Axes with eye ridges....

gben, I have no issue with you, and I can even see where you are coming from, but...might I suggest a little tact? I know that you have been on many forums before, as have I. What I like about this one that raises it above the others that I have been on is that almost everyone is respectful and can discuss like normal people. I like the near absence of flame wars here.

I like the idea of being able to disagree without being disagreeable.
 
I have a Jersey pattern head from True Temper/Red Warrior/Kelly Works that has no eye ridges. From this discussion, I gather that is unusual.
 
I have a Jersey pattern head from True Temper/Red Warrior/Kelly Works that has no eye ridges. From this discussion, I gather that is unusual.

By coincidence I picked up a 3.5 pound Jersey axe today that is stamped "Champion, Kelly Works" which I see no eye ridges in. Other than that it looks just like the heads I have with four and six ridges inside.

In another thread I read that the Champion line of axes was popular in the 20s-40s.
 
I have a Jersey pattern head from True Temper/Red Warrior/Kelly Works that has no eye ridges. From this discussion, I gather that is unusual.

Not unusual at all. They went through a period where they used eye ridges. Older ones didn't have it. New ones don't have. I don't know exactly what dates they used eye ridges. I guess is was during the 60's and 70's or at least parts of those decades. Maybe into the 80's.
 
I don't have much to add as far as which North American axe company manufactured these red 4 ridge Jerseys. But I have a personal weakness for them. They are fairly abundant at garage sales around here, often with minimal use but signs casual abuse. I have three basically identical to gben's original pic, (originally red, same weight, 4 eye ridges, one definitely had a paper label so likely they all did). The only major difference is that two of them are stamped A 7 on the left cheek where the label would have been.

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I just brought this home last week with a few others.
Jersey1.jpg

Head looks very similar, same red paint, 4 ridges, only visible markings are what looks like a backwards "C" and "43".
Jersey2.jpg

Steel is very hard....just about wore out a file on it. De-rusted, sharpened, and re-hung on the same handle I got with it. It was hung with one metal wedge in the kerf. Made pulling the handle real easy. Another nice $3 user to the herd.
 
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It was hung with one metal wedge in the kerf. Made pulling the handle real easy. Another nice user to the herd.

How do you pull the head so easily? I always have to drill, unless the head is actually loose.
 
How do you pull the head so easily? I always have to drill, unless the head is actually loose.


It wasn't really hung all that well to begin with. Head wiggled all over. I have an eye shaped piece of wood I use to drive out loose handles. I'd say that 50% of the handled axes I find I can re-use the handle.
 
Here is a Kelly Works Champion Jersey with no ridges in it's eye. I am guessing it is from the 1930s. Very short, loose handle needs to be reset, axe is 20" overall in length. I like how you can see a lot of the manufacturing process this axe went through by looking at the metal on it's sides etc..

I have not found a patent for the eye ridges, and have seen no literature talking about them other than the mid-sixties TT catalog. If there are no pre-WWII Kelly axes laying around with eye ridges then maybe it was a post-war addition. Keep the old literature and axe-heads coming and maybe someday we will be able to sort out the history of axe-eye ridges......


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Here is a Kelly Works Champion Jersey with no ridges in it's eye. I am guessing it is from the 1930s.

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Kelly Works was pretty generous with the heat treatment on this. Definitely a keeper. And I do like that type of handle.
 
Here are photos of a Kelly Perfect with six eye ridges per the January 1967 True Temper catalog. Eventually if we get enough examples with marks we could make educated guesses as to who made all those unmarked axe heads with eye ridges.


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Eventually if we get enough examples with marks we could make educated guesses as to who made all those unmarked axe heads with eye ridges.

That would be nice. We know TT used them and that many Woodslashers came with only paper labels and no stamps. We know Collins used them. During much of the time that TT made eye ridge axes we know that Mann Edge Tool was making Collins. It's not too big of a leap to guess that Mann Edge Tool made other eye ridge axes - though this is speculation. We know that Vaughan made eye ridge axes. We also know that Vaughan make axes for other retailers like Sears/Craftsman. I wouldn't be surprised if Vaughan also made axes for others - but again this is speculation.

Perhaps careful measuring of the spacing between the ridges and the dimensions of the eyes might lead to finding similarities among various brands. I'll make it a point to measure a Collins, a Stiletto and a Kelly/TT. I'll also send an email to Old Jimbo and see if I can get him to measure his Vaughan.
 
...I have not found a patent for the eye ridges, and have seen no literature talking about them other than the mid-sixties TT catalog. If there are no pre-WWII Kelly axes laying around with eye ridges then maybe it was a post-war addition. Keep the old literature and axe-heads coming and maybe someday we will be able to sort out the history of axe-eye ridges...

