Picked this little rascal up at an estate sale last week..... It appears the head is 2 pieces placed together.... It also looks like cast iron... Any help with identifying this would be much appreciated.
I'll take a guess that it may be either a steel closed die head with the eye punched out. Or it could be a cast steel. Cast iron was not used much due to the brittleness. I don't think a cast iron axe would keep an edge unless a hardened steel bit was fitted in the business end. A casting sprue circle on the head could put it towards cast iron. The second picture shows a rough texture like a cast iron pan. It is a real nice looking piece. It looks like it was hardly used. No mushrooming on the end. I'll lean towards steel though. A spark test could be done on it, but I think it is too nice to wear off some metal for that. I do have limited knowledge of metal, just enough to be slightly dangerous.
Thanks for the insights Jon!! I did pick up another hatchet head by C. Hammond Phla that was stamped "CAST STEEL" so maybe this is, as you suspect. Spark test? What is that? I know nothing about steels, only carbon and stainless.....
Taking the piece of metal and touching it to a grinding wheel. It should spark in a particular pattern if it is a ferrous metal. The pattern should indicate what you have.
I would guess cast steel too. Someone that welds or works with steel could probably tap it with a hammer and tell you if it is iron or steel by the thunk. Kinda like green/seasoned wood. The rough surface may be easier to mold. I've seen cast aluminum pieces that were like two bowls put together to make a housing and the outside was smooth but the inside was rough/pebbled like that.
