Swedish army axe and hawk

upnorth

upnorth

Joined
Nov 25, 2006
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I was in Lee Valley today and saw a display at the counter. A Swedish made army hatchet and axe pair, $55.00 up here. The guy at the counter said that the set is for sale across North America. I would have bit but I have more than enough of these tools already.
 
Thank you. Lee Valley Tools is more and more interested in marketing 'seemingly top quality' stuff these days. Len Lee was the founder in the late 70s and Robin is the son that took over the business about 10 years ago. Leonard Lee was a distracted senior civil servant (but hugely savvy) tool collector purist and (I presume) his son is infinitely less so and more inclined to consumer Capitalism. Swede steel, on the other hand, has always been top drawer no matter how it's presented or marketed.
 
300Six said:
Lee Valley Tools is more and more interested in marketing 'seemingly top quality' stuff these days.
.....Leonard Lee was a distracted senior civil servant (but hugely savvy) tool collector purist and (I presume) his son is infinitely less so and more inclined to consumer Capitalism.
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That seems to be the norm for retailers these days. That's why we're all looking for vintage tools. Wall Street has ruined all the good tool makers.
 
i have a Sweedish hatchet with rather soft steel. iirc it is marked SAW. bought it at an antique mall for $3.00 and re-profiled the shape to loos some of the fat at the chin.

buzz
 
cityofthesouth said:
For $55 and looking back at EdmontonAxe's post about them, yeah I'd just order a nice old axe online.
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The problem is paying 30 or 50 or even $80 to ship the old axes online up to Canada.

Good little hatchet. Unusual and bombproof heavy axe. Seems they have decent steel and they do have good handles. I don't have any regrets at $49.50.


300Six said:
Thank you. Lee Valley Tools is more and more interested in marketing 'seemingly top quality' stuff these days. Len Lee was the founder in the late 70s and Robin is the son that took over the business about 10 years ago. Leonard Lee was a distracted senior civil servant (but hugely savvy) tool collector purist and (I presume) his son is infinitely less so and more inclined to consumer Capitalism. Swede steel, on the other hand, has always been top drawer no matter how it's presented or marketed.
Click to expand...

I've spent thousands over the years at Lee Valley, with very few regrets. The do make and sell top notch tools and hardware and are usually my first stop before big box stores.
 
300Six said:
Thank you. Lee Valley Tools is more and more interested in marketing 'seemingly top quality' stuff these days. Len Lee was the founder in the late 70s and Robin is the son that took over the business about 10 years ago. Leonard Lee was a distracted senior civil servant (but hugely savvy) tool collector purist and (I presume) his son is infinitely less so and more inclined to consumer Capitalism. Swede steel, on the other hand, has always been top drawer no matter how it's presented or marketed.
Click to expand...

And thank you for the background, it was interesting.
 
EdmontonAxe said:
The problem is paying 30 or 50 or even $80 to ship the old axes online up to Canada.

Good little hatchet. Unusual and bombproof heavy axe. Seems they have decent steel and they do have good handles. I don't have any regrets at $49.50.




I've spent thousands over the years at Lee Valley, with very few regrets. The do make and sell top notch tools and hardware and are usually my first stop before big box stores.
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Jeez, now I kind of wish that I'd grabbed a set, lol. If my axe skills/knowledge matched my desire/lust, I'd be a natural born lumberjack by now. :p
 
Don't get me wrong; Leonard Lee is a personal hero of mine and is/was 'the' consummate appreciator of finely made classic tools and after quitting his handsome pension government job did his darndest to resurrect interest in them and promote new production of lost art pieces. And then also try to make money in the process. As with all niche products Lee Valley Tools wound up catering to 'naive-wealthy Yuppies' more so than to tool purists, and garden tools and all manner of 'best made' trinkets and baubles more and more so emerged in their catalogues. But that doesn't mean that Len Lee did the classic axe crowd a disservice, if anything we owe the man a sincere thanks of gratitude.
 
I ordered the set a few weeks ago. Ax was made in '86 IIRC, don't recall other markings now. Haven't used them, ax is short, handles need some work but for me they seemed like a good deal at around $30 each.

When I hunt for classic stuff these days it seems most have been bought up and being resold at a rather steep mark up. Going to a 43 mile long yard sale tomorrow so maybe my luck will change :-)
 
Lee Valley tools are pretty well respected among woodworkers. I've been happy with all that I have purchased from them. I don't consider myself a "naive-wealthy Yuppie," but I do appreciate quality tools. As far as the rest of the stuff in their catalogs, I don't have much experience with it, but if it was something I liked I'd certainly consider ordering it from them.
 
300Six said:
Don't get me wrong; Leonard Lee is a personal hero of mine and is/was 'the' consummate appreciator of finely made classic tools and after quitting his handsome pension government job did his darndest to resurrect interest in them and promote new production of lost art pieces. And then also try to make money in the process. As with all niche products Lee Valley Tools wound up catering to 'naive-wealthy Yuppies' more so than to tool purists, and garden tools and all manner of 'best made' trinkets and baubles more and more so emerged in their catalogues. But that doesn't mean that Len Lee did the classic axe crowd a disservice, if anything we owe the man a sincere thanks of gratitude.
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Interesting. I grabbed a couple of the paper catalogues on the way out. I had zero idea that L.V. carried such a huge and varied stock. They carry some really interesting gear at reasonable prices and good quality, but some of the items do indeed lean toward the Yuppie crowd. The Yuppie comment was Deja vu as I said the same thing to my wife today.
 
popedandy said:
Lee Valley tools are pretty well respected among woodworkers. I've been happy with all that I have purchased from them. I don't consider myself a "naive-wealthy Yuppie," but I do appreciate quality tools. As far as the rest of the stuff in their catalogs, I don't have much experience with it, but if it was something I liked I'd certainly consider ordering it from them.
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If I could have taken the hatchet by itself, I would have gone home with one. The axe didn't interest me as much. I'm getting older and carrying around a Mastodon club doesn't appeal to me.
 
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