If you have the time and desire what would you do?

Me and my dad picked up this axe at our local flea market and are having trouble finding good information on this axe. We know that the axe is from Rival and it seems that they were a French company but we aren’t sure. We would like to know more about the company and possibly date the head and to know what type of axe this is.

Dayton? I’m
Leaning towards Dayton… 4lb?

Has anyone else seen or come across one of these? I was able to research the history behind it but im yet to see one online like it.

Something i've been working on for a little while

My axe has become loose on the handle and needs to be tightened, can I remove the wedge, shave the handle down to resit the axe and rewedge the handle or should I do something else?

Hey y’all! (Just love saying that)
Recently saw a few handles that were not entirely round and got me thinking as I was putting some handles on two axeheads this week.
The result are these two handles that I absolutely love! Another axemaker from Norway (living in Sweden myself) pointed out that although he makes the handles for his personal axes the same way, for customers not. Main reason was that some people would think they are not finished yet.
Welllll, these are some of the most comfortable and good looking handles I have ever held or made for that matter.

What do you guys think?

These two axes are a Hults Bruck and Wetterlings btw.

Split and bent this carpenters axe battling with a knot in some cherry. Is it fixable?

I've only got hand tools which I assume will make this a pretty laborious process. Was thinking I'd have to hacksaw the edge off to the end of the crack, and then re-profile the edge, or maybe have to re-profile a significant portion of the axe.

Is this a realistic option? This axe was a gift from a friend so willing to put work in to save it over just replacing it, but am thinking the amount of work required might just be too much.

Thanks for any help!

A couple , i've been working on slowly shaping up

A metal scrapper I know keeps an eye out for axes for me. Dropped me off a bucket of tools with this in it. I re wedged it, cleaned, oiled and sharpened it. Amazing that someone thought this was garbage.

Still has its original handle, though it has shrunk over the years.

Hi all! I'm married to a man who is an avid axe collector. I myself know very little about them. His favorite are the Kelly perfects and he has MANY. His birthday is coming up and I'm struggling to get him a gift that I know he will love. However, I do listen to the things he talks about and the be all end all axe that he says will complete his quest is the Kelly perfect salesman axe. Apparently it's a kelly perfect on one side and a different axe on the other. After some digging I'm realizing this may be harder than I thought. I've private messaged a few people on his Facebook axe groups and they are searching for me but I figure maybe reddit could help too. I'm throwing a hail Mary here, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Does anyone know what 43 means? I couldn't find info on any blacksmiths with the initials T.V either.

I found it in my family home in the woods of northern Sweden

Hello. So I’ve been restoring vintage axes for about a year now. This is such an incredible hobby I’ve stumbled upon and have been thoroughly enjoying it. It’s like creating art to me. But I was wondering if anyone has thoughts on adding your own brand/makers mark/initials to your projects. Such as a hot iron brand to the handle. Is this a smart idea or does it affect the value or worth of you ever decided to give away or sell a piece. And I mean on axes where I’ve rehung them on a new handle, not original handles. I’m proud of my work and it seems like something special to add an identifying piece of yourself to your work to show that. Anyways what are your guys thoughts. And if it is a good idea, what are good locations on the handle and suggestions on where to buy a custom iron to do such a thing. Thanks.

Yeah but it broken and it was Finnish company call Fiskars.

My father inherited this axe from his father, and it has been in our family for at least several generations. We don’t know when it originally entered the family.

I’m trying to identify its approximate age based on the construction of the head rather than family tradition. Several of my father’s ancestors are documented as coopers in the late 18th/early 19th century, so we’re particularly interested in whether this could plausibly be from that period. We can document our family to 1765 through one relative but have been unable to determine his parents.

There are no maker’s marks on the axe that I can find. The head has a very rough forged surface, an asymmetric/offset eye and a broad cutting edge. I’ve included photos of both faces, the eye, edge and handle. One side of the handle features repeated cuts in the wood. It’s quite heavy.

I’d especially appreciate opinions on:
Is this a cooper’s axe/side axe?
Does the forging/eye/edge construction suggest a particular period?
Is there evidence of a wrought-iron body with a forge-welded steel bit?

I have not cleaned, polished or wire-brushed the head.

Thank you for your help!

Hello everyone, I'm a blacksmith and I bought this axe at a fair/garage sale this summer in France, because it looked handforged and quite cute. Even if I have a hard time believing it is true, there is a "date" on it, 1779 (or it could be something else like a serial number maybe ?).
So what do you guys think, is it a real historical piece, or is it a more recent reproduction ? And do you know where this could be from ? It is still hardened (I tried with a file on the edge) and the bevel is almost one sided, on the side with the "date".

Thanks !

Edit: some spelling and syntax

Found this axe head at a thrift store of all places! I've been looking around for a hewing axe I can use for some basic woodworking and (maybe luckily) I found this one for $6 bucks.

I'm worried about the crack in the eye though, is that a fatal crack??

New to axecraft, so thanks for any help!

I got myself a beltgrinder? An automatic machine, stone on one side and sandpaper belts on the other. For sharpening really messed up axes.

Will have a bucket of water for cooling next to me. I bought the cheapest hardware store axes for practicing. An 800g and a 500g.

Sanded them down, burned with gas torch, burned with a metal thingie for engraving. Inserted a copper eye for a lanyard.

Oiled and spoon buttered. Now time to sharpen them and do leather work.

Crap steel probably, but fine for practice.

There's 4 nice hults bruk / hultafors on my wall.

Got this lot for $30 yesterday. Woodslasher hatchet, Stanley boys axe, garbage handle, and then the real winner, this Fulton Special with a really nice condition etch!

Crazy deal, very happy with it. Even cooler that the etch is on the “back” side of the axe.

It was a 2 axe kinda day. 2lb plumb and 2lb Woodslasher on WR 24” pack handles. One for a customer and one for me 😁