TrueTemper "HAND MADE" Puget Sound axe ?

L

lightsoutcalls

Joined
Apr 9, 2013
Messages
36
Sorry I didn't get a picture...

I ran across an odd (to me) double bit axe at an antique mall on my lunch break. It was a double bit axe that was just over a foot from bit to bit and looked most like a "Puget Sound" pattern. It was marked True Temper Hand Made. I didn't have my reading glasses, but may have had other text below this. I have never seen one of these around here (Western Arkansas) and was curious how common/old/valuable they might be. Looked like it would clean up well and had only a few small dings on the bit edges, primarily surface rust, no heavy pitting. The handle had several cracks below the head, but was still intact. They had it marked $37 and have everything 25% off today. I couldn't make myself bite not knowing if it was a decent deal.
 
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I've been collecting Kellys for awhile. The only Kelly that I know of that is 12" across from bit to bit would be a Puget Sound pattern.
I would consider a good price at $37 for the head alone.

If you don't think it is a Puget Sound, you'll have to post pictures.

Tom
 
Whether you're planning to use it or merely clean it up to hang on the wall $20 is chump change for an authentic piece of history. No Puget Sounds ever made it out this way into the eastern hardwood forest. Pictures are nice so that folks on here can better comment on the collectibility and usability of the head too.
You're gonna want to be careful; resurrecting (and learning to use) old tools is addictive.
 
Condition is everything. It does not sound like a bad deal though. The TT hand made in a puget sound pattern, should be worth a little.
 
My Kelly Puget Sound...

KellyBeforeAfterwirecupbrush012.jpg


[URL=http://s810.photobucket.com/user/doubleott/media/Puget%20Sound%20Kelly/KellyBeforeAfterwirecupbrush003.jpg.html][/URL]

Tom
 
Here are pics of the axe at the antique shop. Does it look like it's worth buying, and is it a Puget Sound head?

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20141222_135252-250x187.jpg

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There is actually still red paint down in the stamped letters. It reads:

True Temper
Hand Made
Kelly Works

The handle is a beater 36" handle that is cracked and chipped. The eye of the axe looks good top and bottom. No marks visible as far as dings/cracks. There are several small chips in one bit (last pic) that look like they would grind out pretty easily.
 
That's beautiful Double Ott. A PS is definitely something I want to add to my collection.

The one shown in the pics certainly looks like a Puget sound to me Lightsout.
 
lightsoutcalls said:
Here are pics of the axe at the antique shop. Does it look like it's worth buying, and is it a Puget Sound head?
Click to expand...

It's a Puget Sound falling axe. If you have to ask whether it's worth it then it probably isn't worth it to you. I stated before that at 25% off of $37 I would buy it. After seeing the photos I fell the same way. If you have several other PS axes then you might want to pass on this one.
 
I don't have one, and hadn't seen one prior to this. I may pick it up and put it back as a project for another day. It would likely end up as a wall hanger. That said, I read in another thread that traditionally they had a 44" handle. I'm guessing that would be the best way to display one.
 
lightsoutcalls said:
... I read in another thread that traditionally they had a 44" handle. I'm guessing that would be the best way to display one.
Click to expand...

House Handle has 40" and 44" handles that looks a lot like a double-bit axe handle, for what's called a "Fletcher Mattock". The eye size is 3/4" x 2-3/4" [almost the same as their Double Bit Axe handle that's 3/4" x 3" ]. I'm curious about how well they could be adapted to a Puget Sound felling axe.

fletcherMattock5840.jpg

.
 
Square_peg said:
It's a Puget Sound falling axe. If you have to ask whether it's worth it then it probably isn't worth it to you. I stated before that at 25% off of $37 I would buy it. After seeing the photos I fell the same way. If you have several other PS axes then you might want to pass on this one.
Click to expand...

Quick hijack...I've always wondered why the PS axes have such long, thin bits. I'm sure many of you know, so could anyone enlighten me? It just seems like that bit would bite deep but stick.
 
I have that axe head, and also a 42 in handle, so they are out there. $37 for a puget in good shape is a deal, especially if there is no shipping.
 
SC T100 said:
Quick hijack...I've always wondered why the PS axes have such long, thin bits. I'm sure many of you know, so could anyone enlighten me? It just seems like that bit would bite deep but stick.
Click to expand...

They don't stick because they have nicely convexed cheeks. Allan Klenman, author of 'Axe Makers of North America', suggests that the longer bits were for "allowing more accuracy and reach", this while standing atop a springboard cutting into the giant old growth trees of the northwest. The oldest record of these axes is dated 1868 and came from the Washington Mill Co. of Seabeck, WA. It was for an order of PS falling axes placed with The Douglas Axe Co. It is surmised that Douglas was making those axes off a pattern sent to them by Washington Mill Co.

As to why the longer bit and not just a longer haft to get more reach - it might be that the long bit allowed strikes that would result in an overstrike with a shorter bitted axe. In other words, the feller could reach further around the curve of the trunk without damaging the haft. This is my own guess. This was the principle at play in the design of the railroad spike maul with its long hammer faces.
 
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