Any axe experts?????

[hossthehermit]

Every area of the country has it's own style of tools. I was helping a friend clean out a storage unit and ran across a couple axes, kept them, they're not like what is usually found around here. On the left is one of ours , size you keep in the truck or campin', the two on the right are the ones I'm curious about. Any help appreciated.

 

[smokinj]

No expert but to me it looks like what you would use for a face cut.

 

[CTYank]

You, no doubt, know it already, but the one on the left strongly resembles my long-term favorite, a Snow & Neally 4 lb.

To help with identification of the others, see http://199.231.142.3/forums/showthread.php?t=698181 for a picture of head shapes & type names.

 

[hossthehermit]

You, no doubt, know it already, but the one on the left strongly resembles my long-term favorite, a Snow & Neally 4 lb.

To help with identification of the others, see http://199.231.142.3/forums/showthread.php?t=698181 for a picture of head shapes & type names.

Yes, this is the 3#,handy dandy under the seat, tree across the road, cut a campfire wood, there ain't no better one, S&N. Thanks a bunch for the link, looks like a great website.

 

[LLigetfa]

Shorter poll and longer beard means less weight.

 

[hossthehermit]

Shorter poll and longer beard means less weight.

Yes, indeed, but where, why, who, for what, that's what i'm axin'. To me, sorta looks like a tomahawk on steroids, (or hemmaroids), wonderin' where they use these for why?

 

[Quince]

Hudson Bay Axe. Less weight in the canoe for the early French Canadian fur trappers.

 

[hossthehermit]

Hudson Bay Axe. Less weight in the canoe for the early French Canadian fur trappers.

Very possible, thanks. Yes, did a bit of research, Snow & Neally does make a Hudson Bay, makes sense now, they make most of the axes we have around here, just not a lot of the old folks used anything other than the Maine axe.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Hudson Bay Axe. Less weight in the canoe for the early French Canadian fur trappers.

Yup. Less metal so cheaper to trade with the indians too.




Matt

 

[LLigetfa]

Yup. Less metal so cheaper to trade with the indians too.

Ja, went hand in hand with the really long gun. They would trade one gun for a stack of beaver pelts of equal height, so the longer the gun, the more pelts they got.

 

[bboulier]

I like the one on the left, as it resembles my "old reliable". Many years ago, I used it to fell several trees in my yard. That was before I could afford a chain saw. Not sure why I would want the others.

 

[precaud]

Back in the day, ex #2 wanted to get an axe so she could help out. A standard-size axe was too much for her so we got her something like the two on the right. She loved it.

 

[LLigetfa]

The short poll makes it hard to keep the head from coming loose. Fine for trail blazing and light cutting but not for any serious splitting.

 

[precaud]

True, the impact is distributed over a smaller area of the handle, a recipe for loosening/breaking.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I believe it was considered a jack of all trades axe. Not particularly good at any one job, but could be used for anything including skinning. I've never seen one at an estate sale or so. If I did I'd probably pick one up so I could play with it myself.

Matt

 

[Battenkiller]

I got hooked on the Hudson Bay style years ago, after watching a friend split a week's worth of camp wood in about an hour. He split it "upside down" by driving the blade in about 1/2", then flipping the whole mess around and using the weight of the log to drive itself down as the poll of the axe hit the splitting stump. Works because the momentum of the falling split is a lot greater than that of the 1 3/4 pound axe head. Extremely effective, but it'd be hard to do a 50 pound round of oak that way. Another thing nice about the long beard is that you can get your hand up behind the cutting edge for carving or slicing.

All in all, a very handy and versatile axe to take on a camping or canoeing trip. I looked for years and never found one used, so I finally got a new one. Not a Snow & Nealley brand, just a modern axe made by Counsil. Cheap from Labonville - $24 (20% sale this spring). It holds a good edge and has a nice, robust hickory handle that feels real good in my hand. The $75 Snow & Nealley may be a classier axe to own, but mine does the same thing at 1/3 the price.

 

[Singed Eyebrows]

Possible Granfors Bruks on the 2 right hand ones. If so, they don't get much better, Randy

 

[Sisu]

Yup. Less metal so cheaper to trade with the indians too.

Ja, went hand in hand with the really long gun. They would trade one gun for a stack of beaver pelts of equal height, so the longer the gun, the more pelts they got.

Not to stray from the thread, but the trading of pelts for a gun of equal length is a myth. HBC sold guns in standard lengths of 36, 42, or 48 inches. (broken link removed to http://www.inuitcontact.ca/artifacts/pdf/A_Trading_Myth.pdf)

The two on the right look exactly in profile to a hatchet I have. "Sweden" is stamped on one side of it. It is a fine tool indeed.

 

[kenny chaos]

Fiskars or maybe it's Fiskers depending on what area they are from.