If anyone posts “an axe,” I’m calling the gorilla.


Found this near Lake Michigan. Can’t find any identifying marks, does the widely-experienced membership recognize the gorgeous lines of this tool?

It’s about 5.5” wide, and cutting edge close to 4”

I also scored a Marbles No.5, but that’s easy to identify.






Thanks for looking !

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Is it flat on one side? I have an old family piece I can compare.
Family told me it was made to create squared beams from a round log, thus the flat on one side.
I think mine came to Michigan in the 1850s from the East.
A Michigan lumber era artifact would likely be more recent. Gotta be axe experts here or somewhere.

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I am fairly certain that is a Lumberman’s Broad Axe. I think that may be really old. S&WChad knows a lot about axes I think.

Broadaxe - Wikipedia

Broad Axe - 1860-1900 | 100objects

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Does not look to be large enough to be for shaping beams. Looks to be along the lines of a Carpenter's Hatchet, only a little bigger.

Ivan

Wayne—can you post a picture the handle too? The handle and head in full view.

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I agree that it looks quite old. Being on an original, or at least old, haft increases the interest. Looks like the right side could possibly be flat? How did you come across this fine thing? I am in possession of 3 fine heads, two of which are on original handles, from the early 20th century, but nothing like this. I'm sure some expert will be able to shed some light on your find. Could we see a photo of the full length? Don't touch that artifact with anything until you find out what you have!

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Not a Viking design, ha!

Think it's a carpenter's tool.

That’s an old pattern. Looks like a typical hewing or shaping axe to me. They’re typically flat on one side and were used to create flats on logs or large branches.

Scrape the sides with a stiff piece of cardboard and you my be able to find a makers mark. It looks like there’s a circular mark on the beveled side.

I have couple from the late 1800’s - early 1900’s that were purchased in Michigan. We have a substantial lumbering history here. They’re the second and third from the left in my photo. The one on the left with the square hole is a lineman’s hatchet (Bell telephone) and the ones to the right are roofing or lathing hatchets.

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Type "hatchet old" into eBay,, I did it, this is the first listing that came up,,



The price is $19.99,,

My great uncle (1880-1977) gave me one like that. One side is flat so you only sharpen one side. He always called it a "hand axe". It had a home made handle so I don't know what the original handle looked like. Larry

Good. I don’t feel robbed then.

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You guys are right, as expected. Flat on one side.

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I’m guessing I did better with this one. Marble’s No.5 Safety Axe, with safety filled in with some horrible filler !

These were found just North and West of Kalamazoo, in a sale bordering several farms.

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It’s a broad axe but the handle shows it’s more of an hachet. Broad axe were used for turning logs into beams to construct homes. It’s not for felling trees.

My daughter’s great grand father gave me one like it 48 years ago. He called it a timber framing axe. He used it to build a beautiful baby crib for her from a white oak bridge plank. Knowing him, he probably made the axe as well. Daughter has it now.


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Good job, that’s the way to buy them!
It seems that a lot of collectors just collect heads. They take up a lot less room are cheaper to ship.

I prefer to restore them. I’ve re-handled a lot of axes and hatchets, but the Marble’s are a real bugger. The three lobe eye’s are tough and beyond my ability. I’ve got contact info for a guy in the UP who can probably restore the Safety Axe. Send me a PM if you’re interested.

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As mentioned, sometimes will have a brand/manufacturer on them, some early ones from local blacksmiths. Anytime you can find them at a good price, worth picking up as tools, like craftsmen.

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That’s how I feel. Here’s an example; I don’t know what I’m going to to with a pen making press, but I know I couldn’t build one for the dollar it took to acquire.


Storage becomes an issue. My wife has suggested one place to put all the stuff, but decorum prohibits any further mention.

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It looks like the original poster's hatchet head was put on a broken axe handle. 22" is an odd length. I'd shorten it to 17".

