Western/Pacific Axes

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hemphill9

Joined
Apr 1, 2019
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Hi all

I'm looking for a unique wedding present for my brother and I want to make him a camping axe/boy's axe with an old ("vintage") head.

Anyway I thought since he is a Pac NW/rocky mountain guy, it would be cool to get him something made from a company to that region. I figure with the logging industry out there they had to be making some axes.

Question for the board: are there any historical Western or Pacific axe makers? And if so, anybody have any leads on a 2ish pound axe head for me to buy?
 
There aren't any PNW manufacturers that I know of, but there are PNW brands I've seen. Some of them are Stiletto, Clean Cut, I think Forest King, and I'm sure someone else will come up with more. Maybe get him a PNW-style axe, such as a Puget Sound pattern double bit.
 
There were almost no makers on the west coast (only small scale). But there were several large hardware stores that had axes made for them by the big East Coast axe houses. Some of these had local stamps. Most prominent among these was 'Stiletto', sold by the Baker & Hamilton. Many of these were made by Kelly/True Temper and are very high quality. I don't believe I've ever seen a Stiletto boys axe. But plenty of full size axes and hatchets. They contracted to supply many industries so it's not unusual to find a Stiletto that also has a railroad stamp or P.G&E. stamp.
 
If I were to guess based on numbers I’ve found in more or less that size, maybe a nicer oval Craftsman hatchet/boys axe, marked/stickered Woodslasher, or even a no name cruiser axe with the ridges in the eye.

Swamping pattern full-size axes were plentiful here at one point but those are larger than you are thinking.

Coast to Coast was a hardware name in my hometown but was from the Midwest¿?. It was our main hardware store on the coast and growing up lots of households had axes marked with their name. I don’t know how difficult one of those might be to find now though.

Zenith Marshall Wells is another brand that seemed to have a name here in the past but I can’t really say it’s PNW.
 
I have a book called, "Early Logging Tools" that has a photo of a CECO marked Puget Sound felling axe that is cited as being from the "Clyde Equipment Company" out of Portland, OR. circa 1920's. I haven't looked hard for references to the company other than I think there was a Clyde log skidder available. Never seen anything smaller like you are interested in with that marking though. That and it could have been made by one of the larger names at the time for them.
 
There are several North West hardware stores that had awesome brands of axes. Like Seattle Hardware with the Occident or Schwabachers’ Colonial brand. There was also Honeyman’s Hardware out of Portland (I think) with the Forest king, etc.

All incredible axes but also incredibly hard to find.

I think the idea of a Puget Sound Falling Axe is a great idea!
 
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Agent_H said:
Swamping pattern full-size axes were plentiful here at one point but those are larger than you are thinking
Click to expand...

I know swamping pattern were a delimbing pattern, but were they a popular felling axe as well? I ask because I'm working on a Gransfor Bruk 3 3/4 # right now.

Ray
 
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A17 said:
There aren't any PNW manufacturers that I know of, but there are PNW brands I've seen. Some of them are Stiletto, Clean Cut, I think Forest King, and I'm sure someone else will come up with more. Maybe get him a PNW-style axe, such as a Puget Sound pattern double bit.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I looked up that pattern and I like the idea (double bit symbolizing him & wife joining as one and working together to complement the other -- deep) plus they live on the Puget Sound right now. However I had in mind something that he could more easily toss in his car or strap to a backpack to take with him out camping - a double bit head on a long handle doesn't seem to fit with that.

I will check for those brands and see what I can find. I have less than 2 months to complete this start to finish so I might be limited to go with what I can find on ebay in the next week or so.
 
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Fmont said:
Yar, a Puget Sound on a ~42" would be pretty cool.
Click to expand...
Yikes, that would be a big handle, dude is only 5'9 or so.
Square_peg said:
There were almost no makers on the west coast (only small scale). But there were several large hardware stores that had axes made for them by the big East Coast axe houses. Some of these had local stamps. Most prominent among these was 'Stiletto', sold by the Baker & Hamilton. Many of these were made by Kelly/True Temper and are very high quality. I don't believe I've ever seen a Stiletto boys axe. But plenty of full size axes and hatchets. They contracted to supply many industries so it's not unusual to find a Stiletto that also has a railroad stamp or P.G&E. stamp.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I think something like that would fit the bill, a western brand like A17 said rather than western-made. Still cool!

Agent_H said:
If I were to guess based on numbers I’ve found in more or less that size, maybe a nicer oval Craftsman hatchet/boys axe, marked/stickered Woodslasher, or even a no name cruiser axe with the ridges in the eye.

Swamping pattern full-size axes were plentiful here at one point but those are larger than you are thinking.

Coast to Coast was a hardware name in my hometown but was from the Midwest¿?. It was our main hardware store on the coast and growing up lots of households had axes marked with their name. I don’t know how difficult one of those might be to find now though.

Zenith Marshall Wells is another brand that seemed to have a name here in the past but I can’t really say it’s PNW.
Click to expand...
Thanks man, names to look for

Yankee Josh said:
Fred E Barnett was a west coast distributor. I posted the one I have just the other day in the "blueing" thread.
Click to expand...
:thumbsup:
Agent_H said:
I have a book called, "Early Logging Tools" that has a photo of a CECO marked Puget Sound felling axe that is cited as being from the "Clyde Equipment Company" out of Portland, OR. circa 1920's. I haven't looked hard for references to the company other than I think there was a Clyde log skidder available. Never seen anything smaller like you are interested in with that marking though. That and it could have been made by one of the larger names at the time for them.
Click to expand...
Gotta love old books
ithinkverydeeply said:
There are several North West hardware stores that had awesome brands of axes. Like Seattle Hardware with the Occident or Schwabachers’ Colonial brand. There was also Honeyman’s Hardware out of Portland (I think) with the Forest king, etc.

All incredible axes but also incredibly hard to find.

I think the idea of a Puget Sound Falling Axe is a great idea!
Click to expand...
Thanks dude
 
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Just find a good vintage boys axe and restore that for him. It's an axe he'll actually use and love. It would be nice if it could be a NW brand but that's not likely to happen. Find a Plumb or a Flint Edge with a good long toe and square poll and be thankful.
 
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