Anyone Collect Axes & Hatchets?

[Adog]

So it's a ornamental head not a working tool.

[New_Windsor_NY]

For you hatchet collectors. From a 1932, New York newspaper.
Click on the picture to ENLARGE.

[New_Windsor_NY]

For you hatchet collectors. From an October 22, 1932 New York newspaper. It's related to the previous post.
Click on the picture to ENLARGE.

[Jacknifeben]

I found this MARBLE,S # 10 CAMP AXE at a auction about 30 years ago. It was completely painted flat black paint. If I hadn’t been reading about Marble’s knives I would have passed on it. I took it to a guy a lot older than me and he said back in the days of CC camps they would paint all of the axes to keep the workers from stealing them. I soaked it in paint thinner and cleaned it up and it looks like new.

[FRJ]

What a beautiful ax head.
Is the "eye" a Marble's identifier too.
Nice save, Jacknifeben.

[k_kess]

I posted these pictures on another thread but 67redrider set me straight.. a few Case hatchet combinations from my Dad's collection... Enjoy and Thanks. Ken

[espn77]

Again, great knives/hatchets in excellent condition

[k_kess]

I cannot take credit for anything more than being a caretaker.... but Thanks! Ken

[1967redrider]

That's a gorgeous trio you have there!

[k_kess]

That's a gorgeous trio you have there!

Thanks redrider, I have a nice Marbles No. 2 I'll take a picture and post it tomorrow.... judging from a previous post of your's you like those ...
I upgraded my status go help support this great site! Still no answer as to a pattern or how to read the date on these combos... Thanks. Ken

[Mumbleypeg]

Nice set of Case Knif-Ax combos Ken!

Regarding how to tell the age of the Knif-Ax sets there’s a long-running thread about them on the Case Collector’s Club forum. According to information there on the earliest sets, introduced around 1933, the hatchets were stamped CASE XX. Then “a few years later“, (some say in the early 1940s timeframe) the stamp was changed to CASE’S TESTED XX and remained as such until 1965 when the stamp was changed to CASE XX U.S.A., the same stamp used on pocket knives at that time. The last Knif-Ax sets were made in 1970 but the “dots” system was not used on them, nor apparently on any fixed blade knifes made prior to 1978 (per Brad Wood’s article in Sargent’s 7th Edition.

There is also a post from a Case employee saying all three parts of each set (handle, knife, and hatchet) were marked, but apparently not all were marked the same. As evidenced by a set I have (it was my dad’s and I believe it to be all original) on which the hatchet is stamped CASE’S TESTED XX but the knife is stamped simply CASE. My understanding based on photos and associated captions in Sargent’s, this would be a “transition” set.

It’s well known that time periods for stamps used by Case for fixed blades do not conform to those used on pocket knives. Apparently on Knif-Ax combos the CASE XX and CASE TESTED XX time periods are reversed versus those generally accepted as correct for pocket knives. In other words the CASE XX stamped sets are older.

Gary aka hardman is a member here and on the CCC forum, as is Steve Pfeiffer aka knifeaholic. Both have contributed several posts on the CCC forum regarding this topic so maybe they’ll see this and comment. If you have access to Sargent’s Premium Guide to Knives and Razors 7th Edition, the chapter on Case fixed blades is a great resource.

Here are the sets I have.

Ken

[k_kess]

Ken, thank you for your enlightenment... I guess means that they all seem to be legitimate sets... Once again, many than for your time... Ken

[btrwtr]

Super nice K/A sets.

I have a magazine ad from April 1936 that show the wood handle K/A set with the plain (no tooling on the leather face covering the knife blade) sheath and the ax marked simply CASE XX. This is the earliest variation of the sheath.

[New_Windsor_NY]

Ad from a 1933 New York newspaper.

[btrwtr]

Here are some more Case examples.

[espn77]

Great group Wayne

[New_Windsor_NY]

From a 1934 New York newspaper. Not really the season, but............

[New_Windsor_NY]

From a 1935 New York newspaper.

[rarefish383]

Third time is a charm!

[rarefish383]

Three times in a row I got the whole post compiled and hit the wrong button and erased it.
The two Kent pattern axes were a surprise gift from a friend in London. I sent him a surprise Jersey Pattern axe a few years ago, and this was his way of getting even.

The Sandvic loppers and two axes were gifts from a friend that is moving to Florida. The single is a Craftsman, and the double is a Keen Kutter with the original handle, Joe

[New_Windsor_NY]

From a 1935 New York newspaper.

[New_Windsor_NY]

From a 1935 New York newspaper.

[GSPTOPDOG]

I have a double bit that I bought at an estate sale. I cleaned it up and I am not able to make out who the maker is from the maker's mark. Maybe someone out there is familiar with the mark/brand. Thanks for any help!

[GSPTOPDOG]

I found this MARBLE,S # 10 CAMP AXE at a auction about 30 years ago. It was completely painted flat black paint. If I hadn’t been reading about Marble’s knives I would have passed on it. I took it to a guy a lot older than me and he said back in the days of CC camps they would paint all of the axes to keep the workers from stealing them. I soaked it in paint thinner and cleaned it up and it looks like new.

That MARBLE,S # 10 CAMP AXE is SWEET!!! A beautiful piece! Thanks for the great photos, after posting this I am going back to look at them again.

[GSPTOPDOG]

Here is one of my favorite Double-bits, A Gamble's ARTISAN.