Ineresting development in the M marked axes!

Looks like it to me. Odd that SO many brands bear the same markings. Could they all be from the same over-seas (or Mexican?) plant? Could it be a U.S distributor?
 
I have a S&N double bit that has the same exact stamp and rough machining as the rafting pattern axe shown. It also came to me with a broken wood handle and a stepped aluminum wedge instead of a wood wedge in the kerf like most normal axes I have ever seen. To me it's kinda junky compared to my Kelly Woodslasher 's and True Tempers and Mann Edge and Tool axes.
 
Millie Maniac said:
I have a S&N double bit that has the same exact stamp and rough machining as the rafting pattern axe shown. It also came to me with a broken wood handle and a stepped aluminum wedge instead of a wood wedge in the kerf like most normal axes I have ever seen. To me it's kinda junky compared to my Kelly Woodslasher 's and True Tempers and Mann Edge and Tool axes.
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Thanks for the update. I am pretty sure now its a newer S&N. Steel seems to be good but it is what I would call "workmanship challenged', and it also had a stepped aluminum wedge.
 
Screen shot from yesteryearstools.com
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Some of the mysterious M axes are Plumbs.
 
Yeah, I picked a DB up marked as such, got the Plumb style marking, slightly offset. The steel is good, even if the bits aren't the thinnest.
 
Here's another one - 'M' marked hatchet made by Hytest. I've other Hytest hatchets without this mark. No idea what it stands for or why this one has it and the others don't.

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if iever figure out how to post pictures i'l,post and image of my M1/4 hatchet.

buzz
 
Not sure if this is right for this thread, but I just want to throw it out there that if you see a craftsman hatchet or other striking tool with an M it means that it was made by Vaughan & Bushnell mfg.
There has been a few incidents where people have assumed that the whole m thing applied to craftsman as well ( it will pretty much just be found on hammers and hatchets )
 
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Hickory n steel said:
Not sure if this is right for this thread, but I just want to throw it out there that if you see a craftsman hatchet or other striking tool it means that it was made by Vaughan & Bushnell mfg.
There has been a few incidents where people have assumed that the whole m thing applied to craftsman as well ( it will pretty much just be found on hammers and hatchets )
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Didn't I hear somewhere that Mann was the maker of Craftsman and Mastercraft choppers a mere few decades ago?
 
300Six said:
Didn't I hear somewhere that Mann was the maker of Craftsman and Mastercraft choppers a mere few decades ago?
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( sorry I forgot to say that it's of you see an M on it, usually CRAFTSMAN =REG US TRADEMARK M= , or some variation of that )
That could be the case with full sized axes as Vaughan wasn't a primary player in the axe game, and Mann did a lot of contract production.
all I know is that if you see an M a craftsman tool it means it was made by Vaughan. ( the identification letter / symbol doesn't always have anything to do with the name of the company )
They've always used Vaughan and the M to identify them, and still do.
 
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Could also be the forging foundry logo (maybe various locations) from where the blanks are forged roughly to shape prior to distributoin to the various tool companies for final machining and sale. But the only foundry code I've seen for "M" is Moore, and they were a circled "M" as far as I know. Not all tool companies have/had their own foundries.
 
gunscrounger said:
Could also be the forging foundry logo (maybe various locations) from where the blanks are forged roughly to shape prior to distributoin to the various tool companies for final machining and sale. But the only foundry code I've seen for "M" is Moore, and they were a circled "M" as far as I know. Not all tool companies have/had their own foundries.
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The only Moore I know of is Moore drop forging. if your talking about that craftsman boys axe , it's definitely not by them as they only produce wrenches and sockets and are identified by a V on them.
 
One of my mauls has an M and 6 stamped on it, It also has "Always wear Safety Glasses" stamped
 
Pakowhai said:
Here's another one - 'M' marked hatchet made by Hytest. I've other Hytest hatchets without this mark. No idea what it stands for or why this one has it and the others don't.
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I'm pretty these are some sort batch control/QA marks. I've seen a few letters stamped on Hytest - Z, N, P - though not all Hytests have them. I'd hazard a guess is that it may have happened some time after they got bought out by Cyclone.

I should probably get around to cataloguing Hytest marks one day.
 
tandanus said:
I should probably get around to cataloguing Hytest marks one day.
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If you have the capacity to do that it would be much appreciated both by this group and the axe community at large. Info that doesn't get archived gets lost.
 
Square_peg said:
If you have the capacity to do that it would be much appreciated both by this group and the axe community at large. Info that doesn't get archived gets lost.
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I'll try. Hell, my granddad used to work for Cyclone...building sheds (also: cow cockies are bastards).
 
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