What was it used for? the front edge is flat, not sharp. the hole is 1" square. the marking is BELL system B. old telephone lineman tool? got it cause I didn't have one. thanks in advance. lee

Attached Images

	000_2152.jpg (144.7 KB, 446 views)
	000_2154.jpg (149.0 KB, 369 views)
	000_2156.jpg (121.6 KB, 336 views)
	000_2157.jpg (56.7 KB, 324 views)
	000_2159.jpg (67.4 KB, 320 views)

Survey work?

STANLEY / BELL SYSTEM HATCHET
The specific years during which Stanley provided specialty hatchets for the Bell System has yet to be determined. It is believed that these hatchets were available from sometime in the 1940s until at least sometime in the 1960s. At this point no catalog reference is known extant but it is surmised they may have been provided through special orders. Also unresolved is whether Stanley provided such hatchets to other utility companies or other concerns in addition to the Bell System. Numerous examples have been observed that include a square opening cut through the hatchet blade. Such hatchets are referred to as hatchet-wrenches because the square opening accommodated the square bolt heads used to secure different apparatus to utility poles.
The hatchet-wrench was not the only axe that Stanley provided to the Bell System. Long handle single-bit axes have also been observed with both the Stanley marking and the words Bell System in what appear to be factory applied markings.

Vintage Stanley Bell System Hatchet Wrench Lineman's Tool Head In Very Good Cond

My guess is that the square hole probably fits a bolt head (or something similar) used on telephone poles, to tighten or loosen it. Maybe some old telephone lineman who has used one will see this and respond.

There is a number of these Stanley Bell Hatchet-Wrenches listed on eBay and similar sites, but the descriptions as to its exact purpose are all fairly vague. They must have been common.

Linesmen's hatchet....

VINTAGE BELL SYSTEM LINEMANS HATCHET / AXE TOOL (11/29/2008)

Another guess here-- would have to try it to see, but one use might be to hammer in those climber steps, then use the hole as a wrench to turn it into the pole. Just guessing here.???

Any chance those were sharp when delivered then it was later decided to grind off their edges for safety?

Lots of information on Google but not very definitive. Looks like it was a lineman's tool used as a hatchet, hammer and a wrench using the square hole. Back in the day many bolts and lag screws had square heads until the hex heads became popular.

There was apparently a Bell system A, B, C and maybe even D, but not much information on what the differences were.

__________________
James Redfield
LM #497

Molly Hatchet Prop???

I was thinking that it had never been sharpened. IE, it is in unissued condition. Note the hammer face doesn't look like it ever hit anything.

__________________
You're shy a few manners.

Make sense. A multi-tool.

That's really neat, Lee. Undoubtedly the poll on that hatchet is hardened.

My grandfather worked for Western Electric and my father for the Bell System.

I've got a few Bell System and Western Electric marked tools but not one of those. I do have some of the square head bolts it was made for.

Any Bell System or Western Electric tool will be of the very highest quality. Neither of those companies spared any expense when it came to sourcing tools.

Bell tools will be marked as seen in the picture. Western Elec. tools will be marked with a number preceded by the letter "R", stamped or electro-penned on the tool.

My father, a telephone employee from 1949 to 1982, had one of these. The ax was dull as a hoe from the factory. The square hole fit the square nuts of what Dad always called "cross-arm bolts" which as I recall were just galvanized 3/8" carriage bolts in several lengths. He had a drawer full in his workbench. Along with the nuts and grainy galvanized washers.

Anybody have any additional thoughts on why the edge is not sharpened? (While, commonsensical, I am discounting the venture that the one in the OP was just never sharpened since above poster says his father's was dull as well.)

I speculate that whatever the chore the blade was designed for was, it did not require a sharp edge...

My dad worked electrical construction for a number years in the early 1950's.

