Vintage Axes and Garden Equipment

[roys]

It will be next for a bit of electrolysis.

what type of implement would you describe that head as?

Edited February 15 by roys

[organic guy]

Billhook

[sime42]

3 hours ago, roys said:

Look what I found in the woods today. No not the steel rule.

Lovely. I reckon that'll clean up nicely and make a decent Bill Hook.

[roys]

Need to learn hedge laying now🙂

[H and J]

 I have a very old axe...the head is  over 11 inches .....cutting edge 6 inches.

Three feet in length and very heavy.......have lighter ones so over all these years have not used it much, it being more of a family heirloom. 

From the pictures.....it was made in Sheffield by Turton and sons ......the head electro boracic steel.

Takes some swinging for any length of time.......I've now gone down the log splitter route but still at times use an axe.

Not sure of age.......Turton set up the business in Sheffield 1824

[organic guy]

On 12/02/2024 at 22:03, Scuttlefish said:

 

I guess the market for decent no nonsense  good quality axes and the like is pretty minimal these days in the UK – whatever demand there is for new axes   being easily met by the usual suspects from  Germany, Austria and Italy plus Sweden - if you want something a bit more bling – and expensive. So what was a large industry has long ago gone down the pan but the English made stuff was great- like most people who have  spent a long time around wood I have gathered a rogues gallery of axes of various weights and lengths.

 Here’s a photo of a Skelton no7 , Sheffield. This thing weighs a ton, I was told  this type of axe was used in short intense bursts for notching and rounding trees out  before going at it with a two man cross cut saw.  I couldn’t imagine it being used for day long felling.

 Next up is a Whitehouse ( Cannock ) miners axe , stamped  “ Ty Gwyn”- i.e. Whitehouse in Welsh. Another monster , these were not used for felling timber but were supplied with  short- 2 ft handle with a distinct curve , used down the mine for notching round timber for pit props and collars. This photo was taken in Wales about 1900, showing the thing in use.  If you reckon you’ve had a crap day at work- maybe dropped the butties in the sh*t or a bit of drizzle has blown in, then think on! A crap day for these lads was the roof caving in or a gas explosion…PPE uh ?

This particular axe came from my grandfather in Accrington- he wasn’t a miner ,but there was , until the early 60 ‘s a pit right in the centre of  town behind  the railway station – Scaitcliffe Colliery. This axe somehow found its way from the mine to him, its obviously seen a bit of action. A massive amount  of timber was used way back for props, before steel came in. In  North East Lancs much of it came down from Scotland, although in the major mining areas it was mostly imported , there wasn’t enough produced in the UK.

Among the heavier axes  I own is a Wetterlings 4 1/2 lb- made in the 70 ‘s  before they concentrated on the more artisan  Gransfors style axes they became  known for.

I still use a variety of mid weight axes and billhooks for snedding and trimming work- if it’s a decent sunny day and I’m working on my own account for an afternoon or so sorting out windblowns for firewood. ( otherwise it’s chainsaw only …)  The billhooks are a Whitehouse no 6, red handle  and a much heavier Brades- both take a cracking edge.  Finding a 2 ½ - 3 lb English axe at a good price is not so easy ,so at risk of sounding unpatriotic,  my go to axes are a 2 1/2 lb Weibelhaus ( long dead German make, great piece of steel ) plus a couple of newer Oschenkopf Iltis  axes – 800  and 1000 gram heads.  I’ve got various Ewell and Gilpin hatchets, and a collection of no name small  DIY axes mostly handed on to me but they don’t get out much.

The last stamp is from a Skinner and Johnson slasher ( Retford ) which still gets used. 

I have an axe head identical to your miners axe. How it got to us I have no idea, couldn't be father from the mines. Put a handle in it but found it a horrible thing to use, kept twisting if you did not hit dead square.

[spudulike]

1 hour ago, organic guy said:

I have an axe head identical to your miners axe. How it got to us I have no idea, couldn't be father from the mines. Put a handle in it but found it a horrible thing to use, kept twisting if you did not hit dead square.

It would be worth making sure the cutting head is perfectly in line with the handle. Some old axe heads eyes can be a bit off and cause cutting issues.

[roys]

On 15/02/2024 at 15:16, roys said:

Look what I found in the woods today. No not the steel rule.

Spent a bit of time on the bill hook clean up today, 5 hours electrolysis, then reground the two cutting edges, then burnished it, not sure if I am happy with the pattenation finish or to go for a smoother finish, which might ruin the “Made in England” and “10 in” stamping.

[spudulike]

Making good progress.

[Stere]

Leicester pattern billhook maybe?

 

 

& Im guessing  the axe might be a miners axe head pattern?