Axe, Tomahawk & Hatchet Photo Thread

H&B Forge Hawk and Sharpfinger Skinner collection.

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Some, like the full-sized axe I linked a picture to, have rectangular bars welded either side of the bit to prevent sinking too deep through the sheet metal and help with leverage in withdrawing the bit. It's a less common crash axe bit shape, but I've seen a decent number of different ones over the years.

Baryonyx Knife Co. FortyTwoBlades is our resident axe expert and he is the one to message on this.IMG_6698.jpeg
 
I acquired a pipe hawk recently at auction (see: https://knifeauctions.auction.net/l...catalog/id/142#mz-expanded-view-1253114551510.) It is a collaboration between Mark Williams (Williams Forge) and Chuck Burrows (Wild Rose Trading Co.) and was completed about 2004. I've tracked down quite a bit of information about it from this and other forums but I haven't found much info about Mark Williams himself. I see he used to be a moderator here but he hasn't posted for many years, so I assume he is deceased... is that correct? I learned his Williams Forge was in Virginia but don't know where, does anyone recall what town he was in?

Anything anyone cares to tell me about Mark and his life and work would be most welcome, as the photos that accompanied his posts are now unavailable. I will add whatever information I gather to the background I am compiling on this specific tomahawk and on Mark and Chuck and Linda Burrows. Thank you!

Dennis
 
deo-pa said:
I acquired a pipe hawk recently at auction (see: https://knifeauctions.auction.net/lot-details/index/catalog/142/lot/57993?url=/auctions/catalog/id/142#mz-expanded-view-1253114551510.) It is a collaboration between Mark Williams (Williams Forge) and Chuck Burrows (Wild Rose Trading Co.) and was completed about 2004. I've tracked down quite a bit of information about it from this and other forums but I haven't found much info about Mark Williams himself. I see he used to be a moderator here but he hasn't posted for many years, so I assume he is deceased... is that correct? I learned his Williams Forge was in Virginia but don't know where, does anyone recall what town he was in?

Anything anyone cares to tell me about Mark and his life and work would be most welcome, as the photos that accompanied his posts are now unavailable. I will add whatever information I gather to the background I am compiling on this specific tomahawk and on Mark and Chuck and Linda Burrows. Thank you!

Dennis
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Sorry I don't have any additional information, its a beautiful piece especially for the price.
 
Sorry I don't have any additional information, its a beautiful piece especially for the price.
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Thanks kafolarbear. Adding the buyer's premium, shipping, and insurance took it up to about $440. I can't confirm this is true, but I've been told the original selling price back in 2004 was about twice that. I'm a believer in telling folks what I paid for my items, as I think having that information out in the open means that there is one more data point about what one guy thought it was worth. Then folks they can make their own assessments of whether I overpaid, got a fair deal, or got a steal. The amount I paid was worth it to me, and I think that is all that counts.

When I've gathered everything I can about the hawk, I'll post some photos showing construction details and describe exactly how it was built. It has lots of interesting attention to historical detail.

This hawk is destined to be a gift to a close friend of over 60 years. When he was younger he did mountain man reenactments and rendezvous, and also participated in the multi-year bicentennial reenactment of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.

Dennis
 
@Square_peg1 this appears to be an obscure rabbit hole. I don't mind rabbit holes. If I'm given compelling reasons to explore them, and maybe some direction... whatcha got?
 
David Mary said:
@Square_peg1 this appears to be an obscure rabbit hole. I don't mind rabbit holes. If I'm given compelling reasons to explore them, and maybe some direction... whatcha got?
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There have been several great threads on rafting axes in this forum. A google search will turn them up. But here are a couple of the better ones.

S

Thread '"Rafting Axe"'

Looking at the various axe head patterns that were posted today, I saw one ("rafting") that matched an axe I have with a hardened poll. This solves a mystery for me.

"rafting axe: a single bit axe with a short handle and a heavy, extended poll (sometimes with tapered corners resulting in an eight-sided poll) suitable for driving and striking and especially adapted for use on logging rafts."
"raft: a group of logs secured together with chains or cables so they can be floated as a comparatively single unit."
--from YesteryearsTools Glossary...
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S

Thread 'Miners axe, rafting axe, construction axe'

Whatever you call those old hardened poll axes these photos can give us an idea why these axes were so popular for people outside of forestry. Think about this mining photo. A big part of mining is a shoring operation - a continual battle to stop the earth above from falling in on you. A fractured rock ceiling doesn't conform perfectly to square-cut timbers. Once a timber frame was built you would have to install wedges to fill the gaps between the timber and the rock above. Or the timbers themselves might need to have the corners knocked off in places to fit to the rock...
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Here's another good thread but all the images on the first page are gone now and I can't restore them because I lost access to that account. The 2nd & 3rd pages still have some good photos.

S

Thread 'Finally hung my rafting axe'

A month or so ago I picked up a nice 5 pound Plumb rafting axe. I had very high hopes for it. It was pretty clean and only lightly used. It had a thin layer of rust on it.

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What I liked most about this axe was the waffle pattern hardened poll. This axe was designed for hammering.

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The other day I gave away my favorite splitting axe to a good friend. I needed a replacement and figured this big 5-pounder was the ticket.

First thing I...
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