Miners axe, rafting axe, construction axe

[Agent_H]

Ah, the elusive "Skäggigt rafting mönster"

The beard is for when you choke up on it for finer work

 

[300Six]

Ah, the elusive "Skäggigt rafting mönster"

The beard is for when you choke up on it for finer work

Such as knocking the head off a steer.

 

[garry3]

Here are some red herrings (?):

Forest King Axe, Emerson & Stevens

Forest King Axe, James Smart Mfg. Co.


Another red herring (?):

Forest King replacement handle


Another red herring (?):
YesteryearsTools lists "Forest King" as one of two dozen "brands associated with the Warren Axe & Tool Co."


But...

"Forest King" label on brush axe, with Council Tool stamp.


Similar label on light-blue axe heads:

https://goo.gl/images/xErGpV


Closer to the truth (?):

Word Mark FOREST KING
Goods and Services (EXPIRED) IC 008. US 023. G & S: AXES, SHOVELS, AND MACHETES. FIRST USE: 19671001.
FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19671001
Mark Drawing Code (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS...
Serial Number 72453197
Filing Date April 2, 1973...
Registration Number 0997524
Registration Date November 5, 1974
Owner (REGISTRANT) RAYMOND, DON DBA FOREST KING UNKNOWN 1002 AIRPORT WAY S. SEATTLE WASHINGTON 98134

Looks like a "private label" for a retailer or distributor in the Seattle area.

I have long associated that label to Mann. I was set back a little when you posted one with a Council tool stamp. But it being a private label explains it. I have come across them before with that blue paint scheme and some with that label intact. The Manns have a very small and light "Mann" stamp mid cheek. Very hard to find and the paint is thick enough to completely hide it.

 

[A17]

A neighbor has two GBA miners axes that he said are left over from his days as a tunneling crew mechanic/welder. I have scoured the web and can't find any pics of similar axes. Are they just a rare pattern, a custom order or a still-in-use-pattern that no one posts pictures of? The "fat" one is the GBA, while the "skinny" one is a no-name or filled with 3 coats of spray paint name american pattern head.

 

[Steve Tall]

A neighbor has two GBA miners axes that he said are left over from his days as a tunneling crew mechanic/welder. I have scoured the web and can't find any pics of similar axes. Are they just a rare pattern, a custom order or a still-in-use-pattern that no one posts pictures of?

That GBA might be what's listed as a "Stro-Bro Rafting Axe" in this catalog page from the 1960s (courtesy of Square_peg).

Stro-Bro is the company Strohecker & Broesamle (San Francisco) which imported axes from Gransfors Bruks. They were a major customer of Gransfors, according to the History page at the Gransfors Bruks site:
https://www.gransforsbruk.com/en/about/the-history-of-the-company/

 

[A17]

Ah, Mr Tall, I've been expecting you....to answer first. You are an internet whiz! No offense, but are you either really bored or a really good researcher? Either way, you can nose out info like no one else.

 

[Square_peg]

The "fat" one is the GBA, while the "skinny" one is a no-name or filled with 3 coats of spray paint name american pattern head.

The no-name might also be GB. Besides Stro-Bro there was another importer doing business as 'Forest King' selling these rafting axes in the NW. These were paper labeled axes.

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/it-followed-me-home-part-2.1190276/page-246#post-17637790
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...construction-axe.1305893/page-6#post-17367482

 

[A17]

The only time I've seen just a lengthwise aluminum wedge was on the M (weight) axes and a red CHINA sledge.

 

[Steve Tall]

The only time I've seen just a lengthwise aluminum wedge was on the M (weight) axes and a red CHINA sledge.

Council Tool also uses aluminum wedges, and Council also made rafting axes and miner's axes. Maybe it's from Council.

A "rafting axe" in Council Tool's 2006 catalog, and it's called a "rafting pattern" in their 2005 catalog, but it doesn't specify that the poll is hardened:

Rafting Axe -- 4# head on 20" and 28" handles; 5# head on 28" and 36" handles

Rafting Pattern
Single bit rafting axes feature wider polls with a generous radius. They are used to limb and drive chain saw wedges.

