Welland Vale Black Prince - interesting?

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I'm new to the forum and new to axe collecting. I've been researching good canoe tripping axes and while waiting for a GB Small Forest Axe to arrive I've been bitten by the bug!

I picked up this Welland Vale Black Prince hewing hatchet at a local antique shop the other day...it looked like it was in pretty good shape and I did a little research to make sure it was an interesting axe.

Besides the little that I have found on this forum, that it was probably made in the 60's at the Welland Vale forge in St. Catherines, I was hoping some of you experts could chime in. Also, it's a little loose on the handle, which I assume is original, and wondered if I could tighten it up or if I needed to hang a new handle.

I hope these photos load up.

Thanks

library
 
Here's a little help with your images:









Welcome to the forum!
 
There have been a few threads on the forum regarding Black Prince axes. They seem to be regarded as the Cadillac of axes. There doesn't seem to be a lot of room on the shoulder of that haft. I would re-haft it, but that might just be because I like doing that.
 
Thanks for the image help JC! I still haven't figured out what I did wrong.
 
Lucky for you there's only a wood wedge in there and not a pocket full of nails, screws, fence staples and key blanks! You may be able to withdraw that wedge by installing a row of small tall screws into the wedge (pre-drill for these) and securing the screw heads in a vice so that you can give the tool a good tug or a firm pry. With the wedge out you can then whittle the shoulder down a little bit more (1/4 inch, tops) to seat the head slightly lower and then you can smack in another (and thicker) wedge.
Nice little hatchet of good quality and with a colourful history but the single bevel (only one side of the blade is sharpened) will be awkward for chopping a 'V' in large branches or small trees. If I recall, the W-V operation folded up in the mid 1960s despite having been taken over by True Temper some years before.
 
300Six said:
Lucky for you there's only a wood wedge in there and not a pocket full of nails, screws, fence staples and key blanks! You may be able to withdraw that wedge by installing a row of small tall screws into the wedge (pre-drill for these) and securing the screw heads in a vice so that you can give the tool a good tug or a firm pry. With the wedge out you can then whittle the shoulder down a little bit more (1/4 inch, tops) to seat the head slightly lower and then you can smack in another (and thicker) wedge.
Nice little hatchet of good quality and with a colourful history but the single bevel (only one side of the blade is sharpened) will be awkward for chopping a 'V' in large branches or small trees. If I recall, the W-V operation folded up in the mid 1960s despite having been taken over by True Temper some years before.
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Insert, clamp, pull. :thumbup:
 
Agent_H said:


Insert, clamp, pull. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Hot diggety dog, illustrative pictures. Thank you Agent_H. Now all we need to do, 109 years later, is convert you Yanks over to P.L. Robertson's wonderful square drive screws that don't 'cam out' from the driver bit such as Henry Ford's consequent spiteful buy-up of the Phillips patent, at the end of WWI, does.
 
I don't see any reason to remove the existing handle. Drive the wedge a little deeper and hit with some Swel-lock or add a metal wedge.

A broad hatchet like that isn't made for chopping, limbing or splitting. It's made for shaving wood. In the old days these were called a 'stump axe' because you used it atop a stump to shape boards, pegs, etc. Very handy tool for that work.
 
Square_peg said:
I don't see any reason to remove the existing handle. Drive the wedge a little deeper and hit with some Swel-lock or add a metal wedge.

A broad hatchet like that isn't made for chopping, limbing or splitting. It's made for shaving wood. In the old days these were called a 'stump axe' because you used it atop a stump to shape boards, pegs, etc. Very handy tool for that work.
Click to expand...

This is one of those rare occasions where pulling a wedge without compromising the handle is quite feasible. If you look at the pictures he's already driven the existing wedge in quite aways. Most folks are not availed of the opportunity to re-use a handle and re-wedge it because they have to deal with a hardware store's worth of GD junk that his been pounded in, which by and large will have ruined the integrity of the handle anyway.
 
Looks like a pretty simple operation...thanks for the pic Agent. Couldn't agree with 300 more though about the beauty of the Robertson screw though.

The wedge has been driven a good ways down as it is so I think I'll try to pull it and get a new one in there. I tested out the tool doing exactly as you describe Square...very effective at shaping some pine into various things.

Thanks!
 
I've got one just like that. Odds are the handle is original since it says true temper on it. It'll sharpen up like a razor to the point of being able to push it and take shavings off of fairly dry birch birch like a plane. It's a nice woodworking tool, but it's definitely not a camping axe. If I understand it correctly, the combination of 'True Temper' and Welland Vale' markings place its manufacture in the early 50's.

If you don't mind my asking, what antique store did you find it at? I live in Alcona so we're basically in the same neck of the woods... and in case you were wondering there wasn't anything interesting in the 400 antiques market as of a few weeks ago.

Canadian Mojo said:
I really wasn't looking, I was at the Paris (ON) motorcycle show when this turned up in a booth for what was way too little money in my opinion.




It's a pity I'm a lefty because the haft is perfect. Fortunately, I'd found this a few months prior at an antique shop.


It's a Warnock that some lefty before me loved dearly judging by how polished it is and the effort they went into making the curved handle.
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If you're a lefty it won't be a biggie to change the head orientation once you pull the wedge and the haft. Merely flip it over. Measure the eye opening at both ends just to make sure.
 
300Six said:
If you're a lefty it won't be a biggie to change the head orientation once you pull the wedge and the haft. Merely flip it over. Measure the eye opening at both ends just to make sure.
Click to expand...

I did that actually. There was about 1/16" difference in length and nothing in the width as I recall, so nothing to worry about. I've since discovered that I prefer the Warnock for putting a flat face on something before carving. I think that's due to the heavier head and having a more curved cutting edge giving somewhat better drop and slice capability in green wood. Less swing and more drop and guide the blade basically. They're both great hewing hatchets, but I know which one I would part with first.

Disclaimer: I'm just having fun farting around with sharp things making spoons, bowls, and the odd bird so my opinions should be taken for what they are -- those of an amateur who's still got lots more to learn.
 
Hey Mojo...there is an antique market in Thornbury selling items from a number of consigners. I can't remember which one had it for sale though but there's a lot of interesting stuff there.
 
I haven't looked up there yet, I'll have to check it out.

The Warnock came from the 400 antique market, I found a nice little hatchet for my daughter (the tool that originally led me here) in Barrie, and four from the flea market section of the Cookstown store. We don't seem to have too many old axes floating around here. One of the vendors in Aberfoyle who deals in old tools did have a good pile to choose from.
 
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