Hello I'm new here so figured Off Topic was best place to ask this. My wife and I recently lost her dad (my father in law). Everything he had was all Collins Crown & Hammer (Legitimus). Except for this one weird axe. Everything that my dad always bought was all Plumb. (It feels like a Ford/Chevy thing --except my wife's family owns Ford stealerships and my dad was a Dodge/Chrysler guy)
I don't know what this thing is. It is a full-size 3.75lb axe on a 20" octagon handle. It feels like a sledgehammer on a hammer handle. It isn't even a boy's axe: It is a full-size axe on what feels like a hatchet handle. It was my wife's grandfather's axe (on her mom's side). He was a tool and die maker and a machinist. Everything my father in law and my wife's grandfather has/had is all Collins except for this one Plumb.
The axe has a really small stamp below the Plumb Victory stamp with the letters COPE. What is that?
This axe has been used & abused, ridden hard and put up wet, etc. I buy all my handles from House Handles. And when I went to HH they had a 20" octagon handle for sale (with full-sized eye) listed as a "faller's axe"? Is that what this is? I bought a replacement handle and I tried to mirror the pattern as best I could. It really feels like an over-weight sledge hammer on a hammer handle. And the way the base of the handle flares, it almost feels more natural to swing it backwards like a hammer vs. blade first like a ridiculously over-sized hatchet. It's big and it'll split wood --but it's short and feels like you aren't going to hit your toes... You'll hurt/cut yourself bad if you try to use that thing to split.
What is it? And is the COPE stamp anything? I've never seen that before. I own a bunch of Plumb axes. I own the Plumb boy's axe I used when I was a kid, I own my grandfather's 1945 us army plumb hatchet, I have boy scout hatchets and boy's axes, etc. My wife's grandfather loved Collins and my dad loved Plumb. I have many, many axes and I've never seen anything stamped with "COPE" on it like that.
Thanks for looking and thanks for reading.
Also if you want some honesty and humor:
I told my wife --No big deal sweetheart... I'll just use your dad's and my dad's axes and I'll just cut and split the wood. We have my 30cc climbing Echo top handle saw and we have her dad's 42cc Poulan saw, plus her grandfather's old Mac-Mini 12" 110 saw. No big deal, I'll just buck the (12-cords) then I'll pick away at it all summer. Worst case we have to buy 1-2 cords for heat next winter. But I'll pick away at it all summer and I'll get it done, chopped, split, stacked, etc. (nice, like my wife's pretty pinterest pictures).... (We bought a brand new 372xp xtorque. It is awesome.)
We share this account so this is outing me: She is shopping for wood splitters on FB Marketplace because "she doesn't want any more/new projects" and I can weld so I've already bought the ram/piston and most of the metal we need to DIY fabricate a wood splitter.
What is the lesser of 3 evils?
Happy wife, happy life (buy something)
Build something
Or --is the amount of time & money it will take to build something a waste and I could lose a few pounds and use the 50,000 axes I have?
Plumb "COPE" photos attached. Thank you for any help identifying it.
It can't be fake??? My wife and I have been together for a long time. I found this thing in her dad's shed. It had been there for years and years. If I had to guess, it is 1950's vintage and it was her grandfather's. Her dad didn't buy this axe. But I have no clue.
I don't know what this thing is. It is a full-size 3.75lb axe on a 20" octagon handle. It feels like a sledgehammer on a hammer handle. It isn't even a boy's axe: It is a full-size axe on what feels like a hatchet handle. It was my wife's grandfather's axe (on her mom's side). He was a tool and die maker and a machinist. Everything my father in law and my wife's grandfather has/had is all Collins except for this one Plumb.
The axe has a really small stamp below the Plumb Victory stamp with the letters COPE. What is that?
This axe has been used & abused, ridden hard and put up wet, etc. I buy all my handles from House Handles. And when I went to HH they had a 20" octagon handle for sale (with full-sized eye) listed as a "faller's axe"? Is that what this is? I bought a replacement handle and I tried to mirror the pattern as best I could. It really feels like an over-weight sledge hammer on a hammer handle. And the way the base of the handle flares, it almost feels more natural to swing it backwards like a hammer vs. blade first like a ridiculously over-sized hatchet. It's big and it'll split wood --but it's short and feels like you aren't going to hit your toes... You'll hurt/cut yourself bad if you try to use that thing to split.
What is it? And is the COPE stamp anything? I've never seen that before. I own a bunch of Plumb axes. I own the Plumb boy's axe I used when I was a kid, I own my grandfather's 1945 us army plumb hatchet, I have boy scout hatchets and boy's axes, etc. My wife's grandfather loved Collins and my dad loved Plumb. I have many, many axes and I've never seen anything stamped with "COPE" on it like that.
Thanks for looking and thanks for reading.
Also if you want some honesty and humor:
I told my wife --No big deal sweetheart... I'll just use your dad's and my dad's axes and I'll just cut and split the wood. We have my 30cc climbing Echo top handle saw and we have her dad's 42cc Poulan saw, plus her grandfather's old Mac-Mini 12" 110 saw. No big deal, I'll just buck the (12-cords) then I'll pick away at it all summer. Worst case we have to buy 1-2 cords for heat next winter. But I'll pick away at it all summer and I'll get it done, chopped, split, stacked, etc. (nice, like my wife's pretty pinterest pictures).... (We bought a brand new 372xp xtorque. It is awesome.)
We share this account so this is outing me: She is shopping for wood splitters on FB Marketplace because "she doesn't want any more/new projects" and I can weld so I've already bought the ram/piston and most of the metal we need to DIY fabricate a wood splitter.
What is the lesser of 3 evils?
Happy wife, happy life (buy something)
Build something
Or --is the amount of time & money it will take to build something a waste and I could lose a few pounds and use the 50,000 axes I have?
Plumb "COPE" photos attached. Thank you for any help identifying it.
It can't be fake??? My wife and I have been together for a long time. I found this thing in her dad's shed. It had been there for years and years. If I had to guess, it is 1950's vintage and it was her grandfather's. Her dad didn't buy this axe. But I have no clue.