Micro axe head without eyelet.

[Randomcrumb]

Hi forum, first post here. I've been trawling the web trying to find any info about this axe head/pattern that we found in the woods near our home in eastern Spain. It's tiny and weighs 106g (probably 6g of rust).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/185714450@N08/albums/72157711891919143

It's really intriguing as it has no eye. I've hafted a few axes but have no idea how I'd go about this one. Can anyone shed any light on the type of axe, or how I'd put a handle on it?

It has a barb on each of the four corners of its spike so I assume that it protrudes through the handle rather than the other way round. Should I lash it with some kind of twine as well as sink it in a hole? How tight should the hole be?... I'm concerned about it splitting the handle if I go 1mm too far.

I plan on cleaning it up and hafting it for a Christmas present for my girlfriend to use as a tiny carving axe.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[Corso]

maybe mounted stone axe style?

 

[Tengu]

And here was me thinking `wedge` until I saw the pic.

(But I am no tool expert)

Odd.

Has anyone here seen anything similar?

 

[Janne]

Extremely interesting.
I do not think this is how they did it, or even if it was hafted to serve as an axe as we know it.
But, I personally would slot it in an oversize hole, then mask it off and pour a strong epoxy to fill up the gap.
Then do some kind of covering, with wet rawhide. Shrinks, sthrenghtens and stabilizes when it dries.
Plus hides the Epoxy.

Will be interesting if you find any marks once you clean it up.

How large is it?


My thinking is - could it be some kind of military implement ? ( Civil war)
Too light for an axe. if fitted the classical way - not strong enough to use to chop with.

 

[Dave Budd]

Not an axe. Best guess is that it's meant to be mounted in a log and used to cut stone/brick/tile in the same way as a slate worker does. If it had been African, then it is similar but still different to an axe

 

[Toddy]

Does that not look more like it ought to be mounted like a tomahawk ?

 

[Janne]

Does that not look more like it ought to be mounted like a tomahawk ?

And those prongs help hold the rope/ leather stripes?

If the head was bigger...

Did the tool lie buried? That can help determine the age.

 

[Broch]

I wonder if it should be mounted into a wooden handle from the end - more like a broad chisel blade or a bolster. Maybe it's designed for cleaning pelts as opposed to chopping or cutting.

Intriguing though

 

[Nice65]

Not an axe. Best guess is that it's meant to be mounted in a log and used to cut stone/brick/tile in the same way as a slate worker does. If it had been African, then it is similar but still different to an axe

Splitting firewood maybe, like the static fixed blades where the wood is beaten into the blade? I’d like to think it might be an all rounder, good for skinning, scraping, and food prep, attached to a stick tomahawk style, knocked into a log for fire prep. It could do all that, but whether that was its purpose I’ve no idea.

I’ve just realised how small it is. What an intriguing thing.

 

[Robson Valley]

Looks to me like a log dressing tool for home building that we call a "slick."
The pointed tang would be far easier to shape than the sockets of the modern versions.
Essentially a gigantic chisel on a stick, nearlky 3' in overall length.

http://www.logbuildingtools.ca/contact.html

These homse might run 30,000 sq ft and set you back $10,000,000 to $50,000,000
But you get the idea of how the logs are used.

https://www.pioneerloghomesofbc.com/https://www.pioneerloghomesofbc.com/

 

[Randomcrumb]

Thanks for all of the replies.

Robson valley - a slick seems the most probable here looking at the shape of the tool and the vernacular building style - pine beams in the round spanning 3-4 metre distances between stone walls. The beams would have needed some dressing, and are always stripped of bark.

There is no slate around here - the geology is limestone and clay - and although the limestone is soft, I think the tool is too thin to last any amount of time as a stone shaping utensil.

I still intend to haft it and an oversize hole filled with Epoxy seems the best option. I've never used rawhide though, thanks Janne for the suggestion! It'll give me chance to experiment a bit.

It did not lie buried. The area was very stony so no chance for clues there.

The size is just 97mm long, 67mm across the blade, and at it's 9mm at it's fattest. (In the photo it looks like it's larger because of the camera lens size).

I'm going to get the wire brush on it today and see if I can reveal any marks.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

 

[Toddy]

See before you do ? have a search online for Spanish archaeology, and axe typography. Look for a timeline of types.

M

 

[Janne]

From the size, I imagine it could have been an battle axe.
I have now spent some time on the ‘net, but found nothing.

Take some pictures before you haft it and show in the local museum. And post in an axe nerd forum on the Internet.

 

[Janne]

I might be totally wrong, but it looks like the axe part from a battle weapon. Fixed to a longer pole, by being attached with a spear tip with two longer strips running down the side on the pole.

( just my imagination galloping away, so sorry!)


Looks cruder than the pictures on the Internet, but a simple soldiers weapon would not be preserved, only nice, elaborate examples usually are.

Thickness of only 9mm is well suited to penetrate thin sheet steel. The rear spike too.

 

[Toddy]

I think Dave's tool idea is more likely.
The way the 'teeth' on the spike face looks much like the way that African axes are embedded in thick hide that is mounted on a haft.

Not this, but like this, I mean.

It's not meant to come out of something.

Dave's usually pretty accurate about tools too

 

[Janne]

I hope this enigma can be solved!

I would personally mount it as an small axe ( whatever the original use) unless the museum people told me it was very old.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Perhaps it's a rustic cork harvesting axe? It wouldn't be subject to the rigours of an ordinary axe.

 

[Randomcrumb]

Perhaps it's a rustic cork harvesting axe? It wouldn't be subject to the rigours of an ordinary axe.

Nice suggestion but there are no cork oaks in my area. There are plenty of caña or common cane an known in English - fat garden canes used in the traditional construction style. Similar to lath and plaster, the caña replace the lath and clay is replaces the plaster. Often caña are split to give a bit more flexibility (and material efficiency), maybe the tool could have been used to harvest and split caña? It is certainly lighter work than wood.

Most of the buildings in this valley we're built around 250 years ago, maybe an age range could shed a bit more light.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

 

[Janne]

Clean it up gently ( vinegar soaks, brushing) then you will be able to see the structure. If handmade or made using help of machines.

There is a possibility an old Spanish local/ neighbour could tell you what it was. Traditional designs of tools were used until recently until more modern once emerged.

My grandmother told me the use of 4 different hand sickles I found hidden / left in the foundation of her family home.
The old people can still remember these things.

 

[Tengu]

Ok, a wild shot

Someone in the civil war wanted a hatchet in a terrible hurry; they had smithing skills but no idea how to forge the eye.

So they made something like the African axes?

But ask a museum if they know.