SC T100's Axe Projects (Pic Heavy)

Looks like a house axe. My guess would be a Cooper era Plumb - not too old. Try reprofiling with a Norton Tradesman Utility stone - the big handled stone. It's the one Bernie Wiesberger recommened here. The thing works pretty good and they're cheap.

House axe handles are still readily available. I find them at my local Do-It Center.
 
With epoxy in the eye and without a wedge (plus the proprietary coat of black paint) this certainly points to a possible 1955+ Plumb origin. The Swedes were into this (epoxy hangs) for awhile (1980s) but they generally stamped their stuff and their heads were blue or orange. Also I don't think the Swedes were ever into marketing 'house' axes.

I wouldn't be in any hurry to toss the head in the stove on broil or bake setting; have a go at making it sharp and giving it a good workout first.
 
Square_peg said:
Looks like a house axe. My guess would be a Cooper era Plumb - not too old. Try reprofiling with a Norton Tradesman Utility stone - the big handled stone. It's the one Bernie Wiesberger recommened here. The thing works pretty good and they're cheap.

House axe handles are still readily available. I find them at my local Do-It Center.
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I was wondering that, too, with the black paint. My Lansky is similar to that stone, which I may try when the Lansky wears out. Though I never need much encouragement to try new stones!
 
garry3 said:
Looks foreign to me. I also thought the eye was drifted off center?
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It's possible, but I think you're seeing the partially deformed eye. It looks fairly straight now after working some of that deformation back. I'll give it another look. We'll see how it does once I go to hang it.
 
300Six said:
With epoxy in the eye and without a wedge (plus the proprietary coat of black paint) this certainly points to a possible 1955+ Plumb origin. The Swedes were into this (epoxy hangs) for awhile (1980s) but they generally stamped their stuff and their heads were blue or orange. Also I don't think the Swedes were ever into marketing 'house' axes.

I wouldn't be in any hurry to toss the head in the stove on broil or bake setting; have a go at making it sharp and giving it a good workout first.
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I could be wrong, but I don't think the handle was original. It didn't fill the eye bit-to-poll, even at the bottom of the head. I think someone jammed a handle in there along with some black epoxy and called it good. It was harder to get out than I thought it would be considering how much space was in there!

I think your advice to get it sharp and find out how it does is good...that's what I'll do. If it chips badly right away I'll know it's a HT issue. I'm hoping it holds a great edge, because it so, it should be one of the best performing steels of my modest collection.
 
I have a boy's axe handle ready to go, but I like the idea of using a house axe handle. Now I just have to order one. It will be interesting to compare it to my GB SFA. Thanks for the feedback!
 
SC T100 said:
I have a boy's axe handle ready to go, but I like the idea of using a house axe handle. Now I just have to order one. It will be interesting to compare it to my GB SFA. Thanks for the feedback!
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The SFA has about a 1.5 lbs head so it will be a bit heavier. I set up a hatchet head on a 19" house axe handle from House Handles and the length and performance is pretty comparable to the SFA. The handle on the SFA somehow in use feels longer even though it really isn't. Still it's fun to compare and see how a home brew setup compares. Personally I perfer a bit more length on the handle, I find 19" to be sort of an awkward in between single hand vs two hand use. Your head should work well as a house axe, looking forward seeing how it turns out.

One trick I've used for dealing with hard bits is to rough up the surface with a course stone or grit. Then clean it off and go back to the file for a bit. I find that the file will start to skip again once the surface is smoothed out by the file. Alternating between the two is slow but for me at least seems to help. Just be sure to wipe the bit down with a damp cloth before using your file again so that you don't dull the file with the slurry from the stone.
 
SC T100 said:
I have a boy's axe handle ready to go, but I like the idea of using a house axe handle. Now I just have to order one. It will be interesting to compare it to my GB SFA. Thanks for the feedback!
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The house axe handle from House is for a full size eye. They also make a scout handle that is an inch shorter at 18". Many guys need to use two hands though and prefer a little longer handle to accommodate both hands though so maybe that extra inch is worth it.
 
