Handmade Axes from Maine

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peakbagger

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Jul 11, 2008
8,978
Northern NH
They make some fine axes. There's something about axes that make it easy to have way to many😁
I can admit I have some old axe heads polished, oiled, and wrapped up in the garage......somewhere.
 
Probably a bit fancy for splitting

“We’re making 25 to 27 axes a week,”
Listed at $309 for a cruiser. And it’s a chopperish profile not a dedicated splitter.

Ok I admit I paid that for an axe one but I’m not buying two. And I don’t use all that much. I tried but it only works well in really straight grain wood that pops. Any stringy stuff not a chance. Back to the Fiskars.

Good on them if they can turn a profit. Hard to compete with mass produced good products from Fiskars.
 
They have a good blog section to their site. I just read through a lot of it and some good stuff in there.
 
Snow and Nealey axes are at least partially made in Maine. The owners are Amish and do not have an online prescence. Therefore, any info is from third parties. They bought the rights to the name from a long term company that went out of business so other than a trademark, I dont know how much pride and tradition have been transferred. They were good quality working ax for years, not fancy except that they made a few smaller axes that were popular with Maine guides and I expect were a good souvenir for those early tourists who took the train to Bangor to head off into the North woods.
 
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I can admit I have some old axe heads polished, oiled, and wrapped up in the garage......somewhere.
I do too, along with hammers and other hand tools. Whenever I have time I pop a handle on, clean them up and give them out as gifts.
 
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Peavy Manufacturing has been making logging tools in Maine including axes, pickaroons and peavys for 160 + years. Beyond the catalog they have a pretty interesting history and web site.


Joseph Peavy invented the tool ( some call a cant dog) named after him to help free up river log jams back in Bangor’s heyday. The site shows an old catalog page with 12 different hook options.

I’ve been trying to justify getting a pickaroon but am not spending as many hours handling wood. I do like their Canadian style pulp hook without the replaceable tip better than their others as it has less curve and the tip is further out from the handle.
 
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Peavy Manufacturing has been making logging tools in Maine including axes, pickaroons and peavys for 160 + years. Beyond the catalog they have a pretty interesting history and web site.


Joseph Peavy invented the tool ( some call a cant dog) named after him to help free up river log jams back in Bangor’s heyday. The site shows an old catalog page with 12 different hook options.

I’ve been trying to justify getting a pickaroon but am not spending as many hours handling wood. I do like their Canadian style pulp hook without the replaceable tip better than their others as it has less curve and the tip is further out from the handle.
Great stuff on their site. Good to see them going strong even now.

I have a very old cant hook I use that I found in a barn years ago. The handle is bowed from being pulled on a time or 2 before I found it. I've never looked closely for any markings on it but now I'll have to out of curiosity.
 
I wish Peavey would state somewhere what products are produced in Maine. Looking at the Axes the pricing looks to me like they are buying them from somewhere else.
 
Drop em a note on the site and ask. Based on the shops they have it wouldn't surprise me if they are made there in Maine.

ETA
I just dropped them a note, I'll let you know what they say.

ETA Again
What I got back

Good morning,



No, the axes are one of the few things that we do not make, we buy those in, they are Council axes.
 
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