My departed aunt had a similar head that was on a probably original roughly 14" handle. It was old. She bought very few things new in her life. I assumed it was made with one flat side to make it less expensive or easier to sharpen. Now I know the flat side was for a special purpose.

Sounds painful to boot.

That axe head is from the era long past when most homesteaders built either a log cabin or a sod hut. It was used to shape wood for doors, windows, furniture and most important of all....the notches that are put in the ends of the logs to interlock and make a secure structure. I wound up with my maternal grandfather's broad axe, timbering axe, hand cranked circular grinding stone and shoe last. As a little kid I sat many hours with him in his work room just listening to his stories of pioneer life. He went over his tools and explained just how they were used. He talked about the difference in harness design for working horses and buggy horses. He liked all the big work horse breeds, but liked mules better than horses. For a riding horse he bragged long and eloquently about the ability of his favorite, a cross between a Morgan and a Mustang. I guess that is where I first became a fan of the Morgan Horse. The shoe last and the timbering ax I gave to a cousin of mine that had no memorabilia from Granddad. The grinding wheel was stolen from my shop when I was away in Alaska. I still have the exact same axe as the OP has shown. I have put a new handle in it. I am prepared for the next time I have to build a log cabin in the wilderness........

If I may. 6 years ago Smith357 made this. It was impressive enough to have stuck in my memory all this time.

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I remember that too! A very inconspicuous weapon that could certainly leave an impression on someone with bad intent!

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"I also cook."

The OP has a hatchet, not an ax. It is called a "Broad Hatchet". Like a broad ax, they are used for hewing. Carpenters, wood carvers, and even furniture and instrument makers used them to rough shape an item fast. Al Linden, a famous custom rifle stockmaker, was known to use a hatchet to rough shape stock blanks. Jack O'Connor wrote of nearly choking when Al would attack a high grade blank worth hundreds of dollars in today's money with a hatchet.


Somewhere along the line, it was hafted with a too-long handle for a hatchet, indicating it was used as a lightweight ax. Probably used outside the kitchen door for splitting stove wood and kindling for a cook stove. Got to have some biscuits!

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Lee Jarrett

I’m trying to figure out why the Marbles Safety Axe has “safety” in its name. Because the axe head is so firmly affixed to the haft and will never fly off?

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

I have my Great Grandfather's Hewing / Carpenters Hatchet; a very early Craftsman. My Great Grandfather died in the mid - late 1930's. He was a carpenter and built many barns in the Champaign County Ohio area ( yes, using hand hewn beams) First photo is how I got it and othrs are after I re-hafted it to my taste last year.

Grandad carried his tools in the sidecar of his 1919 Indian motorcycle.

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	Henry Sceva on 1919 Indian Twin 4.jpg (247.2 KB, 37 views)

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Sceva
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My brother almost cut the end of his left thumb off with one of those, while up at the summer cabin, cutting kindling.

You should not talk and cut wood at the same time................
unless you are really good at it, when you are a teenager !!

I take it that Granpa was left handed?

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

Don't know but I wondered myself. My Great uncle had it for many years and had put that old cut down axe handle on it for us ein his work shop.

These were made so that they could be either right or left handed ) depending on which side of the eye you put the handle in. When I re-hafted it I made it right handed.

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Sceva
OGCA SWCA NRA

It's amazing to think of the craftsmanship, time, and hard work our ancestors did, with no power tools...

Outside of obvious places in our country, all these suburbs with perfectly manicured lawns were once woods. Then logged, used for agriculture.

Oh, and if they were early enough homesteading in the midwest, they had the privilege of portaging all these supplies in from the nearest Port...on foot.

One of my ancestors who immigrated here wrote down his experiences and it is really humbling to read. Walked a few hundred miles to their property; person they gave all their money too in preparation, they could not find or know if they were alive...got the money three years after they arrived. Use to strip bark off the trees and sell it. Finally got enough money for a dairy cow and chickens and thought they were living the high life .

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