Identifying a pick axe / next steps

myright

myright

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Hey fellas - long time reader here and trying to sponge up a bunch of knowledge.

I have this tool that've always just called a pick axe but I'm interesting in learning more about what it is, maybe where it could have come from, and what it was used for. I know along with having coal miners in the family, someone was also always working with the railroad.. not sure if it's related at all.

Lastly, I'd like to understand if I can salvage the handle at all. Someone painted it, not sure when and the wood at the shoulder looks a little rotted which i'm not sure as to how bad it really is. Inside the eye the wood looks to have rotted/shrunk over the years.

The tool would have been used in a coal mining town (not saying it was used in a mine) in PA. There are markings on the metal that I tried to capture, but didn't want to go to town stripping the gunk off and making it look pretty until I learn a little more about it.

I thank you all in advance!










 
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GREAT resource, Steve. Thanks for passing it along.

It would make sense that it's a coal mining tool considering the area it came from as well as the family members I had that were coal miners. I've always just used it in the yard :)

I'm going to take a wire wheel to it and see if I can uncover any markings. There is a T1 and what looks like a Greek E/Epsilon.
 
Thanks again!

I gave it a really quick brushing and discovered that E was actually the star from Iron City. It's also got a No.2 on the bottom of the pick portion.
 
So, based on what you sent, would I be correct in assuming the tool I have is from around 1891?

No. 2 marking would give it a weight of 3lbs and $16/dozen. WOW!

I wish my grandparents were alive to try and figure out where it came from and who used it!
 
myright said:
So, based on what you sent, would I be correct in assuming the tool I have is from around 1891?...
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I think those two catalogs show that it could be from somewhere in the range of 1891 to just before 1955 (since it could have been discontinued sometime in the 1940s or early 50s, for all we know). Other catalogs within that range could give a better indication of which year Iron City stopped making the "Poll Picks". An earlier catalog could show that they were made before 1891.
 
myright said:
GREAT resource, Steve. Thanks for passing it along.

It would make sense that it's a coal mining tool considering the area it came from as well as the family members I had that were coal miners. I've always just used it in the yard :)

I'm going to take a wire wheel to it and see if I can uncover any markings. There is a T1 and what looks like a Greek E/Epsilon.
Click to expand...

nevermind, I see you discovered the 3 is actually a star.
 
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"Could" is certainly the key word. I'm looking forward to getting it cleaned up and fitting a new handle to it.
 
I just became a member to post here , Steve tall a man who knows stuff or can find it that is amazing. I found this post randomly on Google images of old picks . Well I started collected old picks about two years ago I am trying to collect them all and every kind and every type and I’m trying to biuld a history story from the first pick ever made to a modern pick . I found one that I cannot identify or date anyway you could help me ? Geese I wish I could post a picture
https://www.reddit.com/r/AntiqueTools/comments/t8yox2
 
Steve Tall said:
Looks like it could be an "Iron Mining Pick" or maybe a "Poll Pick", as called in a catalog from Woodings-Verona Tool Works. Interesting that it has a wedged head. If you find a manufacturers mark, we might be able to ID the maker.

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BookReaderImages.php
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Glad you posted the Woodings book. I've got two heads I've been trying to identify. They're different from the usual mounting of a stone pick as there's two holes on each side of the center hole that only goes halfway in, as to hold it in place. I've found two styles of mounting I believe could show what I'm missing but hell who knows
 
Pick collector said:
I just became a member to post here , Steve tall a man who knows stuff or can find it that is amazing. I found this post randomly on Google images of old picks . Well I started collected old picks about two years ago I am trying to collect them all and every kind and every type and I’m trying to biuld a history story from the first pick ever made to a modern pick . I found one that I cannot identify or date anyway you could help me ? Geese I wish I could post a picture
https://www.reddit.com/r/AntiqueTools/comments/t8yox2
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum. I love old picks too and have a number of them I have tripped over locally at garage sales etc.. I use them often enough too for gardening or yard-work, and even in the winter to clear heavy ice off things as I live where there are very harsh winters. Picks have probably been around for thousands of years, so you have your work cut out getting their entire history. I am sure they are underappreciated.
 
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