Steel Wedge Caps?

The ones i have used and come across have not been easy at all. I think that is the point because they won't compress or shrink. And having a full cap on it protects the tongue. This old Peavey double bit came with this one on it. It was horrible to remove! 15511571106976100106002603374439.jpg When I re-hung it on this haft I didn't remove enough around the outside of the tongue and i barely was able to smash it in there. This is probably the most secure hang i have because of it. I cannot even imagine how i would go about removing it. I would be interested to know who came up with the idea though. I know that some Snow&Neally axes came with them new. It was a long time ago though i don't know the time period.
 
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I have an old pre-1930 Black Raven with one. No telling for sure when it was put in but the wedge is also very old.

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I have a handful of the cap wedges, usually pulled from the older of the vintage American heads I have.
I have held onto them, they are part of the story.
There has been a thread or two discussing these I believe, or perhaps just discussions within threads.
 
I'm really not sure what benefit they were intended to confer, nor if they were effective in that intended role. Could be that it was simply intended to be easy to drive in with a large striking surface, no splitting during driving, and provided a tidy-looking finished result.
 
These are great images you have found and posted Agent_H Agent_H

Agent_H said:
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https://archive.org/details/SawyersWedgesPriceListNo14
Click to expand...

This style, the NO.2000 SAWILCO. This is the most recent style example I just removed a couple weeks back from a badly worn but beautiful boys head, Connecticut. Thanks to JB. As it is still a work in progress I will eventually post up photos when rehung.
I don't have pictures of the wedge but if I return home before nightfall I may be able to post a picture of what's left of it.
 
So was it seated so you could get something under the wedge to pry it out easier than a normal wedge?

The variety in shapes is really interesting. I've seen some, not others.
 
Fmont said:
So was it seated so you could get something under the wedge to pry it out easier than a normal wedge?

The variety in shapes is really interesting. I've seen some, not others.
Click to expand...

It certainly made it easier with all that metal protruding to grab into and get under to start the Wedge Wiggle and then pull out. It was in there pretty good though. Sadly I didnt take any pictures of the head...as usual, I get motivated and just start into something.
 
I'm the same way about that. Interupts the natural workflow for me. I don't tend take photos in general, though.
 
Here's a couple interesting ones. I've got many dozens more but most are fairly basic. The middle one has the letter R in a box near the top. 20190226_220116.jpg
That small one is interesting. Just like the bottom row here.
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And the ones on right and left like these ones
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I know there's a thread somewhere about odd things that we've pulled out of axes. I've got a small tapered 3" masonry tool somewhere that i yanked out once. I think it's for smoothing mortar lines. I'll try to find it after work. Pretty interesting! Thanks for posting those pics Agent H.
 
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