Axes with eye ridges....

G

gben

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Nov 26, 2014
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An unmarked Jersey axe head. Purchased from the estate of a man who lived to be 96 years old.

Kelly axe company put six ridges inside the eye of the axe head to help it bite the handle, but this has four ridges in the eye. I guess I need to do some digging to see who may have made it.

It sort of looks like the remnants of a label on one side, or at least a spot where a label protected the paint a bit better. When I got it the broken handle was so rotten and dry I simply pulled it out with my fingers. Looks to have had little or no use during it's life, I don't see any nicks or dings and it does not look to have been sharpened much at all:


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Here is the Kelly Jersey with six ridges inside it's eye:

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Regardless of who made it you sure got yourself a 'super clean' user and a fantastic excuse to start fussing around crafting a straight/curved, octagon etc etc suitable haft for it. What's the weight of this, by the way?
 
Square_peg said:
Kelly used 4, 5 or 6 ridges. I'd bet dimes to dollars that you have a Woodslasher.
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Where is this documented? In the 1967 TrueTemper catalog for instance, it has Perfect, Flint Edge and Woodslasher axes all using six ridges in the eye.

Is there a TrueTemper catalog that is newer or older that documents axe heads with less than six ridges? I am not a fan of hearsay, old wive's tales or opinions.....
 
gben said:
Where is this documented? In the 1967 TrueTemper catalog for instance, it has Perfect, Flint Edge and Woodslasher axes all using six ridges in the eye.

Is there a TrueTemper catalog that is newer or older that documents axe heads with less than six ridges? I am not a fan of hearsay, old wive's tales or opinions.....
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My circa 1980 Woodslaher double-bit does not appear to have any ribs. I don't know if that is typical of that era or not, but it is a woodslasher.
 
Thanks for bringing that point up Farmer. I have Kelly True Temper Perfect, Vulcan and Flint-Edge double-bit axes and one Kelly DB from the 20s, and none of them have ridges in them, and the 1967 catalog does not specifically say that the DB axes do have ridges in them.

Why a single-bit axe would need ridges in it's eye and a double-bit would not I do not know.

I tried looking for patent info on this feature today on Google with little success so far. Also I spent some time today looking at old axe and tool catalogs for mention of eye ridges with no luck so far aside from the 67' True Temper catalog here in my possession.

At this point I would never say that all axes with ridges are Kelly or True Temper though, because I have found mention that Vaughan made axes with ridges in the eye, and I think council tool is doing the same thing.

All I know for sure is that I do not know anything, and also that I never take what people on the internet say as fact unless they can show that they have a real source backing them up as in a physical example or samples or period literature. I have had a lot of experience with opinion and hearsay in dealing with vintage British motorcycles and have seen what a waste of time it can be for everybody interested in facts and history.


Steve Tall put up pages from a 1930 Kelly catalog in another thread that does not mention the eye ridges at all, so it may be a feature that was patented and implemented after that date. Also in the same thread Square Peg had this to say:

Square_peg said:
I've seen axes with two ridges on each side, with two on one side three on the other, and with three on each side. But I've never seen four on one side. I'd like to see a picture of that.

Besides Kelly/True Temper I've seen Collins and Stiletto axes with ridges - though the Stiletto may have been made by TT. Some Stiletto ridge-eyes were certainly made by TT. And it seems like I've seen another maker with ridges but the name slips my mind right now.
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So it would be interesting to find a Collins catalog that mentions the eye ridges, or a marked collins axe head with the ridges inside to back up his sighting.
 
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Pretty sure I have that exact same Jersey head. Don't know anything about it, so I'll be following this thread with interest. It sure does work well though, regardless of whether I know its history. Those ridges gave me a devil of time trying to get the head seated on the new haft, though.

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Man, that looks a lot like my Grandfather's that I restored. Four ridges in the eye, the remnants of red paint and no makings. Hmmm.
 
