HYTEST AXES, post yours

Twoinch · Sep 21, 2014

Steve Tall said:
An ad from 1958 listing 3 models of HYTEST axes, with descriptions of each in the linked page:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/printArticleJpg/136301139/3?print=n

A 1946 ad from a hardware store, with prices for their axes. Hytests were priced the highest, Kelly had the lowest prices (below Plumb).
(Prices were in Australian Pounds and Shillings, prior to 1966)

KELLY AXES 16/3
PLUMB AXES 17/4
KEESTEEL AXES 18/6
HYTEST AXES 19/6

from http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/151461476?searchTerm=hytest%20axe%20design&searchLimits=l-availability=y

are you sure those are prices?

edit - nevermind, i thought the x/x could have been something else, but google taught me that is how the pound shilling price was written.

Bridger · Sep 22, 2014

$100?

I wouldn't have been able to pay him fast enough, lol. Great score! Be sure to post some pics of it in use.

300Six · Sep 22, 2014

gunscrounger said:
Thanks Steve, for the info and links. I'll do some more searching. Good to know it's quality steel. Whatever B.H.P. steel alloy is equivalent to it apparently handled the extreme hardwoods they have without issue.

It was $100.00. Regardless of actual worth, to me a bargain because I wanted one and thought I'd never see on here, let alone an unused one.

Virtually anyone here would have cheerfully coughed up $100 for the opportunity you actually got. Drawback to NOS prizes like this is you then have to seek out another with infinitely lesser collector value in order to actually discover what you can do with one in the bush.

Twoinch · Sep 22, 2014

300Six said:
Virtually anyone here would have cheerfully coughed up $100 for the opportunity you actually got. Drawback to NOS prizes like this is you then have to seek out another with infinitely lesser collector value in order to actually discover what you can do with one in the bush.

nahh... id definitely use it. i wouldnt abuse it, but surely use it.

Zymologist · Sep 22, 2014

I just watched one sell on Ebay. If you find one without a sticker on it then how do you know what it is? I've seen a few now with no markings claiming to be Hytest on different websites.

Did some Hytest have stamps and others not? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Webscrounger · Sep 22, 2014

The find was pure coincidence and I had no idea what they were worth. You are right though. I'm having a hard time deciding whether to put a profile on it and use it or keep it as a collector piece. Seems waste not to play with it, but then again....I have several others available.

Webscrounger · Sep 23, 2014

I wish I knew. I've seen some (pics) with label only, some with embossed with HYTEST and RACING AXE and various other markings but there's no doc I can find that goes into detail about various models. The Australian 'Bladeforums', forestry and timbersports forums have more references to their axes than you're likely to in a U.S. forum.

Webscrounger · Sep 23, 2014

300Six said:
Virtually anyone here would have cheerfully coughed up $100 for the opportunity you actually got. Drawback to NOS prizes like this is you then have to seek out another with infinitely lesser collector value in order to actually discover what you can do with one in the bush.

What would a HYTEST be worth today? Similar to a like new Sager or Legitimus?

idaho_crosscut · Sep 25, 2014

i recently was gifted a N.O.S. trojan, likely the brother to moosecreek's. i also wonder what it might be worth-- so when i fuck up grinding it, or play "find the telephone line staple in the tree" i have a dollar scale i can reference to determine how bad my mistake was!!

Bridger · Sep 25, 2014

idaho_crosscut said:
i recently was gifted a N.O.S. trojan, likely the brother to moosecreek's. i also wonder what it might be worth-- so when i fuck up grinding it, or play "find the telephone line staple in the tree" i have a dollar scale i can reference to determine how bad my mistake was!!

I need new friends. Soooooo jealous!

Webscrounger · Sep 27, 2014

Post a pic. I'd love to see more of these.

idaho_crosscut said:
i recently was gifted a N.O.S. trojan, likely the brother to moosecreek's. i also wonder what it might be worth-- so when i fuck up grinding it, or play "find the telephone line staple in the tree" i have a dollar scale i can reference to determine how bad my mistake was!!

tylermack · Apr 19, 2016

It's funny how Americans rave at hytest and say how rare they are in the states. I have 2 hytests. I suppose it's like me going on about sager chemicals and Collins double bits.

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tylermack · Apr 19, 2016

idaho_crosscut said:
i recently was gifted a N.O.S. trojan, likely the brother to moosecreek's. i also wonder what it might be worth-- so when i fuck up grinding it, or play "find the telephone line staple in the tree" i have a dollar scale i can reference to determine how bad my mistake was!!

Trojan still make axes. They brought out hytest forged tools also they are not the best quality but maybe the old ones are better.???

Old Axeman · Apr 19, 2016

Did anyone here buy my Hytest racing axes off ebay in 2014-15 ? I miss them, I hope they got a good home.

tylermack · Apr 19, 2016

My dad found it for me last week I put a new spottedgum handle on it.

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Steve Tall · Apr 19, 2016

tylermack said:
...I put a new spottedgum handle on it.

The Hytest Craftsman axes were supplied with the choice of American hickory or spotted gum handles, according to the ad shown earlier. "Spotted gum" is apparently a type of eucalyptus. Some related types of eucalyptus trees are now growing in Hawaii. Hickory substitute for Old Axeman?

Old Axeman said:
...I now live on the Big Island of Hawaii. There are some wonderfull woods here, like Koa....I am still looking for a wood here to sub for hickory (we both know there is no sub for hickory for axe helves)...

RICKOFF · Apr 19, 2016

Steve Tall said:
The Hytest Craftsman axes were supplied with the choice of American hickory or spotted gum handles, according to the ad shown earlier. "Spotted gum" is apparently a type of eucalyptus. Some related types of eucalyptus trees are now growing in Hawaii. Hickory substitute for Old Axeman?

We have many types of Eucalypti in SoCal, it's quite plentiful and it's about the only thing I use for heat.

Ready for next winter.

Steve Tall · Apr 19, 2016

RICKOFF said:
We have many types of Eucalypti in SoCal, it's quite plentiful and it's about the only thing I use for heat...

"The scarcity of good second growth hickory has caused manufacturers of all sorts of implements which require hard tough wood to take notice of the Eucalyptus."

from Eucalyptus: Its History, Growth, and Utilization, by C. H. Sellers, 1910

Old Axeman · Apr 19, 2016

Steve, thanks for thinking about my wood supply problem for hafts. Funny thing, the county road dept. just knocked a big Eucalypti down and pushed it off to the side and left it. I will go check it out. It should be quite a sight for the locals--an old haole with an axe on the side of the road chopping on an old Eucalypti tree.

RICKOFF · Apr 19, 2016

Axeman the only thing I can say is get it while it green because when it dries it's the one of the hardest woods I've run across. I have some large pieces of trunks and some bits just bounce right off. I'm thinking to take my 60# jack hammer to split em.