Some old axe handles

[gben]

Some old axes that are nothing special, but some of the handles are really nice examples of how nice they used to make them.

 

[Nbrackett]

I picked this one up this morning for that exact reason.

 

[Square_peg]

Some old axes that are nothing special, but some of the handles are really nice examples of how nice they used to make them.

Those are some nice handles!

The 2nd axe was blessed with lousy grain. As a result the axe has hardly been used. It's a keeper for sure.

The first axe was cursed with an excellent handle and shows the wear accordingly.

 

[gben]

I picked this one up this morning for that exact reason.

Those are some nice handles!

Nbrackett, every old handle is a treasure because it can be used as a document and pattern to make or modify new handles to.

Square_peg, The top axe has it's handle polished from use, it had a long useful life at one time, I found it in a damp basement of an old house that will probably be torn down in the near future. The second axe belongs to an old guy who is in his 90s, the handle is split and I told him I would try to repair it for him, I doubt he will ever swing it again, but maybe he just wants it laying around. The third axe looks like the head had many years of use but the handle is not oxidized or that old looking, but it still has a good shape compared to many new handles. The fourth axe came out of the same basement as the first one, and it's secret is that the handle is not all the way into the head, and has never had a wedge put in it, so it looks like someone bought a handle, stuck it into the head and never finished installing it or using it. So it is actually a new/old handle.

 

[Ernest DuBois]

The 2nd axe was blessed with lousy grain.

The grain on that one is fine, someone just chose to ignore it when giving it the form.

 

[gben]

And old axe handle that looks like it had little or no use. It looks like someone installed it on an axe-head and then cut or broke it off. Or maybe they botched the installation and threw it on the scrap-pile in a basement I found it laying on. Neat label, and maybe it could still be shaped to fit some style of axe head.

 

[A17]

Hudson bay handle?

 

[FLINT77]

http://hickoryhandle.blogspot.com/2013/08/handle-manufacturer-of-past_10.html?m=1

 

[Steve Tall]

Indian Fire brand handles are mentioned (at the bottom-right side of Page 1) in the 1965 catalog found on that page that FLINT77 linked:

https://archive.org/details/SequatchieHandles/page/n1