The "hatchet" is used to turn climbing pegs into the pole, usually several feet above ground, so people couldn't reach the bottom pegs. Up to a certain height, the lineman would use "hooks" strapped to the lower legs and boots and a special tool belt, so he could work on the pole without the foot pegs. A lot of them carried a brace and bit to start a hole in the pole, and then thread in the steel pegs, using the square hole to finish tightening the peg. The square hole was located in that position so the hatchet wouldn't fall to the ground if the lineman lost his grip while tightening the pegs.

Maybe GWAR?

I climbed a lot of poles putting in a telephone line.. That would have been plumb handy.. I carried a hammer for driving cross arm bolts thru the poles and a wrench for tightening the square nuts and bolts..

That would have served two purposes and saved some weight on my tool belt.

__________________
Eccentric old coot

Square heads on both bolts and nuts, plus the locking thin square nut are still the primary hardware used to attach cross arms and transformers and other equipment to utility poles today. The hatchet portion would have worked very well when removing an old cross arm by placing the hatchet edge between the round pole and the rectangular arm and prying the arm away from the pole and sliding it loose from the long bolt holding it in place. The head would have worked well to drive bolts into and out of the holes drilled in the pole and cross arm. This hatchet would have served the purpose of a hammer, a wrench for the bolts and nuts, and a pry bar, together all of which would have made a much bigger load to carry while climbing up that pole to get to the crossarm(s). Toting my butt up a pole plus the climbing gear and tool belt was a plenty big enough load without carrying all those tools. I'd have been glad to carry one tool to do the job of three or more! These tools were not available when I was doing this kind of work, but I knew a couple of old telephone linemen who had them and you'd better not be handling their tool without permission. They were not for sale or trade!

__________________
So long ... Ken

42 years as a phone guy.

I started in 1970 as a lineman. We had 2 lb hammers and a lag wrench to drive in steps, lag screws and lag bolts. Usually had a cresent wrench to hold the nut on the bolts.

Why is the axe not sharp? My guess is safety, some one in purchasing saw the wonderment in owning the swiss knife for the phone company. They probably ordered a million and was fired after 987 folks hit their forehead with the sharp part of the axe when driving in a lag screw or step. When a lineman was in a hurry or on a dark stormy night accidently tried to drive a lag screw or step, with the sharp end and losing a digit?

Can you imagine the safety committee discussing the guys that just whacked off a thumb or finger while trying to drive a round step with a sharp blade? Nope we can't give them the correct tool, too expensive to change out.

How about just grinding the edge off the hatchet? Then thumbs won't get lopped off, only broken and they'll probably not do it a 2nd time.

Not to mention the injuries received after you whacked your appendage with that hatchet and lost your "grip" on that skinny pole you were standing on and burned that sucker all the way to the ground!! Them creosote splinters surely did make a bad sore, eh? And yeah, that crescent wrench was an essential tool for sure. And rookies learned not to stand around underneath the lineman up on the pole, even with a hard hat on!!!!

__________________
So long ... Ken

I'm going to guess the "blade" may have been used as a wedge so didn't need to be too sharp, maybe to pry out or off a cross bar after the bolts were loose. Another "hatchet" could be used to knock the wedge into what ever it would pry or split apart.
Wild guess!
Steve W

It definitely was a pre OSHA tool. When bolts were loosened a wack on the back side of the brace/10 pin arm usually removed it but not always necessary as they were a loose fit.

Pre-OSHA, those were the days, construction supervisors waiting by the pole yelling for you to run, jump on his pickup tail gate so he could drive you to the next pole. Then he'd back up for the next guy. Now you are not to leave the base of the pole without removing the climbers.

We installed a new pole line along a country gravel road. J-cable was used for those who know. The old pole line was iron wire cutting across farms and fields. No way to get a truck in. Most were 20 or 25 foot poles, set 2-4 feet in the ground or had rotted most of the way thru. We climbed them, cut the wire and jumped as the poles fell. The wire was basically holding them up. Sometimes the pole fell on its own after the previous poles wire was cut. We did several miles of this. Left the pole for farmer fence posts. And none of us were hurt.

