Matt Scanlan

From my end unfortunately not, I contacted a few friends as well as experts on early hand tools and none have a clue what its purpose was. I can definitely post a video, I recently moved and it ended up in storage until my work shop is up and running so it will be a few days until I post it.

Hey all, sorry for not posting the video yet. I travel for my job time to time. I'll be home tomorrow and I'll take a video of it being used and take a pair of calipers to the eye.

Once it gets started I just ride the blade down the groove with a back and forth motion. I'll post a video once I get off at my day job.

Agreed. From personally testing it, swinging it like an axe or adze is pointless. That long handle lets you get alot of force behind it as you push the blade down the work piece. Also allows for very controlled changes of angle if you want to change direction or widen the groove

Which makes it sad that most smiths cant make a living off it anymore. I know i've come up with a few weird and wacky tools to fit my needs, but most people either don't know blacksmiths still exist or they're too comfortable paying for a tool everyone else has from a box store and just 'making it work'.

It's really starting to look like this was more of a "tool of necessity" rather than tool of a trade. Which in my mind makes it all the more special.

Went out and tested it. It does make very uniform cuts. And once it gets started you can use the two grip handle to put some power behind it.

Its possible, though wouldnt this tool be oversized for a job like that? Kozzy, I appreciate it. I also contacted Jon Townsend from Townsend and sons, hopefully someone can I.d. it.

I'm not at home right now but I cant remember if the are or not. I'll post when I find out.

No I don't. I seen that he has a couple other books including that one, just havent bought them yet. Are his other books as good?

It's called 'A Museum of Early American Tools' by Eric Sloan. Tons of great illustrations and information. Got a handle fitted, used some locust that I had in the shop. Not the prettiest wood but it's hard as #%&*. Had another locust fall in a storm a few days ago so I tested it out on that. I will say ive never forge welded anything that would be exposed to chopping forces. So this was a confidence booster for sure. Went through the log with no problems, no cracks or delaminations, and the blade was still paper cutting sharp afterwards. Not even a small chip in the blade.

I finally got it in the mail today but didnt get a chance to test it on anything yet. I do want to say its hand made, theres a few "errors" I can only attribute to human hands. For instance the bevel on the right is not a perfect 90 degrees to the handle. If it was machine made I can't see that happening. The body of the tool looks reminiscent of a double bit axe. The head weighs about 8 pounds, the blades are 72 degrees so I guess that rolls out a being used to make a square mortise. Actually holding in my hands didnt bring any light to its use. Also no touch stamp, brand name, or date anywhere on it. The pitting on it also isn't uniform, not sure if my pictures do it justice but there's a varying range of large and small pits, biggest one being about the size of a pea.

I'm definitely happy. Up until this point my Smith experience has been ornamental and knives. My dad got me a book for Christmas that is about pre civil war tools. I plan on bringing some of them back to life and I figured an axe would be a good place to start. Almost done putting a handle on it.

Oh I'm well aware that we have lost more knowledge that we have gained over the century's. That will be curious to test out. And you win a lifetime supply of gratitude lol. When I get fixated on learning something it can drive me nuts.

Correct me if I'm wrong (happens more than I'll admit) but chinking is filling the gaps between two logs on a log home. With the blades at 90 degrees to the handle it seems like it would be a very awkward way to use the tool. Or are you talking about before the logs are in place.