From a Kelly advertisement dated 1960, stating that the six ridges inside the eye were a new feature (patent applied for), and were used in the Kelly Perfect, Flint Edge, and Woodslasher lines:

Hardware Age - Volume 186, Issues 3-6 - Page 79
https://books.google.com/books?id=v_YTAQAAMAAJ
1960 - ‎Snippet view
HEAD LOCK Six biting forged-steel ridges inside the eye of this head grip the hickory like a bear trap. Lock head and handle together ... It's the newest way to hold axe heads tight (patent applied for). Featured in True Temper's Kelly Perfect, Flint Edge and Kelly Wood-slasher lines. All patterns and weights! Order now from ...


I did a quick look for the patent, and didn't find anything (yet). Perhaps the patent was denied.
 
Here's a newspaper ad dated 1984, from a group of "Pro Hardware" stores in Texas, showing a single bit axe with "forged-steel ridges inside the eye of the head". No brand is given, but it is "priced to meet all competition."

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SONHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G4AMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1784%2C7907005

Interesting comparison of this ad text to the previously mentioned Kelly ad from 1960:

1984: "...forged-steel ridges inside the eye of the head grip this handle..."
1960: "...forged-steel ridges inside the eye of this head grip the hickory..."


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Edited to add:

Similar ads for Woodslasher axes (and sometimes Flint Edge) can be found for dates between 1971-1982, such as these:

MEN'S SINGLE BIT AXES

FLINT EDGE ® AXES Forged from a solid bar of high carbon steel. Uniformly heat treated and tempered. Full ground edge and top of head polished. Permanent black Flint Edge finish. Forged-steel ridges inside the eye grip the handle securely. Hickory handles, power driven and Fire-Hardened®. Cruiser Axe is the one for easy carrying and use with one hand . . . a favorite with campers and sportsmen!
SALE 9.99 ... Reg. 14.49

KELLY ® WOODSLASHER AXES Forged from a solid bar of high carbon steel, properly heat treated and tempered. Bright polished bits. Poll finished in bright red. Forged-steel ridges inside the eye grip the handle securely. Power driven Fire-Hardened® hickory handles.
SALE 7.99 ... Reg. 11.99

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(above ad from this Tucson newspaper)
Tucson Daily Citizen from Tucson, Arizona · Page 40
www.newspapers.com/newspage/23710348/
Oct 23, 1975 - Forged-steel ridges inside the eye grip the handle securely. Hickory handles, power driven and Fire- Hardened®. Cruiser Axe is the one for ...

Idaho State Journal from Pocatello, Idaho · Page 53
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/16121867/
Oct 19, 1975 - 15.99 # 35M2K · 3 1 /: Ib. weight, forged steel ridges inside the eye grip the handle securely 17 99 SINGLE B!T AXE REG. 14.49 # 35M1K · ...

Tucson Daily Citizen from Tucson, Arizona · Page 9
www.newspapers.com/newspage/17562683/
Jan 15, 1976 - Forged-steel ridges inside the eye grip the handle securely. Hickory handles ...


 
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This old Collins rafting pattern should be added to the list of axes of other-than-Kelly/TT eye ridge axes.
(Thanks to Steve for reminding me of this thread.)

So, last weekend I went to the local metal recycler and I brought home what I thought to be a Collins rafting axe with a crack running the length of its eye. Normally I would pass on an axe with a cracked eye but I don't have a rafting axe, the price was right and it seemed like a fun challenge. After hitting it lightly with a fine wire cup brush the makers stamp clearly revealed itself and sure enough this rafting axe is a Collins.




I then soaked it in distilled white vinegar for a couple days while periodically removing it to hit it with the cup brush, lightly sanding it and returning it to the vinegar bath. During this process I noticed something peculiar about this axe head. The vinegar bath revealed no heat treatment lines. I was expecting to see distinct lines across the cheeks and at the poll but there was nothing. In fact, while soaking in the vinegar this head turned quite black and uniform in color almost like the whole axe head was hardened.





Could this be the result of the axe head going through a fire? Then after it was rehafted someone eventually used it as a wedge? When they smacked it with a sledge or whatever it cracked because it was too brittle? My question now is if I get the eye welded up, how do I fix the heat treatment and tempering so that its hard and soft in all the right places?
Is it even worth welding?



I like this axe and hope its worth saving.
 
Thanks to Steve Tall and Square Peg. Great information, did it get us anywhere?

If Peg's single-bit Collins was not made by Kelly, then we can not say that unmarked axe heads are made by one company or the other definitively.

Also there are axes with numbers of ridges in the eye other than six, and we have not come up with any marked examples that have less than six ridges to shed any light on those axes.

The 1960 patent is interesting, I wonder if they thought they could get a new patent just by changing the number of ridges in the eye, or if the ridges were made or shaped in some other way to warrant a patent.

Looks like it is going to be a long process before we can identify unmarked axe heads by the number and shape of ridges in their eyes.....!
 
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