Unusual "Kelly Perfect" axes

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Steve Tall

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Aug 28, 2010
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These were 4 new patterns of Kelly Perfect axes in 1892.
Countdown from 4 to 1:


4. Turpentine Axe (7 pounds, 14" length)

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This long and heavy axe would cut about 8" deep near the roots of the pine trees (for collecting turpentine).



3. California Axe (3 pounds)

Said to be used primarily in California for felling redwood trees; long and narrow to cut easily through thick bark. Its shape looks similar to the Puget Sound felling pattern, but it weighs only 3 pounds.

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2. Jersey Axe (2 pounds)

Said to be used primarily in coal mines of eastern Pennsylvania. Note the asymmetrical "phantom bevels", the one near the toe is longer and wider than the one near the heel.

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1. Asphaltum Axe (8 pounds)

Made for paving companies to cut up asphalt. Looks like it has a large eye, presumably for an extra-strong handle to cope with impacts.

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As described in an article from 1916, asphalt axes were used by road repair crews to trim the edges of a hole in the pavement, "leaving the sides of the cut vertical", before the patching material (a hot asphalt mixture) was applied.

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"New Patterns of the Kelly Perfect Axe"
The Iron Age, March 17, 1892, page 535

"Repairing Bituminous Pavements"
The American City, July 1916, page 60
 
Neat stuff! I wonder if pothole patching material today even remotely consists of 75% sand, 15% asphalt and 10% Portland cement? By my thinking that'd make black coloured topping cement of no particular use or benefit because it couldn't really set.
 
The Asphaltum almost looks like it could accept a pick axe handle, which could make sense due to the likelihood of handle impacts chewing it up. Makes knocking out the old handle and dropping a new one in easy. Or it could just be a big regular axe eye.
 
I watched an old 1940's California logging documentary somewhere, and axes like that were said to be perfect for the sequoia trees.
Being from California, something like that would be a cool piece of history.
 
300Six said:
Neat stuff! I wonder if pothole patching material today even remotely consists of 75% sand, 15% asphalt and 10% Portland cement? By my thinking that'd make black coloured topping cement of no particular use or benefit because it couldn't really set.
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Not even remotely. Usually made up of crushed aggregate in the 50% range being above and below 1/4" roughly, probably little to no natural sand and no cement. Unless you hire those guys that just come by from out of town in the summer to patch your drive way. Then its hard to say what you would get.
 
garry3 said:
Not even remotely. Usually made up of crushed aggregate in the 50% range being above and below 1/4" roughly, probably little to no natural sand and no cement. Unless you hire those guys that just come by from out of town in the summer to patch your drive way. Then its hard to say what you would get.
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Asphalt goes all to H in Canada where frost action extends below ground (4 1/2 feet down in Ottawa/Montreal without snow cover ie plowed roads) and maintaining frost heaved pavement is a sonovagun. Very few roads in the far North (Iqaluit, Yellowknife etc) are paved at all for that very reason. Municipalities have been mixing in shredded tires and all kinds of non rigid stuff to asphalt in hopes it won't let water in underneath, and then heave and crack, but nothing seems to work over the long run. Whatever they use for hot patching material is even less effective. But you can pretty much guarantee there isn't any Portland cement in any of these mixes. Concrete is a whole other game for making road surfaces and unfortunately winter time road salt can be counted on eroding those expanses in short order.
 
That novel coal mine Jersey seems to have been designed for constricted spaces where workers would have to strike more so with the front of a blade than the middle. Presumably by extending the toe the company got better mileage out of an axe before having to re profile or toss it. Air compressors and jack hammers would have spelled the demise of axes for chipping away at coal seams.
 
The long toe may have also been because it was intended for a short handle and so the set of the bit relative to the eye had to be more closed to have a good hang for the intended functional context.
 
300Six said:
Asphalt goes all to H in Canada where frost action extends below ground (4 1/2 feet down in Ottawa/Montreal without snow cover ie plowed roads) and maintaining frost heaved pavement is a sonovagun. Very few roads in the far North (Iqaluit, Yellowknife etc) are paved at all for that very reason. Municipalities have been mixing in shredded tires and all kinds of non rigid stuff to asphalt in hopes it won't let water in underneath, and then heave and crack, but nothing seems to work over the long run. Whatever they use for hot patching material is even less effective. But you can pretty much guarantee there isn't any Portland cement in any of these mixes. Concrete is a whole other game for making road surfaces and unfortunately winter time road salt can be counted on eroding those expanses in short order.
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Thankfully Idaho does not salt there roads. We use a liquid deicer called calcium chloride that is a form of salt but is less corrosive and doesn't harm vegetation. The trick is it must be applied before the storm. All one has to do is walk through a neighbor hood to see the effects of rock salt on concrete surfaces.
Ounce an asphalt surface has begun to deteriorate all fixes have proven to be nothing more than a band aid to buy a little time. Modern pavement has truly reached a science and everything that goes into it is tested in every way you could imagine and in some ways you couldn't. Even the asphalt binder is specially formulated for the weather conditions it is to be used in and tested at those temperatures using highly sophisticated equipment.
 
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