I guess I could write a book on all I saw and experienced as a young phone guy. But most could not be written here, you know, to protect the innocent and young.

The phone company was like any company, lots of smart guys and lots that hit the other end of the spectrum. In the rural areas some guys were sort of forced to bid on an open job in a place they did not want to be. When the company started hiring local guys for the jobs it became better for the community. Hey Billy Bob, muy phone no work, OK I'll check on it after coffee, see ya in a few uncle Ben.

This worked well for the most part. Through unasked questions during the interview 2 guys were hired that could not read or write. Not even their name.

No real problems when they worked on the line crew. It became problematic after bidding up for promotions. One guy ended up getting a PBX installers job. One has to be able to read to deal with schematics, installation instruction and wiring. The union saved his job, someone had to read it to him. He ended up working on 3 line systems only and did well until he retired. He passed 20 years ago and only one guy went to his funeral. The ashes have been carried around in his car trunk ever since.

Another guy ended up with a CO equipment installers job, he was good at faking it. He would look at the existing and mimic the wire code.

The company promoted a good man to area manager, for those of you not in the industry when you hear the words Area Manager in old time phone companies think God. He had not yet learned his predecessor had hire a few illiterates. But he quickly started hiring guys with some college or a degree. I was part of the later. He hired some great guys that later went high in management.

The company sent me to Atlanta to get my FCC licenses to hang in microwave tower transmitters. I was not highest in seniority, nope a guy that had a 3rd grade education was senior but they knew he would not pass.

While I was gone the management job for our area came open. The 2nd levels could hire their own folks without input from above (remember the God guy). Ole 2nd level hired his bestest buddy and church member, yes it was close to one of those that did snake dances. Upon arriving home I found my new boss was the equipment installer that couldn't read or write.

He parked the bibs and got some ties and sport coats. Looked funny. After a few weeks he started driving the 30 miles to my office every day. This was pre email, correspondence came in an envelope. He nervously asked me what I thought about a letter and handed it to me. Then he asked me to read it, hmm.
Then another letter until we were done. He then asked me to pen a response. This went on daily for about 2 weeks.

I called the admin for the area office and asked, has Supervisor X been asking you to read his mail and type a response. She said yes but she had told him no more. He couldn't report her because his little dark secret would come out.

He showed up like clockwork, right after lunch so he wouldn't have to buy. Handed me the unopened mail and said here, I'll be back in a little bit to pick up the responses.

If you know what happened next go get coffee. Underneath my large normally happy exterior is a huge demon of a fire breathing temper. I've done well keeping it tamed after I left my teens. I did inherit this from my Maternal grandfather who did not try to tame it.

The first blast of fire made his ears flap in the heat. I told him under no circumstances will I do his job on top of mine and further more if he had not been holding snakes with his boss he would not have this job and in hind sight the Area Manager has been ticked because I was not given the promotion.

He grabbed his stuff and ran out the door. What's he gonna do, report me? Just prior to that the office took a direct hit of lightening. I went non sleep for 72 hours replacing all the circuit packs getting it back up and yes a military general guy kept coming by asking when.

Card packs were shipped in from other offices, the factory and the company jet picked some up and met me at the Army base airport. I have 1/2 up at about 72 hours without sleep. We now can function with out redundancy.

So my new boss, this is prior to the letter escapade, drives out to see what's going on, this is at about 48 hours, day 2.

He walks in and asks whats taking so long, I said waiting on more card packs.

I said a good boss would have brought food and coffee where is it? He did not have time to stop. I said slpt the last 2 nights right? Oh sure, well I haven't would you pretty pleas go get me a donut and coffee. He said well you can't eat in the swithroom anyway. I said I have an office........

The month before the company instituted a no smoking policy in all switch rooms.

I could step out the back door to smoke. But this time I lit up right in front of him. Blew smoke in his general direction as Monte Python might say. He said you can't do that as I kept on smoking. He said I'll send you home for 3 days. I said that's what I wanted to hear and headed for the door. He said where are you going I said home. I did not know at that minute he could not have written me up anyway being illiterate and all.

