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I Forge Iron

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7 hours ago, Nobody Special said:

No clue on the maker. A "dog's head" cutlery hammer. Good for blademaking, and I've heard of using them to work on saw blades. They always feel a little funny to me with all that weight forward, but a lot of people love them.

If I get this one, this will be my second dog head hammer. I've got a 2.2 pound dog head hammer from Glen from GS Tongs.

It does take some getting use to it.

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1 hour ago, Jackdawg said:

All our army stuff (Australia) has used that same arrow head type mark as well. It would appear to be some sort of universal military symbol.?

I have some trench shovels, US type dated 1942 that have that arrow symbol. A military collector friend told me those items were US made for the Lend-Lease program during WW2. I don't know if Lend-Lease went into the 1950s, I always assumed it ended with the war but the arrow stamp matches the 42 dated shovels I have.

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2 hours ago, Peter Bui said:

So it's definitely associated with the military then by the looks of it.

Thanks fellas

Yes, the Broad Arrow (or "pheon") is a heraldic mark that was first used by the Office of Ordinance (later the Board of Ordinance, then the War Department, and finally the Ministry of Defense) in the 17th century, possibly as a borrowing from the coat of arms of Sir Philip Sydney. It has been used to mark military property ever since, and it's actually illegal to use if without permission.

In the American colonies, the Broad Arrow was used to mark trees set aside for use as masts by the British navy. Resentment over the Crown taking possession of such valuable timber was actually a contributing factor to the American Revolution (at least in New England, where such trees were more common). The first colonial flag (flown at the Battle of Bunker Hill) bore the image of an Eastern White Pine.

One hears rumors that there are still a few Broad Arrow trees standing in the Maine wilderness....

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May I commend to your attention the wiki article on the broad arrow:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_arrow

Including the history of it's use for British Government property and the restriction of it's use ("Similarly to hallmarks, it is currently a criminal offence in the United Kingdom to reproduce the broad arrow without authority. Section 4 of the Public Stores Act 1875 makes it illegal to use the "broad arrow" on any goods without permission")

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20 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

May I commend to your attention the wiki article on the broad arrow:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_arrow

Including the history of it's use for British Government property and the restriction of it's use ("Similarly to hallmarks, it is currently a criminal offence in the United Kingdom to reproduce the broad arrow without authority. Section 4 of the Public Stores Act 1875 makes it illegal to use the "broad arrow" on any goods without permission")

Oh that just makes me WANT to use it! B)

Frosty The Lucky.

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Flouting laws that don't apply is a symbolic gesture without consequences I'm willing to risk.

Haven't arrows and arrow heads been symbols of the military and war since they were invented? As in which way the eagle is facing?

Frosty The Lucky.

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On ‎9‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 3:12 PM, ThomasPowers said:

May I commend to your attention the wiki article on the broad arrow:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broad_arrow

Including the history of it's use for British Government property and the restriction of it's use ("Similarly to hallmarks, it is currently a criminal offence in the United Kingdom to reproduce the broad arrow without authority. Section 4 of the Public Stores Act 1875 makes it illegal to use the "broad arrow" on any goods without permission")

Section 4 of the public stores Act 1875.....ohh umm gee :ph34r:

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My "other" job is being a timber framer and here in the northeastern US I occasionally see colonial era boards that were cut out of the King's pine and then had fake dados cut into them so to a casual observer it would look like several smaller boards rather than one very wide board out of a gigantic illegal tree!

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