Rare !!!Plumb axe help dating and other information

quinton said:
Take a picture of them and show us.
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Trouble with photos is they often don't tell you very much about age either. If an NOS wedged Plumb were to show a bar code sticker that would be something, so would one that was wedged and said 'wear safety goggles'. Whatever else pretty much requires the existence of a date stamped commemorative piece or post-1956 tool catalogues/magazine ads that state that Permabond is optional in order to substantiate this.
Were Plumbs all manufactured at the same facility? If not perhaps there were still some skilled 'hangers' at a few of their plants so those places put off 'setting the heads in epoxy' for another few years or so.
I really don't know and am looking forward to hearing more about this.
 
Operator1975 said:
Permabond was an option for axe/hatchet handles since its introduction in the early 50s. . .
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Do you mean a buyer could go to a store and choose a permabond or regular wedge handle for a particular tool?

thanks

Bob
 
halfaxe said:
It also has a decal rather than a metallic foil sticking label which Plumb used starting in the 60's or 70's. The amount of finishing looks better than the 70's and 80's yet not up to pre-war standards. I was not there during this hatchets production but base the dating estimate on the visual indicators.
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Plumbs are typically stamped. Do you suppose there is a stamp under that decal because otherwise first time out this hatchet would have become a 'no name' implement. Even more so when the wood was re-newed.
 
300Six said:
Trouble with photos is they often don't tell you very much about age either. If an NOS wedged Plumb were to show a bar code sticker that would be something, so would one that was wedged and said 'wear safety goggles'. Whatever else pretty much requires the existence of a date stamped commemorative piece or post-1956 tool catalogues/magazine ads that state that Permabond is optional in order to substantiate this.
Were Plumbs all manufactured at the same facility? If not perhaps there were still some skilled 'hangers' at a few of their plants so those places put off 'setting the heads in epoxy' for another few years or so.
I really don't know and am looking forward to hearing more about this.
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I'm pretty old, most would say over the hill old. I have also developed a pretty good eye on the quality aspect of production over the years. You put a 60's tool, and a 40's tool in front of me and I will 100% of the time tell which is which.

Any who,
I have always, since childhood loved hand tools. My father was a carpenter and I tagged along with him to work as a little boy. When he would stop at the various lumber yards each morning to order materials, and conduct other business, I would find myself at the "tool wall" ogling the newest lineup. In the Plumb line of tools, I have never seen anything but permabond in my life.
 
300Six said:
Plumbs are typically stamped. Do you suppose there is a stamp under that decal because otherwise first time out this hatchet would have become a 'no name' implement. Even more so when the wood was re-newed.
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Your post got me thinking - maybe the OP can rub his finger across the decal and see if it is the stamp/impression we are all familiar with but is detailed with color? It's the right shape, size, and location for the most part.

A7eIUd4.jpg

Just curious
 
The foil label! The unstamped handle! Late US production agreement on that one. The OP hatchet has a stamped round knob handle.
 
300Six said:
Plumbs are typically stamped. Do you suppose there is a stamp under that decal because otherwise first time out this hatchet would have become a 'no name' implement. Even more so when the wood was re-newed.
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You raise a good point. Later and cheaper productions are typically what we see with stickers instead of stamps. That might be a Cooper Tools Plumb.


Stamped, no Permabond.

1.jpg


2.jpg
 
Then there's this - Permabond but no stamp just the sticker.

3.jpg


4.jpg



And finally, sticker plus stamp and Permabond.

Plumb%20Sport%20Axe.jpg
 
Whoo! Looks to be there were a lot of cooks stirring in that pot. Got me so I'm 'Plumb' tuckered out by all this. Plumb axes were not a stocked item in eastern Ontario during the 1960s-1980s (hammers being the exception) so I'm entirely out of my element here. But I do recall noticing Permabond hammers with their wine coloured handles.
 
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In 1981 the Plumb division was bought (from Ames) by The Cooper Group.

K8Wht4C.jpg


Bob
 
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Operator1975 said:




1978, purchased by my father. No permabond. Imagine that.
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Not trying to in flame you at all, remember, we are here to learn. But here is the question. Why did your father buy that axe in 78', and never use it? You are the only one who could possibly answer the question.

Maybe it was a NOS Plumb, that Ames, or Cooper just stuck a sticker on to liquidate stock on hand? Who knows, maybe you can shed some light? I have personally never seen a Plumb axe that was wedged with a sticker. Nor have I seen a high center line Cooper group Plumb axe. There is a remarkable difference in bit geometry between the older stamped Plumbs, and the newer ones after the company was acquired by Cooper.
 
Certainly the sticker on Operator's supposedly 1978 axe is a dead ringer with the second from upper left sticker/decal rendition of a post-1981 Cooper Tools axe as shown in post #36 by rjdankert. I'm not a young guy either and my memory is not infallible anymore; some things I could have sworn I was gifted or bought in the mid to late 60s actually turn out to be from years later. I know this because I've been cleaning out my filing cabinet of old receipts, manuals, notes and gift cards.
 
300Six said:
Somebody is gonna take a shine to this but it's unlikely you'll get beyond what a new Swede boutique jobbie costs today. No Boy Scout or any other distinctive stamps on this. As halfaxe says it's a pre-Permabond hang (ie before 1956) and post- steel take-up wedge (early to mid 1940s). Impressive that a tool, that somebody specifically bought, wound up remaining unused for 65-70 years.
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Maybe some kid got it as a gift from his grandpa or something but his mom put it away with the intention of giving it to him when he was older , but it was forgotten about. ( that's what happened to me with my first knife, a sak classic that was on some keys I found when I was 3 )
 
Hickory n steel said:
Maybe some kid got it as a gift from his grandpa or something but his mom put it away with the intention of giving it to him when he was older , but it was forgotten about. ( that's what happened to me with my first knife, a sak classic that was on some keys I found when I was 3 )
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The other option is: Yesteryear tools information may also be out by a few years. Perhaps Cooper Tools was on the Plumb scene already in 1978 and not beginning in 1981 as is stated. This much I know; Operator knows his stuff and it's highly unlikely he's joshing us.
 
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