Dutch - Oregon Trail

I've taken the high spot of the the "wave blade" out and sanded the back down to the point of being smooth not withstanding the small pits but it is smooth.

Square_peg, when you are referring to the heel, toe, and straight edge, do you mean it they are ok with a slight/mild even curve at both them them from the backside of the blade? So pointing a bit away from the log say if you were hewing with it? Or as the lips on an adze would face up towards the user?
 
If you lay a straight edge on the back (flat) side of the axe, as close to the bit as possible and running heel to toe, the axe should be either flat or slightly high in the middle. The heel or toe should not be high. A high heel or toe will gouge the work. Some old broad axes have been dropped or abused and have a high heel or toe. Thinner axes bend easier and are more likely to suffer damage in this way. Yours looks fine from what I can see but the straight edge is the real test.
 
Agent_H said:
...I believe the makers mark is GEWERKSCHAFT C.M SEEBACH ...
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I found some information on the "Gewerkschaft" (trade union) in Seebach (Austria), but nothing specifically about the "C.M." The information is not complete, but it could indicate that your axe was made prior to 1876 when the "Gewerkschaft" in Seebach changed hands following bankruptcy, and was changed to a tin plate factory by 1891.


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"Sie schöne Gewerkschaft Seebach bei Villach..."
"The beautiful trade union Seebach near Villach, which has so long flourished under the well-established firm of Simon von Pobeheim, had been reported as... [being sold?]... The trade union Seebach enjoyed itself in the business world of a long-standing excellent reputation founded by the long-dead Simon von Pobeheim..."
from Blätter aus Kärnten, Joh. & Fried. Leon, 1876, p. 641


This seems to be a notice or advertisement that the Simon von Pobeheim's "Hammerwerk" in Seebach was being sold.
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from Dingler's Polytechnisches Journal, Vol. 220, 1876, p.661
[Bankruptcy was mentioned in another source which I accidently deleted.]


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"The Hammerwerk in Seebach near Villach has been transformed into a metal ware factory which produces beautiful tin plates and tin - plated and enamelled and also exported."
from Die Österreisch-ungarische monarchie in wort und bild: Kärten und Krain, 1891, p. 252

An old photo of the former "Hammerwerk" in Seebach can be seen on page 170 of the PDF document:
https://www.museum-joanneum.at/upload/file/Geologie/Mitteilungen/29_Stipperger.pdf

Another site has some pictures, and says that the waterwheels were replaced by a turbine in 1930.

turnau_hammerwerk1.jpg


turnau_hammerwerk2.jpg

from https://austria-forum.org/af/Bilder...Teil_1_Um_den_Hochschwab/Marktgemeinde_Turnau
 
Square_peg, I am glad to see that I was on the right page with the blade shape.

*i will also acknowledge that you had to explain it to me twice then refer me to my own thread lol.

Steve, thanks for looking that up and putting that together! That is cool if it is that old. The Dutch tool dealer I acquired it from said late 19th but he wasn't sure. I was just after a usable pattern to try out.
 
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Agent_H,great project!

You seem to be in good hands,i like the evolving consensus!Special thanks to Square_peg of course,for all his thoughtful,level-headed advice...
(just to beat the dead horse a little:Yes,friction,or whatever it is that was mentioned,however,the germane fact is that any Cutting Edge is a SUM of two intersecting planes...One plane sharpened equals to about one hand clapping,et c....But we all know it well enough).

Kevin,thanks for your input.Your ideas about metallurgy are Basically sound enough,but don't forget that it's an Endlessly complex,(even mysterious:) bizness,and it don't pay to be too categorical,or to assume too much...

Wrought iron(now it's my turn to make an ass of meself:) can be almost anything in composition(Much of WI is Very high Carbon:),or shape,or texture...It simply means a steel alloy obtained by Puddling(burning the C out of cast,the so-called "pig-iron",heating it to the C-burning temp again and again,and refining it(old term "fining") by forging,and welding back on itself.
See,by definition,Cast begins somewhere in the 1.2-1.3%C range,everything below being hyper-eutectoid,but still Steel,so you could save yourself much fuel by refining your Cast only Just enough...:)
(Naturally,the entire deal is one bloody molten Silica mess,thus the inclusions).
So,what defines WI is that it was a now-outmoded form of structural steel,obtained by puddling.Period.NO indication of it's composition in that,rather loose,term.
USA produced WI up untill 1969.
In the far past,If you were serious about your stuff,and had the bucks,you could order Double-refined,triple,et c.,up to the Five-times refined Wrought!:)
Man,was that some sweet stuff...I've traveled once to the National Cathedral in DC just to see the forge-work done by my very favorite smith,S.Yellin,and other masters of the past.
And let me tell you,Kevin,the surface of some of that forge-work was smooth as a ... .
I also happen to own a couple of WI elements removed during restoration from a 17th c. English church.Ditto,the surface is flawless,the master's hammer and the anvil face polished to mirror smoothness,et c.