Hacked said:
The SFA has about a 1.5 lbs head so it will be a bit heavier. I set up a hatchet head on a 19" house axe handle from House Handles and the length and performance is pretty comparable to the SFA. The handle on the SFA somehow in use feels longer even though it really isn't. Still it's fun to compare and see how a home brew setup compares. Personally I perfer a bit more length on the handle, I find 19" to be sort of an awkward in between single hand vs two hand use. Your head should work well as a house axe, looking forward seeing how it turns out.

One trick I've used for dealing with hard bits is to rough up the surface with a course stone or grit. Then clean it off and go back to the file for a bit. I find that the file will start to skip again once the surface is smoothed out by the file. Alternating between the two is slow but for me at least seems to help. Just be sure to wipe the bit down with a damp cloth before using your file again so that you don't dull the file with the slurry from the stone.
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I thought the GB was 1 .5lb head, too, but I just checked the website and they're listed at 2lbs. This should be a close comparison. Thanks for the other tips...we'll see how it goes. Beavertooth has some intereststing options as well.
 
SC T100 said:
I thought the GB was 1 .5lb head, too, but I just checked the website and they're listed at 2lbs. This should be a close comparison. Thanks for the other tips...we'll see how it goes. Beavertooth has some intereststing options as well.
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2 lbs is the total weight including the handle. Based on some of my other axes in that size range I would wager that it's actually closer to 1.25lbs. I say this because I have 1.25 lbs heads on 19" and 25" handles and both are 2 lbs on the head (Edit: correction the TT on the 19" handle is 1 lbs 14oz) just like the Gransfors Bruk SFA. The 19" handle is thick like the handle on the Gransfors and the 25" handle is thin and slender keeping the weight the same even with a 6" difference in length. So based on the ones I've personally put together I would guess under 1.5 lbs. The 1.5 lbs came from someone weighing the replacement handle for the SFA and deducting it from the total weight of the axe. If I ever end up taking mine apart I'll be sure to weigh it.

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Left to right, a TrueTemper Woodslasher 1.25 lbs on a 19" House Handle house axe handle, the Gransfors Bruk Small Forest Axe with a 19" handle, and a Bingham's XLCR 1.25 lbs hatchet on a 25" handle.

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Here is the TrueTemper with a 19" house axe handle overlapping the Gransfors Bruk Small Forest Axe and the Bingham's XLCR next to both.
 
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garry3 said:
Looks foreign to me. I also thought the eye was drifted off center?
Click to expand...

SC T100 said:
It's possible, but I think you're seeing the partially deformed eye. It looks fairly straight now after working some of that deformation back. I'll give it another look. We'll see how it does once I go to hang it.
Click to expand...

SC T100 said:
I could be wrong, but I don't think the handle was original.
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My Cooper era Plumb has a more well formed eye, almost as perfect as an old Plumb. I think you're right about that being a replacement handle. FWIW, I don't think it would hurt anything to give it an hour soak in a 450 degree oven. We don't know the metallurgy of that axe but almost any medium high carbon axe steel will be tempered at least that hot.
 
Thanks for the advice all. I've been tied up with life and illness lately, but hope to get this thing sharpened up soon. I'm debating between beavertooth and House on the handle I want to use. Decisions, decisions :)
 
Welp, thank PB...all my pic posts are shot. Never using them again. I'm shocked they didn't just start charging for future linking instead of obliterating forum posts all across the web. Slimy move. I'm wondering if they'll still be around after this.

Ah well...hopefully I can rebuild some, if not all, of my posts. I guess we'll see. Now time to find a new pic hosting site. The frontrunner seem to be Flickr, with a few other options. Time to investigate.
 
Yep...I have access and can download them. I won't lose any pics, as I only used PB for forum pic hosting. But holy moly will it be a tedious and time-consuming process to rebuild all of my pic posts. Both here and on other forums. I have deleted the account, which should go into effect in a day or so. If nothing else that should get rid of the stupid PB box in place of the pics.
 
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