Help-Axe Head

[Lwalker]

Hello,
I’m a new member and I’m hoping you can help. I bought what I think is a very old iron broad axe head. I use it as a paper weight (smile). It’s iron and the “loop” at the top is probably bent. I’d like to know for sure what it is and it’s approximate age. Thank you in advance,
Linda in Cincinnati

 

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[releventchair]

Welcome to T-Net.


The side not visible should be completely flat. No beveled edge on that side for it to be a broadaxe.
To be used for hewing the sides off a round (where the round was already hewed within lengths shorter than the broad axe , using a different style axe if available) , to where the intended line of the edge would be, yes the eye is out of alignment.

Iron was common. Steel was more precious/valuable. Steel was often forge welded into the bit.cutting edge area to save on material and costs.
Abuse of the tool often showed where the iron yielded...In your case the eye.
There's a chance it was deliberately modified , but I'm not imagining for what..

Broad axes had a wide range of use. Some still likely in use.
I'm only guessing yours is from the eighteen hundreds. But caution the reader I really don't know.

The provenance of the axe might help.
Including where it was acquired. (I don't need to know , but for your future research it will help).

When were timbers/beams still being squared off in the area?
Prior to that round logs were used.
Where time was short ,round worked.
Where luxury afforded (and what lady would object to flat walls if given a choice) timbers could be squared off.
Sometimes an adze followed the hewing with an axe. Fancier work there.
If you get to look over hand hewn timbers/logs/beams/floor joists or whatever you'll see a variety.
Floor joists only needed to be flat on top. And why be fussy getting them all pretty if they were reasonably flat?

A skilled worker left less "scoring to the line"marks than an amateur. Skill gained with time and experience.
A homesteader building thier first/or second home or addition on a site can be forgiven cruder work. But try to make the interior exposed stuff the best.
If winter and or other work is pressing , finesse and perfection go out the window...

Looking over them old worked timbers and running a hand over one gains appreciation for the effort. And the wood.

A broadaxe often had a curved handle.
When whacking the pre scored in between slabs off the edge , knuckles were close to the wood as the axe passed along the edge.
A curved handle gave more space between.

Nice axe. Both in it's creation and imagined life's work,so far.

Edit:
If you're using it for a paperweight, it probably smaller than a broadaxe for hewing bigger timbers/beams ect..

I go will pole axe with the small broadaxe looking tools. For smaller denominational timbers , and especially poles.
Which had many uses. Even in and on homes..

A full sized broadaxe is a handfull. The heavy weight helps , but would be more than required for smaller dimensional stuff.

 

[XtreasureX]

That is poetry. I like axes more now than ever.

 

[Lwalker]

Thank you so much for your excellent explanation. I measured the bottom - it is 11”. The front side bottom edge is beveled. The back side is flat. A friend of mine who likes old tools and owns an antique store here in SW Ohio bought it because it intrigued him. He thought it might be an adze. Settlement in this part of Ohio was in the period of 1796 with more settlers coming well into the 1800s.
Also I presume it’s iron. It’s very heavy.
Linda

 

[releventchair]

Thank you so much for your excellent explanation. I measured the bottom - it is 11”. The front side bottom edge is beveled. The back side is flat. A friend of mine who likes old tools and owns an antique store here in SW Ohio bought it because it intrigued him. He thought it might be an adze. Settlement in this part of Ohio was in the period of 1796 with more settlers coming well into the 1800s.
Also I presume it’s iron. It’s very heavy.
Linda

I certainly believe it's heavy with an 11 inch blade.
They can be bigger , but that measurement means you have a broadaxe. Vs a broadhatchet. (My version of a poleaxe.)

I'm not leaning towards adze. An adze a few inches wide is a handfull when you're straddling a log and chipping towards your shins...

The eye on your piece is the interesting thing that stands out.
Most more recent broad axes do not have a round eye.
Those from other countries with round eyes have extended material for strength.

Your Axe holds a secret of who built it. It might date in the late seventeen hundreds into the early eighteen hundreds.

Why it was not repaired or recycled is just another question. It was not uncommon for such things to get tossed in a pile. Potential stock ,or future projects.
Maybe the design discouraged repair attempt?
Or no forge on the homestead yet?

A neat piece. Worth hanging onto while digging further towards the origin of the mystery of who and when....

My interest in them started with my Grandfathers broad Axe and what he made with it. I'd heard accounts before I inherited it.
I never got to ask him why he kept it under the steps to his house.
Was it a superstition? Or just the humidity of the soil keeping it's handle tight? Or simply a place to store it flat and fairly dry out of harms way?

 

[Lwalker]

Hello again and many thanks for your information. As an avid history lover especially of the 1700-1800 period I’m delighted with all you’ve told me. My significant other says he bought it from an Amish antiques dealer in 2011 in Adams county SW Ohio. That gentleman knew tools he said but wasn’t sure about this piece.
So my quest continues!
Linda

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Great background information already supplied by 'WP'.

Here are some additional pics I found to help date your axe head, as it looks to be late 18th - early 19thc.

Dave

 

[Lwalker]

Thank you Dave! Looks like it could be a Cooper Broad with the top twisted.

 

[villagenut]

Nice forged iron, in great condition.

 

[Forest Mosquito]

Hello.
This is not an ax, but a hoe for the earth.
We find them on the 18-19 century.
I can add a photo.
I have a couple of these hoes.

 

[Forest Mosquito]

I took a photo.
What I could find quickly.
1.Teslo hoe 8-10th century.
2.Like your hoe for 18-19 ground even beginning 20.
3. This is the tip of the plow, its shape has been unchanged for many centuries.
4. Teslo ax Kievan Rus 13-14 century.
5. Teslo but already later than the 17-19th century.

 

[How Lucky]

I agree, its a hand forged hoe. I've found many over the years.