Hewing axe

Nathan W · Feb 11, 2026

Seen this sticking out and wanted to move it out of way to get a button and seen it was an interesting one. I might restore this one and put a handle on it

AU Seeker · Feb 12, 2026

Gold Maven said:
i've often wondered how those off set handles were made.
steam, perhaps?

Click on the link I posted a few posts ago for more info on hewing axes.

Almy · Feb 13, 2026

I have 2 hatchets with heads that looks similar to yours. Both have a single bevel and neither an offset handle. They were (and still are in my shop) carpenter's bench hatchets, used for roughing out a shape from a piece of wood. I use them for rough squaring short, round sections of small tree trunks. I guess that is a type of hewing. Axes with bigger heads were used by standing on a round timber and using a long-handled axe with a big head to smooth (hew) one side.
One of my hatchets has "Plumb" marked on one side of the blade. Yours may have a maker's mark too which will be revealed when you clean it up. It looks fairly modern to me and should be a useful tool.

Digger RJ · Feb 14, 2026

Nathan W said:
Seen this sticking out and wanted to move it out of way to get a button and seen it was an interesting one. I might restore this one and put a handle on it

Very Cool!!! Congrats!!!

Nathan W · Feb 15, 2026

Cleaned it up , I can't see a makers mark any where I've looked . I was wrong earlier about both sides of blade being sharpened. Only one side is sharpened

Almy · Feb 17, 2026

It looks good. I really like axe heads like this. Attractive in a display and a useful tool too if you have a shop. After sandpapering mine I used a rust reacting coating on it and then shaped and fitted a handle on it. I actually used another bench hatchet of the same type to rough out the handle blank from a piece of ash tree trunk.

tahomatom · Feb 17, 2026

Nathan W said:
Seen this sticking out and wanted to move it out of way to get a button and seen it was an interesting one. I might restore this one and put a handle on it

That’s a good find. I love restoring these old tools. Some folks would toss it but bringing it back to what it was made for is wonderful.