there is a fine brick school-house, which was erected in 1864,
at the cost of nearly SI, 700 ; also a town hall — a frame building,
erected in 1834 or '35, 'at the cost of some $800, and more recently
a company drill-shed of the same material, built in 1867, costing
about $850. The civil societies are represented by two Orange
Lodges, Nos. 49 and 457, while the military spirit is shown by one
volunteer company, No. 4 (57th battalion), under the command of
Captain James Z. Rogers. The manufacturing interests are repre-
sented by one combined foundry and machine shop, one flour and
grist mill, one sawmill, one woollen mill, one flax mill, one sash
and door factory, one axe factory, one turning factory, one tan-
nery, one brewery, and the usual number of tradesmen. The mer-
cantile representatives are one general store and several groceries ;
two hotels, &c. Daily mail. Population about 1,100.


from
COUNTY OF PETERBOROUGH DIRECTORY FOR 1870-71,
PRICE, TWO DOLLARS
PUBLISHED AND COMPILED BY J. C. CONNER.
PRINTED BY HUNTER, ROSE & CO., 86 KING STREET WEST.
1869. [page 16]

https://archive.org/stream/countyofpeterbor00connuoft#page/16/mode/2up
 
Holy cow Steve Tall, you certainly are 'top drawer' in this! Thank you very much! So George Story and his 3 employees were in the business making axes for all of 7 years well away from any industrial area (ie Ottawa-Hull or Toronto, Hamilton), and making about 1500 (would this be heads or axes?) per year (30 per week/5-6 per day). Likely there aren't too many of these still kicking around. Peterborough is about 120 miles west of Dwyer Hill (now become part of City of Ottawa) where I found this so it never did travel very far in it's life.
 
Aside from a curiousity vinegar soak I've never touched this head with grinder, wire wheel, sander etc only because the rust pitting is so obvious. I always figured anything I did with this 'door stop' (that's what my buddies call it) would only detract from the museum or historical value/interest. However now that it's providence is known (Peterborough 1864-1871) I am more prepared to 'hang a number on it' and desecrate whatever little collector value it has in the more general interests of being able to compare 1860s small town blacksmith technology with that of current manufacture.
 
I tried (and failed) to find another Story axe shown somewhere, anywhere, on the interweb. I'm guessing it's an extremely rare surviving example, since it was made in a 3-man shop during a short period in the 1800s.

The village of Ashburnham (once called "East Peterborough"), where the axe was made, now seems to be part of Peterborough itself. In this section of Peterborough, at "Ashburnham Memorial Park", is located the Peterborough Museum & Archives.

This museum has "an eclectic collection of tools and equipment... [including] an extensive collection of 19th century woodworking tools and canoe and boat building tools used by Edmund Barrie, owner of Barrie Boat Works in Peterborough." The linked page gives contact information for the curator of this museum, who could probably tell you more about how rare this axe might be.

http://www.peterboroughmuseumandarchives.ca/Collections/artifactcollections.htm

They might be especially interested in this 150-year-old axe made almost literally in their backyard.
[Edited to add: I just checked google maps, and they say it's an 11-minute walk from that museum to Driscoll Terrace, where George Story lived.]
 
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I will contact these people. Typically they (small museums) only accept donations and were something like this then merely to languish on a shelf or in a drawer in a back room then maybe it would be better off to find someone enthusiastic that is willing to give the old girl a real workout to compare old VS new.
I'm presuming this will be a classic wrought iron head with a steel blade insert. I will take a few more pictures; The shape of the eye is unusual as is the shape of the head and it features a pronounced centreline which is not something common to Canadian (geez this head might have been made just before Confederation in 1867) axes.
 
Peterborough Ontario was once home to WESTCLOX who supplied the world with durable alarm clocks (both of my Baby Bens from the 1960s still keep time and ring) and was also home of Outboard Marine Corp. which made Pioneer chainsaws, Johnson outboards and Lawnboy mowers. Their large factories occupied quite a few city blocks during the post war heyday.
 
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Here's a question for anybody/everybody: is there a reliable way to discern between wrought iron and steel? My fridge magnets stick to this old head.
 
I've spent more time inspecting this 150 year old head, this afternoon, than I ever have during the past 30 years. Here are comparison shots with a 4 1/2 lb classic-Canadian Walters from Hull, Quebec that once belonged to my neighbour who was born in 1918. Chances are he bought this in Ottawa during the late 40s-early 50s because I remember it being too heavy for me as a young teenager in the mid 1960s. Notice how different the shapes are. The Walters has relatively flat cheeks but the Story has very convex cheeks, a pronounced wedge profile and is very thin at the eye. Having watched video of the various drop hammer forgings of Swedish axes and a 1960s Stevens of Maine film I can only imagine that it required a very talented smith to have made a Story axe. I can also surmise that this particular head was made solely to be an efficient wood splitter and not at all a felling axe.

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300Six said:
I can also surmise that this particular head was made solely to be an efficient wood splitter and not at all a felling axe.

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Click to expand...


Help me understand how you came to that conclusion.

Cool old axe. I bet a cleanup would really showcase that center ridge. That high center would certainly throw the chips during bucking or felling.
 
Gidday Square_Peg. I grew up using a Swedish export axe (my dad was a cheapskate when shopping for tools) and in commercial business wielded a German Iltis Canadian axe for 25 years. These have flat cheeks and never put me at any disadvantage for limbing and felling. When I was youthful energetic and enthusiastic with Dept. of Lands & Forests in 1970 I could beaver through big spruces, pines and poplars (ie diameters over 12 inches) faster than anybody using gov't Walters axes. These were also not particularly convex-cheeked. The real secret was in sharpening of the blade, accuracy of the strikes and a slight sideways prying motion at the end of a blow. The era of felling larger hardwood and softwood trees has long since passed (was mid 1970s for me!) because a chainsaw is so much easier, faster and able to direct a tree's fall path more precisely.

If we take wedge shape and high center to the extreme for being desirable for throwing chips then a maul ought to be perfect for felling! To me cutting and splitting are two entirely different critters. If there are no nibbles or expressions of interest (Peterborough Museum isn't even aware of there having been an axe foundry in Ashburnham) then I might just play Phoenix on this oldie and try to follow in COTS's footsteps. One of my first retirement projects is to install a wood stove to augment the gas heating of my house and I'll bet the G. Story (besides being a heck of a conversation piece) is a very efficient wood splitter. But I'll be darned to want to spiff it up shaving sharp thinking to step back in time and want to drop trees with it.
 
I see what you mean. I agree that it will make a good splitter. But I don't think a high center line is a negative for bucking or felling either. Rather it's a positive. Flat cheeks stick in the cut when bucking.
 
Square_peg said:
I see what you mean. I agree that it will make a good splitter. But I don't think a high center line is a negative for bucking or felling either. Rather it's a positive. Flat cheeks stick in the cut when bucking.
Click to expand...

I like my stuff to cut cleanly when asked of it (and sharpen those appropriately) and a thick cheek wedge-shaped blade, no matter how sharp, is going to waste loads of energy on doing things that don't involve cutting/slicing. The user has to decide where he/she's headed in this scenario. I distinguish between choppers and splitters and the only hybrid I will tolerate is a Pulaski, solely because they're 'handier than a pocket in a shirt' when you don't know what you're in for, you're miles away from home, it's cold and miserable, and where the tent is pitched is uncomfortably rough.
 
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