Another Axe to grind.

[MARK.B.]

Must be something in the air today i was given another axe that has seen better days . This one is only a tiny little thing that i think may have been hand made as there are no makers marks that i can find on it, and it has a sort of crudeness to it still showing hammer marks all over . It is definitely old and blunt and somebody had used a bit of broom handle or similar to fashion a handle and wedged it with a 40mm clout nail , this has been done later in its life and done very badly to boot . Having received some great advice on here sorting out the last one i have decided to give it another lease of life and have it by the fire in house, mainly for show but sharp enough to be used if needed for smaller kindling.
As it is on display i thought about a nice bit Bubinga would look OK , to you that know these sort of things ,will Bubinga be a suitable wood to use .

 

[Old.bodger]

Is it an axe or perhaps a slaters hammer?

 

[MARK.B.]

Could be

 

[Sheptonphil]

It’s actually an American TRUE-TEMPER number R2S half hatchet camping survival axe, or a True Temper carpenters axe, depending on size. The camping axe is slightly smaller.

 

[MARK.B.]

I will bow to your wisdom and knowledge Phil it does look rather poorly made though ,not smooth in any way really ,and i don't think its rust damage,more like hammer blows from forging

 

[Adam W.]

Looks like a shingling or lathing hammer/hatchet to me.

 

[Jones]

Looks like a roofers axe to me. It's used to chop the battens and nail them in , the slot is for pulling nails.

 

[MARK.B.]

Thank you for the replies , does anyone know if bubinga would make a suitable handle ?

 

[Inspector]

It probably would but since it is somewhere on the Cites list I would save it for special projects and use a more common domestically grown wood, even salvaging a broken shovel handle. Your wood so up to you.

Pete

 

[Jones]

Ash and hickory are typically used for axe and hammer handles as they're straight grained and a bit springy so don't jar your wrist too much. I'm sure bubinga will be ok so long as the grain doesn't run out the side of the shaft, it'll certainly look good.

 

[MARK.B.]

Thanks guys, Will make one with Ash ? to see how it looks before i decide when or if i break into my bubinga stash

 

[scholar]

I had a very similar looking axe head from my grandfather that I re-handled recently. I managed to find some details of it on-line as shown below.

I found an ash handle that I managed to make fit.

I think it is American anyway. You can see that I have still to regrind the edge which will involve a fair bit of metal removal.

Cheers