HE whined you can't go. I'll send you home for 3 days later. I said nope an offense per the book must be dealt with immediately. I said coffee. He left, I did not see him again until he started the read me a bedtime story Daddy routine.

After he left my office on the mail deal I called God, told him I wanted a new boss, one that can read. The guy was given a couple of small towns and left to fend for himself. I asked God one day if he'd had his turn at reading the guy his mail. He said nope, I guess his wife does it for him now.

Am I a bad guy, nope, I was a hard working efficient person, I had been to the engineering school for this brand of equipment. I later ended up being the manager over all digital switch maintenance for the midwest.

And no I treated all bosses who gave respect the same back.

An old quote is, "A man has to know his limitations:. Sometimes they are not smart enough to know and you have to tell them.

I have one of those,also a couple pair of Bell Telephone marked
Long nose pliers/ wire stripper , couple pairs of Cable shears in
leather scabbards marked Bell telephone, a Stanley Yankee drill
and best of all a Lineman's test phone. I did have a Alcohol torch
that they use to use to solder, but it has turned up missing. All this stuff is from the dial phone era. Had 2 phone men in our
hunting crew. That reminds me, also have pole & tree climbing
gear.

In 1961, a bunch of ranchers with me as the "rep lineman" put in 67 miles of line to Ma Bell specs and sold it to Ma for $1.00 to get service.

I climbed a lot of those scrawny 20' poles and plenty of 30 footers, and hung a lot of cross arms during a summer between college sessions.

__________________
Eccentric old coot

Missouri in the Ozarks had these. In the old days farmers had to run to the city limits or last point of presence. One 20 mile job was eventually replaced with buried cable. It also hit every Oak or hickory line in the fence row.

I went to work for the telephone co to pay for my 3rd year of college. By Sept I had a promotion and it became a career.

I started in Jan. After training, then it was take this stuff go practice on that pole until you quit falling off and we'll pick you up later. I started digging holes by hand at the CO in a small town, the company was ordered to build a new line to the airport 10 miles away. They had been working on a 10 party line with out any FAA connections.

There was a construction foremen and me. He drove the truck, I did every thing else. loaded the poles on the trailer, set them by hand and dug the holes. If you did not know all ridges in the Ozarks have up to one inch of top soil before you hit some kind of hard rock. 10 miles later at the end of the summer my upper body strength was outer limits. Dynamite was involved too.

Went to my new job and guys were trying to tear a STL phone book in half like they saw on the Carson show the night before.

I saw the same show, at the end the guy said the secret is to bend the loose end slightly so you are ripping it one page at a to time to start.

By the way this was pretty rural, I firmly believe some of these gents were the alpha rednecks as they would say here hold my beer before you heard it nationally.

They were leery of the new guy, called him names that implied a HS and some college but were demeaning. The new boy took the big book and ripped it in half. They stood there staring. Not believing, I said you know i've been thinking about tearing the head of the next yahoo that calls me college boy or worse.

They treated me much nicer after that and no I never asked them to hold my beer......

Welllll-OK !
Blessings

__________________
TEXAS, by GOD

"If you did not know all ridges in the Ozarks have up to one inch of top soil before you hit some kind of hard rock."

Same here in the Blue Ridge, and across the Valley in the Alleghanies as well.

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I worked as a Lineman for Bell for 35 yrs. and that tool is not anything that I have ever heard of a Lineman using. Crossarms are hung with 5/8 in. bolts. The braces are attached to the arms with 3/8 bolts. The braces are attached to the poles with 1/2X4 1/2 hardheads (lag bolts). A Linemans wrench fits 4 different size bolts. The Linemans hammer that I had weighed 3 lbs. and had a straight peen with a round hole in the peen to remove pole steps and to straighten the steps after they are driven in. If that "hatchet" was a Linemans tool I would guess it was probably from Alexanders time. I would like to know when and what it was used for at Bell. Larry