What did you rehang today?

[Yankee Josh]

I split this one up in two posts.
When filing my TBA axe by E&S I found in front of the eye on the bottom what looks like a weld blob. Not really sure why it's there or what it is but here's a pic of it;

So I removed enough of it to be out of the way and cleaned rust off the inside of the eye;

This haft came on a Craftsman vanadium axe but I don't think was original for that axe. It'd been left out in the rain and then subsequently the sun and was really dry! Here it is sucking up the blo and turning that beautiful color.

Love how dark it turned out. Here's just a couple of it hung;

I've since finished it and just have to upload pics and put the post together.

 

[Yankee Josh]

Here's the Emerson Stevens made Talbot, Brooks and Ayer axe. Marked 2-1/2lb and weighs 2-8.8oz and made in 1956.
Right before final hang;

I was determined to use this helve for this axe. Even though at the very bottom terminus of the eye there wasn't enough shoulder to fill it out. You can see here where the contact at the bottom runs out towards the back;

However up inside the back there is contact.

So while it doesn't look perfect from the bottom it is a reasonably tight hang.

Love those yellow birch wedges! It slid forward on me a little while driving it home. I may add a sliver in the back there just so it's completely full.

Being a boys axe I intend it to be used for limbing, light splitting, general duties etc. So I filed a 25° low slope radial grind to give it a good tough edge. It's razor sharp!

If you zoom in you can see the diamonds and what used to be TBA in them.

This pic is of the haft. The last word is "hickory" but I can't for the life of me figure out what the first word is! Anybody recognize it?

It's pouring here now so no chopping for me this afternoon. I did stick it in a paper birch this morning for a photo. Can't wait to really use it! Take care guys!

 

[jake pogg]

Great hang,Josh,i imagine this axe a real joy to swing,right on!

Whence do you think this void come from-

Love those yellow birch wedges! It slid forward on me a little while driving it home. I may add a sliver in the back there just so it's completely full.

-do you think it's the shape of the eye,or the handle that caused that?
(the reason i ask is not that your hang is is Any way faulty but that i'm often wondering about assorted issues with drifting/otherwise shaping of the eye and how it may affect the hang...).

 

[Yankee Josh]

Great hang,Josh,i imagine this axe a real joy to swing,right on!

Whence do you think this void come from-

-do you think it's the shape of the eye,or the handle that caused that?
(the reason i ask is not that your hang is is Any way faulty but that i'm often wondering about assorted issues with drifting/otherwise shaping of the eye and how it may affect the hang...).

Thank you! It does feel superb to swing!. The 28" haft is a teensy bit longer than I wanted but it's just fine.
The wedge siding forward is caused imo because there's often more room in the front of the eye. So they just naturally drive forward as they go down. I've counteracted this before by smashing on the front part of the wedge with a slightly backwards direction to the strike.
It may sound silly but I get pretty excited towards the end of the hang and am focused on other parts of the process and, at least for the last two hangs, neglected to pay attention to the wedge coming forward.
It's so crucial for the eye to be totally full that it's an ignorant oversight on my part.
You must have come to the same conclusion about the wedges?
Edit; all that writing and I didn't really answer your question! Lol. I think it's the tongue, not the eye. If one was to carefully shape the tongue to have an equally spaced gap all around the eye it would drive straight down.

 

[DB_Cruiser]

The Elwell has landed! Work has been demanding these past couple of months. But with a few days off I was able to finish putting this Tassie together. I paired it with a Hoffman 32" haft. There wasn't anything decent locally, so I decided I'd give one a try. It is a nice piece of wood. I had to take a lot off the tongue in order to get it into the eye. Anyway, not a perfect hang, but it is a personal best. It'll be a user, so good enough will do.

After a BLO soak and wipedown. There's a small gap on either side of the wedge at the front of the eye. The walnut wedge is a nice touch.

Yeah... This will do fine!

Now I'll move on to the leather phase of this project.

 

[junkenstien]

Thats awesome. Is it the same Hoffman that makes axes that you got the handle from?

 

[DB_Cruiser]

Yes, it is. They carry them at BladeHQ. I did not buy direct from Hoffman, though perhaps I should have. About 3x what I normally spend on a haft, but easily 3x the quality too.

 

[Yankee Josh]

The Elwell has landed! Work has been demanding these past couple of months. But with a few days off I was able to finish putting this Tassie together. I paired it with a Hoffman 32" haft. There wasn't anything decent locally, so I decided I'd give one a try. It is a nice piece of wood. I had to take a lot off the tongue in order to get it into the eye. Anyway, not a perfect hang, but it is a personal best. It'll be a user, so good enough will do.

