Plumb Carpenters Hatchet

Q

quinton

Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Messages
1,221
Why so much steel in the head and bit?

I'm a carpenter and farmer by trade, and have used the same (sweet) True Temper Kelly Perfect hatchet for 30 years. I recently picked up a like new Plumb from EBay for 7 bucks just to see if was any good. I'm already disappointed in that big thick head that seems more appropriate for splittin' kindling, than anything else.:thumbdn:
 
It may also depend on the age of each hatchet. I have a Mann true temper carpenters hatchet as well as a plumb that I restored. Both have pretty comparable profiles. However, both are a little on the thick side.
 
Newer plumb is on top and the older one is on the bottom. You can get a feel for the real size differential of both. I would suspect that the newer one is wider because it's more likely these were being bought for garden and camp chores as opposed to carpentry by the time you get to the seventies which I suspect is when the newer, top, hatchet was made. I actually hang the newer one on a 19" handle and suggest it to people for use as a camp and bushcraft axe. I wouldn't do the same with the older bottom hatchet because it is a much more elegant tool. Where the newer hatchet is a brute and probably comes just in under a boy's axe in size and weight, probably between 6 and 8 ounces difference in weight between the two.

il_570xN.702610922_8s0y.jpg

il_570xN.703371923_jaqa.jpg
 
Liberatus1 said:
Newer plumb is on top and the older one is on the bottom. You can get a feel for the real size differential of both. I would suspect that the newer one is wider because it's more likely these were being bought for garden and camp chores as opposed to carpentry by the time you get to the seventies which I suspect is when the newer, top, hatchet was made. I actually hang the newer one on a 19" handle and suggest it to people for use as a camp and bushcraft axe. I wouldn't do the same with the older bottom hatchet because it is a much more elegant tool. Where the newer hatchet is a brute and probably comes just in under a boy's axe in size and weight, probably between 6 and 8 ounces difference in weight between the two.

il_570xN.702610922_8s0y.jpg

il_570xN.703371923_jaqa.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks! I had never got around to posting pics, but your 2 examples show exactly what I was talking about..
 
Is it possible it just may be a difference in size for different jobs? I have two carpenters hatchets myself...a permabond Plumb that is pretty heavy and had a thick bit before I thinned it down, and a Worth which is much lighter and thinner. I like them both, but the Plumb has a longer handle waiting so it's more balanced. And you're right, the Plumb, being heavier and on a longer handle, would make an excellent camp axe.
 
To me the main difference appears to be that the newer plumb has thick flat cheeks. Could it be that the convex ground(?) cheeks were an expensive labor step that the later plumbs dispensed with?

Two of my brothers and I had these 70's/80's plumb permabond carpenters hatchets, and I well remember the thickness of the bit and how hard it was to get them sharp. Best camping axe ever, though!
 
I think what y'all said here is what I was trying to get at. I think that the jobs people were doing with the carpenter's axe changed over the years. From splitting shakes and trimming studs in rough carpentery to basically taking it out and using it on a campsite, with the carpentry being a secondary use as we drew to a close in the 20th century.

BG_Farmer said:
To me the main difference appears to be that the newer plumb has thick flat cheeks. Could it be that the convex ground(?) cheeks were an expensive labor step that the later plumbs dispensed with?

Two of my brothers and I had these 70's/80's plumb permabond carpenters hatchets, and I well remember the thickness of the bit and how hard it was to get them sharp. Best camping axe ever, though!
Click to expand...

SC T100 said:
Is it possible it just may be a difference in size for different jobs? I have two carpenters hatchets myself...a permabond Plumb that is pretty heavy and had a thick bit before I thinned it down, and a Worth which is much lighter and thinner. I like them both, but the Plumb has a longer handle waiting so it's more balanced. And you're right, the Plumb, being heavier and on a longer handle, would make an excellent camp axe.
Click to expand...
 
Liberatus, I was more expanding your thesis than arguing. In those days costs were going up faster than incomes, forcing manufacturers to cut corners, while the professional users of edged tools were converting or converted to power tools. I think plumb just cut cost knowing that the majority of their market could only spend so much and that the majority of users wouldn't notice the difference. I doubt they compromised on the quality of steel or durability factors at that time. To my eye, it looks obvious that the older plumb has much more fine finishing work done, and that would have required expensive skilled labor.
 
What you're saying makes total sense, the newer hatchet head has very nice steel but is essentially rough, finish-wise. If you go back Plumb seems like they were very detail oriented when it came to finish when compared to like a Germantown or other manufacturers in the 30s and 40s for instance. I think it was a distinguishing factor from what I've seen regarding the smooth finish of the tools even though both brands carry a fine edge. Fast forward to the 70s and not so much. I hadn't really thought about it in those terms. Plumb must of been on the higher end back then right?

BG_Farmer said:
Liberatus, I was more expanding your thesis than arguing. In those days costs were going up faster than incomes, forcing manufacturers to cut corners, while the professional users of edged tools were converting or converted to power tools. I think plumb just cut cost knowing that the majority of their market could only spend so much and that the majority of users wouldn't notice the difference. I doubt they compromised on the quality of steel or durability factors at that time. To my eye, it looks obvious that the older plumb has much more fine finishing work done, and that would have required expensive skilled labor.
Click to expand...
 
Liberatus1 said:
What you're saying makes total sense, the newer hatchet head has very nice steel but is essentially rough, finish-wise. If you go back Plumb seems like they were very detail oriented when it came to finish when compared to like a Germantown or other manufacturers in the 30s and 40s for instance. I think it was a distinguishing factor from what I've seen regarding the smooth finish of the tools even though both brands carry a fine edge. Fast forward to the 70s and not so much. I hadn't really thought about it in those terms. Plumb must of been on the higher end back then right?
Click to expand...

My Kelly Perfect was bought new in '72 by my uncle to sharpen tobacco sticks-it will take and hold an incredible edge. I remember him telling me he once sharpened 3500 oak sticks between honing! The plumb I recently bought is a 70's model also, it has a permabond head and the burgundy colored haft I so fondly remember as a boy. So, why would Plumb, cut corners but Kelly didn't in the same time frame?
 
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