But, my going on and on like that brings to mind a good old quote from Mr Natural:"If you think you know what's going on-you're probably full of s@#t!" :)....
 
P.S.
Now that i think about it i seem to remember Cast being above 2+%C....My bad,but whoever had the patience to read the above will get the point:WI,contrary to urban legend,does Not have a defined C content...

Oh,yeah-Garry3,where in the world did you dig up That there fossil?! ....That looks even worse than any WI,it looks like a nasty,dirty Bloomery iron,from some equally nasty,thoroughly corrupt Karelian monastery....:)...The monk in charge of shopping for supplies drank up the funds,and the serfs had to put together a quick and dirty bloomery furnace,and it was raining the entire time....:)
 
Square_peg said:
I think those large handled stones are a good choice. I like to use them wet. They are still available new as a 'Norton Tradesmans Utility Stone' .
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Water, or do you mess with oil? I know they are technically oil stones, but I'm more of a water person :), hence the 2nd thoughts...
 
jake pogg said:
P.S.
Now that i think about it i seem to remember Cast being above 2+%C....My bad,but whoever had the patience to read the above will get the point:WI,contrary to urban legend,does Not have a defined C content...

Oh,yeah-Garry3,where in the world did you dig up That there fossil?! ....That looks even worse than any WI,it looks like a nasty,dirty Bloomery iron,from some equally nasty,thoroughly corrupt Karelian monastery....:)...The monk in charge of shopping for supplies drank up the funds,and the serfs had to put together a quick and dirty bloomery furnace,and it was raining the entire time....:)
Click to expand...
LOL! Do you know which monastery?
I found it in a bog while collecting peat for my garden. The bog was surrounded by ancient yews and I am pretty sure it was placed there by pagans that where indigenous to the area.
Either that or a yard sale. Have know idea how it ended up here. A widow selling some of her husbands old tools. It was an anomaly in a small collection of vintage tools.

I know nothing about European axes. Is that Eastern Europe, Russian axe?
 
garry3 said:
LOL! Do you know which monastery?
I found it in a bog while collecting peat for my garden. The bog was surrounded by ancient yews and I am pretty sure it was placed there by pagans that where indigenous to the area.
Either that or a yard sale. Have know idea how it ended up here. A widow selling some of her husbands old tools. It was an anomaly in a small collection of vintage tools.

I know nothing about European axes. Is that Eastern Europe, Russian axe?
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Well,Sir,it Appears to be one,yes.Though other countries produced similar for the Russian Empire(Germany,Sweden),and Finland was actually a part of the Empire(happily for Finns no more,uff...:(

I was kidding about the monastery of course,however,these are associated with circa 17- 18th c. church architecture,were authenticated thanks to those connections,and some came out of the known monastery forges....(some big and developed enough to sport their own touchmark).

This general type of axe was used for all sorts of woodworking techniques,some very fine...A rather iconic shape for the N.W. part of the (evil:) Empire:)

I have seen similar delaminations on an example from the forge at Kizhi monastery complex(thankfully a Unesco site nowadays,at least for what it's worth over there...:(
 
jake pogg said:
P.S.

Garry3,did it look like this:http://imgur.com/a/U1jlM ?...That is the type that i meant.The one pictured is a factory one,most probably by a German manufacturer(my guess).But the general shape is true to classic form.

(sorry to mess with the thread Agent_H...)
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Thanks for that information Jake.
My example is much bigger at 10" long with a 6" bit but that is the shape for sure. It doesn't have a makers mark but it is stamped.
Do these letters ring any bells with you Jake?


I also apologies for the thread derail.
 
garry3 said:
Thanks for that information Jake.
My example is much bigger at 10" long with a 6" bit but that is the shape for sure. It doesn't have a makers mark but it is stamped.
Do these letters ring any bells with you Jake?


I also apologies for the thread derail.
Click to expand...

Garry3,i'm sorry,i'll have to take back everything i said above.

This axe is most interesting,and a Very uncommon shape.In Russia,virtually unknown.

The only thing that would qualify it as Russian is the eye,and that peculiar spur-appendage.However,those quite possibly came from Scandinavia(arguably(and MOST objectionable to the Russian nationalists),along with all the tool-making,and woodworking technologies....).

Alas,i cannot make out the letters at all...Not even wether they're Cyrillic or Latin script...Would it be possible perhaps to copy them on paper,even most approximately?

Meanwhile,the general shape of the axe puts me in mind of the Norwegian Laftebile,or similar:A very fine-bladed,wide axe with a straight-ish edge,for working on those wide flats on the inside of the notch in the Norwegian-scribe type log construction...A specialised tool originally,but was later employed wider and wider,spreading through Scandinavian countries....

(REALLY sorry,Agent_H!:)
 
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