Hurd Tool
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RED Matthews
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Hello, and that looks like a good find. It almost qualifies as a broad axe, but not with that short a handle. Is the blade offset? It was normally on a broad axe. They were used to straight side small beams, I think. RED Matthews
Plumbata
Well-Known Member
Nice find!
It looks like a Broad Axe to me. The handles could be quite long, to shorter than a standard hatchet handle. They represent one of the important items in a homesteader's toolkit, and were used to square logs and beams for building purposes. A standard axe would be used to score/gouge the log down the length on 4 sides, then the broadaxe would be brought in to cut off the excess. The blades were sharpened only on 1 side, so that one could easily cut and trim the excess and create relatively true and uniform flat faces, and the handles were offset so that one's hands and knuckles wouldn't hit the log you are working on. There are still old standing barns one can check out whose structural beams were made in this manner.
They have always been rather collectible and desirable tools, provided some fool didn't sharpen the other side previously, and although your item appears more "recent" (cast versus hand-forged) it is still a good find.
It looks like a Broad Axe to me. The handles could be quite long, to shorter than a standard hatchet handle. They represent one of the important items in a homesteader's toolkit, and were used to square logs and beams for building purposes. A standard axe would be used to score/gouge the log down the length on 4 sides, then the broadaxe would be brought in to cut off the excess. The blades were sharpened only on 1 side, so that one could easily cut and trim the excess and create relatively true and uniform flat faces, and the handles were offset so that one's hands and knuckles wouldn't hit the log you are working on. There are still old standing barns one can check out whose structural beams were made in this manner.
They have always been rather collectible and desirable tools, provided some fool didn't sharpen the other side previously, and although your item appears more "recent" (cast versus hand-forged) it is still a good find.
That's a great piece , especially being it is incised with a name , many of them are plain . The last plain one I sold was for fifty dollars and that was several years ago .They could be for straightening a log , but I always thought that the offset ones were used for notching the logs , maybe they were used for both .
botlguy
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Since we're on an educational kick here (I enjoy this) here's another sort of tool to do the preliminary siding of a log. It takes off material faster and then the broad axe does the finish unless you want it finer, then you can use a draw knife or plane. this is called an "ADZ".
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Plumbata
Well-Known Member
Nowadays it is tough to find adzes in nice shape, which haven't been used for digging in the dirt. Like broad-axes they were only sharpened on one side so a uniform flat plane could be cut, instead of having the tool dig into the wood. Use one improperly and if not ruined, you will have to re-work or grind off a large amount of the metal to get the working edge back where it should be.
botlguy
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It shouldn't be too difficult to research that tool, at least not for someone other than me. I do not believe they are worth a great deal, perhaps $20 - $30. Just my gut feeling.
epackage
Well-Known Member
Looking at the sales of similar pieces on Ebay you may be in the $100-200 range, take a look for yourself here...
http://www.ebay.com/sch/Collectibles-/1/i.html?_sac=1&_from=R40&LH_Complete=1&_nkw=%22broad+axe%22&_sop=3
http://www.ebay.com/sch/Collectibles-/1/i.html?_sac=1&_from=R40&LH_Complete=1&_nkw=%22broad+axe%22&_sop=3
Wow, thank you!!!! I found almost the exact same one on ebay!!!!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Unusual-Large-Antique-Broad-Axe-Head-Nearly-12-Across-Over-7-Pounds-Off-Set-/221148964532?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item337d8166b4
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Unusual-Large-Antique-Broad-Axe-Head-Nearly-12-Across-Over-7-Pounds-Off-Set-/221148964532?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item337d8166b4
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