Why Are New Axes So Dull?

O

OrangeJoe

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Why Are New Axes So Dull? I don't mean the edge.

I've been looking at hatchet and axes recently and the few new colorful ones are deemed as yuppie or hipster axes, not functional ones. They are accordingly priced at art, not tool prices.

BUT... when I look at what are now priced as serious, work axes of the past, like USA made Norlund, I see that they had deep electric blues and vibrant orange red cadmium colors covering the head/bit. They also look like more thought was put into the color than just "add some paint for safety" or a tool mark cover up as in some of today's models.

This (see below) is what working axes carried into the field looked like, not today's dull gray efforts. I can imagine the pride of ownership being similar to people who carry a Randal Model 27 as a working tool today.

Why Are New Axes So Dull?

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Certainly companies had to differentiate themselves on the shelf. But also, I think that automatically associating colors on axes with yuppies is just the result of current marketing strategies of certain companies and the consumers that go with them. Considering it somehow bad or wrong in my view is silly. I have said repeatedly that humans have been decorating their prized possessions since the first human walked the earth and they will continue to regardless of how another small group sees them.
 
There isn't much competition in the axe industry anymore. And it adds significantly to the cost to 'gussie them up', especially when it comes to making the metal smooth enough for cute decals and lavish paint schemes. People either know precisely what they want (an unfinished expensive smith-stamped 'boutique' jobbie for instance) or they shop by price tag. Not long ago you could count on off-shore stuff to be very colourful (and with monikers such as Super Quality) to attract your attention, but once you used them it became obvious you'd been 'had'. The availability of colourful cheap stuff probably 'took the shine off' bona fide quality implements continuing to do the same.
 
speaking of fancy labels and such, has anybody heard from that company in maine that's gonna sell wedge DBs? i forgot the name but has there been any news from them?
 
Not a definitive answer, but some clues based on information from Yesteryears Tools (see reference below): Early axes were uncoated and left the natural blackish color. Coatings were used by larger makers for rust protection and a uniform look. Eye-catching colored paint could be used to stand out from the competition, and to help identify the various brands from each maker. Now, not so many competitors. Not so many brands from the remaining makers. Overall trend toward reductions of production costs.

Plus, starting in the late 1980s, the big Swedish axe makers (Gransfors, Wetterlings, Hults) "evolved" from colorful heads and handles back to black as-forged finish and plain handles (at generally higher prices).

Hults Bruk (HB) axes, then and now:

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Reference:
THE COLOR OF AXES
http://yesteryearstools.com/Yesteryears Tools/Showcased Highlights.html
 
I dunno, I suppose it used to be like channellock blue.
You see it and know the make, but now I'm not exactly sure why they don't do it.

Most axes are cheapo imports, and while a Vaughan blue is easy to recognize on a hatchet or hammer council tools still uses a plain old red which you can also find on a harbor freight axe.
Hardware stores used to be filled with all kinds of axes, but today they'll carry one brand.
It may be council, could be TT, Mexico Collins, or truper, but I don't think you'd see a council along side a truper.
 
I’m sure the ones you find on a shelf do not want people cutting themselves. I wouldn’t doubt if there weren’t some lawsuits with the newer generations. This may have been mentioned in the thread already.
 
Yeah big box stores like Home Depot have axes on the shelf that an unsupervised child could use to remove a hand or several toes were they at all sharp, and the parents would successfully sue the company for millions upon millions of dollars.
 
I don't believe it is so. All the new axes from the big set-ups are painted, Ochsenkopf, Müller, Stubai, Sandvik, the Feiner. These are only some big names I can think of off the top of my head but representative and painted, head and handle all. Even one small Swedish axe maker, to remain nameless, painted up until the last axe some years back.
 
Ernest DuBois said:
I don't believe it is so. All the new axes from the big set-ups are painted, Ochsenkopf, Müller, Stubai, Sandvik, the Feiner. These are only some big names I can think of off the top of my head but representative and painted, head and handle all. Even one small Swedish axe maker, to remain nameless, painted up until the last axe some years back.
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Sounds like you guys got it good over there. Here you have your choice of red, black and clear varnish
 
phantomknives said:
speaking of fancy labels and such, has anybody heard from that company in maine that's gonna sell wedge DBs? i forgot the name but has there been any news from them?
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Brandt & Cochran, and it's not going to be a DB. It'll be a Maine Wedge pattern single-bit that they've named the "Allagash Crusier" but it's not a cruiser pattern. They should be releasing it sometime in Spring if things go to plan, last I knew.
 
Hickory n steel said:
Hardware stores used to be filled with all kinds of axes, but today they'll carry one brand.
It may be council, could be TT, Mexico Collins, or truper, but I don't think you'd see a council along side a truper.
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This weekend I saw made in Mexico Collins axes that were made by Truper and said so on the label. They were "Premium Axes"! It said that on the label, too. lol
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Brandt & Cochran, and it's not going to be a DB. It'll be a Maine Wedge pattern single-bit that they've named the "Allagash Crusier" but it's not a cruiser pattern. They should be releasing it sometime in Spring if things go to plan, last I knew.
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i dont think they'll be making many sales, they have a plumb boys axe on there website for over $220
 
Seemingly, their restorations sell, as their offerings have a fairly swift turnover rate. But that has nothing to do with their slated new production axes.
 
phantomknives said:
Sounds like you guys got it good over there. Here you have your choice of red, black and clear varnish
Click to expand...
Well I don't know, it's not an area I am familiar with beyond some superficial knowledge of the brand names but the record should be set straight just to prevent anyone getting themselves too wrapped up in a fantasy axe world that doesn't exist, though I understand that from place to place the circumstances will vary. Still when I read on this website about poor quality axes marketed through the corporations in USA, the popularity of, "What's this that Followed Me Home Today?" thread is understandable considering the availability of those good old axes still floating around.
 
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phantomknives said:
Sounds like you guys got it good over there. Here you have your choice of red, black and clear varnish
Click to expand...

A nice finish doesn't make up for skinny cheeks that won't pop a chip. And it won't make up for a high toe that does nothing but drag the ground when performing an underhand chop on unsupported timber and also puts an eccentric load on the eye/haft connection. Gimme a fat-cheeked Dayton anyday.
 
Steve Tall said:
Not a definitive answer, but some clues based on information from Yesteryears Tools (see reference below): Early axes were uncoated and left the natural blackish color. Coatings were used by larger makers for rust protection and a uniform look. Eye-catching colored paint could be used to stand out from the competition, and to help identify the various brands from each maker. Now, not so many competitors. Not so many brands from the remaining makers. Overall trend toward reductions of production costs.
...

Reference:
THE COLOR OF AXES
http://yesteryearstools.com/Yesteryears Tools/Showcased Highlights.html
Click to expand...

Interesting:

"Along with the use of blue, axe makers introduced the use of bronzing paints, which in the late 1800s were made to look like gold...Silver paint was obtained from mixing ground aluminum into the varnish..."

I imagine that if Council came out with a golden or silver boy's axe, it wouldn't be well received as a traditional axe.

From another tread here in the axe forum (it's a $22 axe)

Kevin Houtzager said:
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