After a BLO soak and wipedown. There's a small gap on either side of the wedge at the front of the eye. The walnut wedge is a nice touch.

Yeah... This will do fine!

Now I'll move on to the leather phase of this project.

Beautiful axe and beautiful hang! That grain is the epitome of perfect. The pair complements each other nicely. It's hard to move past connies or tassies for looks in my opinion. Jerseys look real good too but there's something about axes like yours... Nicely done Mr. DB_cruiser!

 

[Agent_H]

Well, that is a nicely executed Elwell!

About what time range did Elwell make an axe in that pattern?

 

[DB_Cruiser]

Beautiful axe and beautiful hang! That grain is the epitome of perfect. The pair complements each other nicely. It's hard to move past connies or tassies for looks in my opinion. Jerseys look real good too but there's something about axes like yours... Nicely done Mr. DB_cruiser!

Thank you! And I agree. Connies and Tassies just do something for me as well. Funny I found a Tassie before acquiring a Connie, given my location on this Earth.

Well, that is a nicely executed Elwell!

About what time range did Elwell make an axe in that pattern?

I am curious about this too. I haven't found anything specific regarding this. I find information (internet info - grain of salt required) that the forge in Wednesbury (which itself seems to have a longer history) was purchased in 1831 by Edward Elwell and operated for around 100 years. It merged with Chillington Tool Company around 1930 and was later acquired by Spear and Jackson. It seems many tools were still stamped with the Elwell name well after 1930. I have not been able to find any information about when they made this pattern and I have no idea how old or young my example might be.

 

[Yankee Josh]

Here's the craftsman connie all finished.

I did file quite a bit off the bit and poll but it still weighs #3-8oz. Stamped 32.
Good contact everywhere. I seated it down farther after this photo so it's down about another 1/4".

These N.O.S. S&N hafts don't have very large palm swells but they are somehow not hard to hold onto just the same. Maybe after several hours of chopping I'd feel differently!

There's only a couple rings that are continuous on this one. But it's all good and I bet it'll be fine barring some over strikes.

Can any of you refresh my memory as to what F1 denotes?

This steel felt weird under my files. Almost crunchy if that makes any sense. It is of a fair hardness though. Just felt odd.

Anyhow we're getting ready for 6"-10" of snow here on the Maine coast. I've got a bunch to do! Thanks for looking guys!

 

[FLINT77]

looks great! good luck with the snow!

 

[DB_Cruiser]

Nice job! I like how you have worked the shape of the haft where it meets the eye of the head.
I think we picked up about 6 inches of snow here over night. Gotta go dig out so I can get to work, but 6 inches is easy to move. Hope your morning dig-out goes easy for you!

 

[Miller '72]

Its Saturday!

4½lbs
28½"
Vaughan Connecticut

 

[Square_peg]

Wow! Beauty. You just don't see Vaughan Connies.

 

[crbnSteeladdict]

Its Saturday!

4½lbs
28½"
Vaughan Connecticut

Can you take side by side picture of Vaughan, Dunlap, Mann Connies? (not sure if you have a Craftsman one) Thanks

 

[Miller '72]

Can you take side by side picture of Vaughan, Dunlap, Mann Connies? (not sure if you have a Craftsman one) Thanks

Left to Right...
Knot Klipper, Dunlap, Vaughan, Craftsman, Mann Edge Tool Co.

 

[crbnSteeladdict]

Left to Right...
Knot Klipper, Dunlap, Vaughan, Craftsman, Mann Edge Tool Co.

Sweet!! Thanks a lot. Can you spot straight line electric weld near the Vaughan's eye? It might be my brain trying to bend reality and see a line that's not there.

 

[Miller '72]

Sweet!! Thanks a lot. Can you spot straight line electric weld line near the Voughan's eye? It might be my brain trying to bend reality and see a line that's not there.

I had not noticed any kind of weld lines and i have been handling it a bunch the last couple weeks.
Where or which picture do you possibly see something? I will gladly take a closer look, just for my own peace of mind.
Thanks

 

[Yankee Josh]

I hung the Kelly Perfect this morning.

Used another S&N haft. But I didn't sand the varnish nor the lathe marks out of this one. By leaving it the way it was I didn't reduce the size of the swell thereby making it a better helve.

After filing this weighs #3-4.6oz. It's got a real keen edge on it... I hung another axe today too but didn't finish it till after dark. Hopefully I can take pics tomorrow and post it up. Have a good one guys!