What Did You Sharpen Today?
- Thread starter marbat
- Start date
Maybe this will work, hopefully.
https://imgur.com/uEeaIFk
https://imgur.com/cvn9SGl
https://imgur.com/a/WHLZwES
https://imgur.com/cvn9SGl
https://imgur.com/uEeaIFk
https://imgur.com/cvn9SGl
https://imgur.com/a/WHLZwES
https://imgur.com/cvn9SGl
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2011
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Hey Josh, here's another perhaps better picture of the mark. Let me know what your interpretation is.
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Nice edge there Rick. For future posting if you copy the bbcode box on imgur and paste it the photos will appear right in the post instead of having to click to see.
My sharpened axe made quick work of a 60% dried mesquite tree I found. A good half days work minus this heat. Now to resharpen the tool again to keep in top condition. I already did the hardest part if profiling it to 20 degrees. Took 12 hours all by hand and a 120 grit stone.
Thanks VintageAxe
Thanks VintageAxe
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It definitely looks like Putnam and it's definitely a wedge. But I have no recollection of a Putnam maker in Maine. Doesn't mean there wasn't! I suspect there's probably dozens of makers I don't yet know about. Let me know if you figure it out! My interest is piqued now!Hey Josh, here's another perhaps better picture of the mark. Let me know what your interpretation is.
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A google search of Putnam blacksmith Maine turns up a couple mentions in some old google books scans, Samuel and Stephen, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were more small time outfits back in the day.
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One of my all-time favorites sharpened today. Rixford, 3 pounds in 1955, about 2.8 lbs in 2020. Edges soo thin and soo strong. It bites and stands sturdy with just a centimeter or two in the wood but has enough of a center line to avoid sticking and push chips (third picture is it biting some solid red maple).
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One of my all-time favorites sharpened today. Rixford, 3 pounds in 1955, about 2.8 lbs in 2020. Edges soo thin and soo strong. It bites and stands sturdy with just a centimeter or two in the wood but has enough of a center line to avoid sticking and push chips (third picture is it biting some solid red maple).
Super steel in The Rixfords. Great hang and great axe!
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Not your typical sharpening, today I finished 'sharpening' or re-milling the face of my True Temper Underhill lathing hatchet.
Not your typical sharpening, today I finished 'sharpening' or re-milling the face of my True Temper Underhill lathing hatchet.
Done with the lathing. Time to get plastered?
...here all week, etc.
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Yes, mostly done with a fresh 10" triangle file. True Temper hammer faces are well hardened. The corners of the file were losing their crispness by the end of the job. As a result the grooves were becoming more rounded. I had to finish the bottoms of some grooves with a Japanese feather file.
Dang, that reminds me - I should get a new feather file, mine is getting pretty tired. I got it on my last trip to Hardwicks before they shut down.
Nice work, man. Most of my lath hatchets are Vaughans, perhaps tempered back a little softer. I see you leave the haft slightly proud of the eye, I do likewise about twice as much, and sometimes peen it over a little.
Parker
Nice work, man. Most of my lath hatchets are Vaughans, perhaps tempered back a little softer. I see you leave the haft slightly proud of the eye, I do likewise about twice as much, and sometimes peen it over a little.
Parker
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I just hit that proud haft with a little DPG and let the wood swell over the top of the eye.
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I should add that hand milling a hammer face or axe poll is tedious work. I wouldn't attempt it without good files and a sturdy vise. Having good access to 3 sides of the vise as with a post vise or pedestal vise is a big help.
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Hardwicks was amazing!!! A tool museum with new and old for sale. Sadly Seattle real estate prices taxed them out of the U-District. They’re in Idaho now and don’t do online sales.
There used to be a secondhand store in Bellingham (WA) called Paces New & Used that was a gold mine for old tools at Goodwill prices. Sadley also now closed.
I've heard of them but didn't know the back story. It's been years since I've been that far north, Coeur d' Alene or Sandpoint I think?