Iltis find

Good ole Radomski at his comfy Toronto address flogged made in Canada "Ardex" products', that featured leaning maple leaf logos identical to those of an Austrian (H.G.W.) maker. But, he did also openly market and import the Iltis line, probably knowing they were too good to be re-branded. "Made in Toronto" never did have much cachet, nor fooled knowledgeable trades people.

Kevin Houtzager said:
Errrrr, You do know the head is upside down right? Script should be read from top to bottom standing on the haft. Yours reads from bottom to top..... The "Orig" needs to be on the top side.
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Good spotting and you're correct. By convention stamps are generally (95% of the time) on the left (port as opposed to starboard) side of the head and the two Iltis heads I have are like that. Some heads are symmetrical (same sweep of the blade at the toe and at the heel) and if your's is one of these just leave it be. If the eye is tapered for wedging purposes you may inevitably run into some problems but if not who cares.
 
Kevin Houtzager said:
Errrrr, You do know the head is upside down right? Script should be read from top to bottom standing on the haft. Yours reads from bottom to top..... The "Orig" needs to be on the top side.
Click to expand...
Yea i realized that last night (viewing the pics)....silly mistake for a first hang. Oh well off it comes i will re do it but i think im going to do some looking around for a better shaped handle as this one is ok but im sure there are better. (I was in a rush for some reason lol) it was quite enjoyable and I actually look forward to doing it again (but better) this time.
 
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To save the haft just whittle off a bit of material below the head until the axe can slip 1/4" down the haft. Then cut off the 2 sides of the protruding haft on top, being careful not to cut the wedge. Then just grasp the wedge in a vise or with vise grip pliers and pull it out.
 
You've got at least an inch and a half left before you run out of shoulder. Scribe a line around the handle about 1/4 inch back of the head and gently chisel/file/rasp the haft down to match the eye size. Then smack the butt of the handle down hard on something solid such as a stump. This ought to shift the head down far enough for you to be able to chip away the front of the haft in order to get at the wedge, which can then be pulled with a couple of pairs of Vice Grips or in a bench vice.
 
Square_peg said:
To save the haft just whittle off a bit of material below the head until the axe can slip 1/4" down the haft. Then cut off the 2 sides of the protruding haft on top, being careful not to cut the wedge. Then just grasp the wedge in a vise or with vise grip pliers and pull it out.
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Ahh ya beat me to it!
 
Square_peg said:
To save the haft just whittle off a bit of material below the head until the axe can slip 1/4" down the haft. Then cut off the 2 sides of the protruding haft on top, being careful not to cut the wedge. Then just grasp the wedge in a vise or with vise grip pliers and pull it out.
Click to expand...
that sounds easy enough, I will give it a try.
 
Well this looks better, I put a new handle on and it is mint, i like the textured yellow handle, hard to loose that in the bush(my new limbing axe) and its close to the original handle that was on it. I was able to save most of the other handle and it will give me a reason to keep an eye out for another old head ;)
LiVm0a3.jpg
 
Some of those Sater's are pretty nice. They went out of business about the time manufactures started cutting corners.
 
garry3 said:
Some of those Sater's are pretty nice. They went out of business about the time manufactures started cutting corners.
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Its in quite good shape with the layer of rust removed. The edge looks like it hasnt been used yet. Think i may turn that guy into a smaller hatchet.
 
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