This video was posted on a tool collector forum I belong to. It is from 1965 and shows axes being made by hand by craftsmen in Maine.
Wow, thank you for posting that video. That is some incredible craftsmanship. I wonder if they stamped the heads with the brand? I am going to have to check the local markets for these now. I have a set of tongs that are too long for farrier work, but I can see how they would have been used in this type of setting. I was also amazed by the slag jumping on the triphammer.
fine video, thanks. i didn't know they welded a piece for the cutting edge. also noteworthy was bending the blank over to create the handle hole. buck and a quarter an hour anyone?
You'd think he probably lost a lot of his hearing? I see no talking from these guys. Just straight up know what they are doing Like a duck in the water.
It was minimum wage in 1965. I was doing unskilled labor back then for $2.05 in a higher cost of living location and living nicely on it in an apartment complex with a community swimming pool. I thought if I could ever make $5/hr I would be able to live very nicely indeed, with all the extras. When I retired I was making 10 times that but was living not a lot better than I did on $2.05. A few years ago I bought a new Civic and paid as much for it as I did for my first house. Of course you can't buy any property for those numbers today. The numbers keep changing with time. I would guess that if things keep going as they have been, a million dollar annual wage with be fairly common in another 30 years or so and it still will just be enough for everyday purchases, nothing extravagant like trips to Hawaii. By then my retirement income won't even buy me beer.