I can guarantee you that Jersey is a True Temper Woodslasher. I have the exact same head and I also have a Woodslasher cruiser and a Woodslasher 3lb double bit. They are absolutely wonderful heads!! The very early ones were marked as Woodslasher but they stopped stamping them in 1948-49. They have been a paper label axe ever since. Hope this helps ya out a little.
 
gben said:
Steve Tall put up pages from a 1930 Kelly catalog in another thread that does not mention the eye ridges at all, so it may be a feature that was patented and implemented after that date. Also in the same thread Square Peg had this to say:

Square_peg said:
I've seen axes with two ridges on each side, with two on one side three on the other, and with three on each side. But I've never seen four on one side. I'd like to see a picture of that.

Besides Kelly/True Temper I've seen Collins and Stiletto axes with ridges - though the Stiletto may have been made by TT. Some Stiletto ridge-eyes were certainly made by TT. And it seems like I've seen another maker with ridges but the name slips my mind right now.
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So it would be interesting to find a Collins catalog that mentions the eye ridges, or a marked collins axe head with the ridges inside to back up his sighting.
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What is it with you? You think I make this stuff up? This is in my personal collection same as the 4, 5 & 6 ridge axes. You don't need a catalog. Just look at the picture.

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Square_peg said:
What is it with you? You think I make this stuff up?
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I can't see what is wrong asking for documentation? This is the internet and it really does not matter what people write on it, they can write anything. Unless somebody accompanies a statement with photos or period literature it is no better than any other statement.

So it is nothing personal, it is just that many, many times on the internet you will see people make statements not because they actually know anything, but because they need to assert an ego, or they heard something from a friend's friend etc...

If you want to do something important, then help document the history and facts about axes in a definite way as you just did with the photo of your Collins. Thank-you.

Now we have two axe heads with six ridges inside, a Collins and an unmarked Jersey. It could mean that two different companies made axes with six ridges inside, or does it mean that Kelly/True-Temper made axe heads for Collins under contract? Or did Collins make a Jersey head with ridges inside just like True-Temper did? We still have no definitive answer.

I have two unmarked Jersey axes, one with six ridges and one with four ridges in the eye, and I am just not going to assume what they are because somebody says something or because it makes me feel better. I actually want to research and uncover real facts about the history of when and where the ridges in axe eyes were used.....
 
You're new here, Ben. There are quite a few individuals here who can be taken at their word. Read, watch and learn. When you imply that they are blowing smoke up our arses it is inappropriate.

I'm not going to take the time to post images to back up every statement I make on this forum. If I were required to do that this forum would see a lot less of me.
 
I like how Steve Tall puts up lots of photos and documents as answers to others questions. If you are not tech savvy I can see how it could be a problem, it is pretty easy for me though.

If someone has such a big ego that they don't want to back up what they say when asked then they don't have to use any of their time answering any question I ask. I might not have been on this forum long but I have been on many others for many years and I know for a fact that 90% of what people say on them is nothing but opinion and hearsay, that is just the way the world works right now.

If anyone is researching anything at all axes or vintage motorcycles etc.., then the very last source of information they should trust is what people say. First comes factory or period literature, second comes period photographs, after that comes hard examples of the object in question, next are eye-witness accounts, last is opinion and hearsay, it is just common sense.
 
I don't believe a word in your previous post. Now if you were to thoroughly footnote the post and give a complete bibliography of the sources you used to make those claims then it might be of use to this forum. As is it's just opinion and hearsay.

gben said:
.....I know for a fact that 90% of what people say on them is nothing but opinion and hearsay....
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Please cite the source of this claim so we can evaluate its accuracy.


I smell a troll.
 
Square_peg said:
Please cite the source of this claim so we can evaluate its accuracy.
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You are smelling yourself of course. Most literate people already know the definition of the words "logic" and "fact", "opinion" and "hearsay", but for those who do not it should be easy enough to look them up. The first two count when researching history, the last two do not......
 
OK OK guys that's enough already. I enjoy hearing from the both of you on this forum, except in this case.
 
Interesting indeed. I like the axe discussion, not so much that where is your mom from discussion. SP doesn't need to validate anything, I know that. I have axes with.....drum roll.....2,4,5,6 ridges in the eye. So it does happen.
 
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