 

[Mack]

I have what I hope isn't a stupid question.
I saw a True Temper Flint Edge that appears to be a rafting pattern. Please excuse my horrible drawing but this is my question.
It has what appears to be some kind of fastener through the head. Could that be? Something someone added when they
couldn't hang it properly?

Or am I nuts? I didn't buy it because I don't know what I'm looking at.

 

[spike116]

Vaughan is offering a mining axe on their website now, if any one is interested .

 

[garry3]

I have what I hope isn't a stupid question.
I saw a True Temper Flint Edge that appears to be a rafting pattern. Please excuse my horrible drawing but this is my question.
It has what appears to be some kind of fastener through the head. Could that be? Something someone added when they
couldn't hang it properly?

Or am I nuts? I didn't buy it because I don't know what I'm looking at.

Its not that unusual for some axe users to drill a whole to fix a loose handle.

 

[jblyttle]

Vaughan is offering a mining axe on their website now, if any one is interested .

I was interested until I looked. It looks like a regular 3.5lb head (made in India) on a 20" handle. It has a standard non hardened poll. Kind of a fallers axe.

 

[300Six]

I was interested until I looked. It looks like a regular 3.5lb head (made in India) on a 20" handle. It has a standard non hardened poll. Kind of a fallers axe.

Square_Peg sent me a vintage 5 lb Plumb head awhile back and boy do I ever appreciate the hard poll on it. Whenever it sticks I merely hold the handle with one hand and tap on the head with a small sledge until the round parts. This is a far cry from the old days of having to lever the axe out and try again or switch over to a splitting wedge and sledge.

 

[Mack]

Its not that unusual for some axe users to drill a whole to fix a loose handle.

Thanks. That's what I assumed but I hate to assume.

 

[300Six]

Thanks. That's what I assumed but I hate to assume.

Competition 'Racing' axes are usually pinned for safety liability concerns. But I did find an abandoned (broken handle!) utility axe (2 1/4 lb ridged eye jobbie) at an Ontario Crown Land forest site a few years ago (stamped MNR (gov't of Ontario Ministry. Nat. Resources)) that had a pin (much like a shovel handle rivet) through the head so what you've got is not unique. Mind you using a proprietary fastener (IKEA or bicycle manufacturer perhaps?) such as is illustrated on yours is curious.

 

[jblyttle]

Looks like it might be a security screw. Flush but removable?

Competition 'Racing' axes are usually pinned for safety liability concerns. But I did find an abandoned (broken handle!) utility axe (2 1/4 lb ridged eye jobbie) at an Ontario Crown Land forest site a few years ago (stamped MNR (gov't of Ontario Ministry. Nat. Resources)) that had a pin (much like a shovel handle rivet) through the head so what you've got is not unique. Mind you using a proprietary fastener (IKEA or bicycle manufacturer perhaps?) such as is illustrated on yours is curious.

 

[Square_peg]

I have what I hope isn't a stupid question.
I saw a True Temper Flint Edge that appears to be a rafting pattern. Please excuse my horrible drawing but this is my question.
It has what appears to be some kind of fastener through the head. Could that be? Something someone added when they
couldn't hang it properly?

Or am I nuts? I didn't buy it because I don't know what I'm looking at.

Looks like a modern security screw. I've never seen anything like that in a True Temper axe.

 

[Mack]

Looks like it might be a security screw. Flush but removable?

That's what it looks like to me. It was well done, at least to my eyes. It made me question whether it was original. My mind went to the fact that as a rafting pattern it would get more abuse than a simple cutting axe.

 

[Ernest DuBois]

rafting pattern it would get more abuse than a simple cutting axe.

If the intent of putting a screw in across the grain was as a reinforcement, which is likely, then it was a misplaced intent because wood is at its weakest across the grain. Not only has the hole through the handle weakened it but putting steel through there will unavoidably draw moisture in, cause the wood to decay and even further weaken it. The wood in that direction can poorly resist any stress so the hole will gradually enlarge and speed the loosening of the head, the exact opposite result to the intention.