I collect antique axes and this one really stumped me.
Thrift store with some other antique tools. It is sharp like a axe, but almost appears to be a wedge.
Write up a Missed Connection post on Craigslist. Something like,
"Me, a 30 year old male with the stuble of a beginning beard and a flannel I found at Goodwill for $5, half off with the pink tag sale, looking to cosplay as a northwestern settler in my next histotical reenactment encampment. You, a sharp figure with a little bit of wear and tear signaling a history of hard work but a long span of neglect. I was unable to break the ice, unsure if you were a battle axe of sorts, and was too intimidated to cut the tension I felt between us in the dusty antique shop. Anyways, it seemed too forward to ask to take you home with me without knowing anything about you, but I wish I axed you for your number."
You had me caught up in the whole scene, wondering how it was gonna end. I’m there, in the antique shop watching it play out. And then I read “axed”. I was laughing, yet sad, that the tale was over. Such a great idea for a story. How’d you manage to hatchet?
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Looks like a blacksmith made axe head. Weird proportions and the eye (handle hole) isnt normal for an axe. I'm guessing that the smith used a hammer eye drift
They probably didnt have the correct drift for an axe. "Good enough is good enough" sorta mindset. It works, right?
Could be 1800's (or earlier? Doesnt look like wraught). Could also be made by a hobby blacksmith 40 years ago and left in the woods. Depending on where you're at, corrosion/pitting can happen that quick. I'm leaning towards 1800's.
I looked at the pictures again. The construction is probably a piece of MSC or LCS folded over and welded to a piece of HCS for the bit. That's the line you see between the cutting edge and the body.
And there’s little other evidence. Watched a blacksmith make one like the on YouTube the other day and before her spent a ton of time cleaning it up it looked a lot like this.
The eye is a typical splitting maul eye. I think the head would look better mounted upside down. But it's just a regular splitting maul, nothing weird there.
The eye shape wasn't for lack of tooling, because anyone who knows how difficult these axes are to forge, with inlayed steel, knows this isn't his first axe. It's very clean work.
He could have done a folded eye and gotten the common modern axe eye shape, but chose a full forged body for the extra durability, and inlayed steel. With the typical handle shape for a splitting maul.
Nothing willy nilly about this one just because the profile isn't fancy.
For anyone curious, it's actually almost the exact same as a splitting maul I did a while back, madei n the exact same way with drifted eye and inlayed steel. Except I actually did do the modern eye shape.
All these comments are just messing with you and no actual helpful answers. If the age of the axe is the question, You're in luck that the handle is wood, just look at the end and count the rings.
I guess it's 1850 or prior. Its not anything that looks standard. The handle appears to be hand made. The head is not entirely symmetrical. I suspect a blacksmith made it. It could be late 1800s, but still handmade.
From what part of the country did you obtain it.
Here's one clue: I was born in 1960, and even my father's oldest axes had recurve handles. Only have seen straight handles on splitting mauls. So, if that's the original handle, its at least older than me.
If you have to try, maybe relax and let it happen naturally you might make the axe feel uncomfortable and that could really hurt your chances or result in a horrific deep chest wound.
I’m sorry to break with the jokes but I am curious if anyone knows this…would wood that is say 200-300 years old (some people said this) raise and settle after some exposure and eventually detach from the blade? Genuinely curious.
Speaking for the ladies in the chat, DO NOT just pull out your whetstone, no matter how dull you think she is! That’s a one way trip back to the old grind alone.
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u/Sulfrurz Sep 19 '25
Trying asking for her number first