Found a 3 Pound Axe Head Today. Any Idea as to How Old?

[FreeBirdTim]

Found this 3 lb. axe head today. Not a thrilling find, but I'd really like to know roughly how old it is. It appears to be one piece of iron that was folded over to make the axe head. I had to carry it for 1/2 a mile through the woods (in 30 degree weather), so it had better be pre-1900!

Here's a few pics. Let me know how old you think it is and what type of axe it is. Thanks!

 

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[perry2]

Axes of your type were made from the 14th century till about the start of the 20th (1900)
They are of two pcs of metal // the head is soft iron and the bit (cutting edge) is steel.(steel is 10 times the price of iron )
the bit is file shaped with a wedge shape on top and bottom-the head is hammered into shape and folded over a mandrel to form the eye. The bit is inserted into the folded edge and re-heated to welding temp and hammer welded into one piece.
The demise of most axes and why we find them is they are used as a hammer and the soft head cant take it///
note the crack showing below the eye on yours and if you grind a smooth spot about 1 " from the edge you can sometimes see the joint of steel and iron// Perry

 

[treblehunter]

It's colonial.



Nice find,I have found about five axes, but yours is way different.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Hello FeeBirdTim,

Congratulations on a very unique axe head find.

Regards,

 

[FreeBirdTim]

It's colonial.

If it's colonial, I'm going back to the spot! The area is full of iron, but I'll dig it all up if I can find something good!

 

[FreeBirdTim]

It's just a shame that we can't just stick to talking about metal detecting. That's why we're all here, so why not just keep it on topic? No need to discuss 2nd amendment rights, hunting rights, trapping rights, right to carry rights and so on. Seems simple enough to me. We all love to metal detect, so let's talk about our finds and leave all the politics for the politicians.

 

[jeff of pa]

keep conversations on topic please !

 

[Ahab8]

It's just a shame that we can't just stick to talking about metal detecting. That's why we're all here, so why not just keep it on topic? No need to discuss 2nd amendment rights, hunting rights, trapping rights, right to carry rights and so on. Seems simple enough to me. We all love to metal detect, so let's talk about our finds and leave all the politics for the politicians.

Politics and Religion. 2 things that should be kept to ourselves. That's my rule on job sites. Never ends well if those subjects start being debated

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

keep conversations on topic please !

What Jeff said please..

 

[Tnmountains]

VERY nice hand forged axe. I like the fold. It seems the axe took out a few members as well! haha Happy New Year!

 

[perry2]

Here are a few of this years axes: All from pre 1900 cellar hole sites: Perry

 

[coinman123]

Here are a few of this years axes: All from pre 1900 cellar hole sites: Perry

Those are pretty nice, I have found a few axe heads this year, how did you clean them, electrolysis? Most axes are at least 50 years old, now everyone has machines to replace the axe.

Coinman123,

 

[perry2]

Don't tell but I just run them on the wire brush grinder // Perry

 

[coinman123]

Don't tell but I just run them on the wire brush grinder // Perry

It works very good though and that is what matters, I have tried similar methods. With big iron I hit it with a hammer really hard to make the big chunks of corrosion come off, then I use steel wool or a brush of some sort. I would like to try electrolysis some time on something bigger because I heard it is very effective. but The last time I tried electrolysis I accidentally created chlorine gas which turned out to be toxic. The story starts when I was reading a website on how to do electrolysis and I just quickly read it and forgot to look at any safety warnings, that is one thing I did wrong. Another thing I did wrong was doing it in the middle of my house with no ventilation, I thought that it was too cold outside lol. The website said "WARNING: DO NOT ADD TABLE SALT TO THE SOLUTION, IT WILL CREATE TOXIC CHLORINE GAS!" I was too careless to read that part until after I smelled a weird smell in my house and my family started complaining.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

VERY nice hand forged axe. I like the fold. It seems the axe took out a few members as well! haha Happy New Year!

Yup, that break took some force to do that much damage! Must have been a strong guy to wield a 3 pound axe all day.