Thanks. They are all yard/estate sale finds. #10 I hang on the wall, the rest are in a box in the basement. I feel like rehoming them, if anyone is interested.
I’ve never had a short handle before just thought I would try something a little different. I reshaped the head a little bit. I’ll get a better pic tomorrow when I get home.
Midwinter, that is a very nice collection. If you are serious about re-homing, I would love to have the hewing axe in pic #5. I collect American and English tools from 1840 - 1940's, and that axe is very nice. I also could barter something made of wood or forged iron for it.
You can have it. The figuring is just on one side. I appreciate the barter offer, but it's not necessary. PM me, and we'll figure out how to get it to you. Flat rate shipping box would be a good deal.
Here it is in a nutshell from another thread. The second project has done a bit of traveling. If I have the story right, Eric VWhad a Collins felling axe head that he cut in two and showed it to walt for advice on making a pickaroon head. Walt ended up restoring the half axe head into a beautiful trade hatchet for Eric. Scotty Overkill mentioned the other half would make a nice trade hatchet. Eric's wheels got spinning and asked me if I could make the half into a trade hatchet. Sure. I felt the eye was too big for a colonial trade hatchet. I asked Eric if he could cut the pollout and I would fold the iron around to makea smaller eye. This is what it ended up like. A little fat on the right side but I could sand that out. The left was perfect. The mushrooming left on the poll was ground and hammered out. I did a spark test to see what the carbon content looked like. Not too bad, good sparks and it should hold an edge. I had to open the right side up a bit to fit the sanding wheel in there. A little heat and it opened up fine. I cut the right side back a little and formed it around a bick to start thenew eye. I heated the piece up to form the left side that would overlap the right and meet with a forge weld. I have no pics of the forge weld in progress but both formed sides are nowfused as one piece. The weld is complete in the middle and as I hammered to edges, thelap in the weld is visible. I was surprised how nice and even the left side laid up after the overlap. The bit end was flared out before the forge weld was done. I really wanted a squared toe and heel on the bit end, but I would have had to cut back too much to get there. I ended up making a walnut haft flared at both ends and thinner in the middle. Three coats of Danish oil I believe it was.
I still can't thank all of you guys enough.....that's a true keepsake, I'll have it with me in my tipi this coming weekend at the winter Klondike!
I gotta dig the box out of the attic.....I have a pile of them!! Here's a few I have laying in my workshop..... Early to mid 1800s eastern spike tomahawk Mid to late 1700s Eastern spike tomahawk Very small late 1700s belt hatchet , dug relic And I'll throw in a pair of Civil War-era hand wrought steel camp forks I'll eventually get my big collection out and get pics, I'd love to build a display case someday for all of them.. ...
