Collectable British axes?

[xkeighleycha]

Hello all,

New to the forum and new to collecting axes. Can anyone give me an idea about which brands and types of axes that are considered as being 'collectable' and manufactured in the UK? A lot of the forums I have read in the past have mentioned brands such as a Plumb, True Temper and Council Tools however I'm sure that these are manufactured in the USA and are not commonly found in the UK?

Someone on another forum told me that the key to collecting axes is collecting things that you like, however, I would still like to collect some pieces that are considered as being collectable within the community.

Thanks in advance,
Jack.

 

[300Six]

When an implement features an identifiable stamp it becomes infinitely more collectible than one without. From perusing overseas websites once in awhile I have noticed the Brits collect darn near anything tool related and price the stuff accordingly. Axe making in Britain is a heck of a lot older enterprise, and more diverse, than setting your sights on gathering up n. American axes.

 

[Marcelo Cantu]

One name I can think of is Elwell

 

[joshiecole]

Whitehouse Elwell, Brades, Gilpin are a few collectible names off the top of my head. There seem to be quite a few WW2 era pieces around. I don't know for sure but my instinct is that these are rather more mass produced than earlier-made axes. I know from collecting other tools and Gurkha kukri that pieces from around the wars have a certain value to military collectors but are often not as finely made as earlier examples.

If I were thinking about collecting English axes I'd probably have a think about the kinds of axes that they made really well. For example English carpentry or hewing axes rather than felling axes.

 

[300Six]

Whitehouse Elwell, Brades, Gilpin are a few collectible names off the top of my head.

W Gilpin Co. certainly wasn't shy about prominently marking their stuff. Here's a 7 lb sledge (not 6, 8, 10 or 12lb such as would be n. American) that I couldn't pass by at the Estate sale of a Rideau Canal lockmaster who'd packed in of old age in the 1980s. Presume this to be from the 1930s or 40s, or he got from someone else and it's even older.