W Gilpin axe

[toilet digger]

help please, anybody know how old, what style or purpose this W Gilpin (stamped on RHS)

[/IMG]picked this W Gilpin axe up a couple of months ago. my googlefu doesn't seem to be working and hence i know nothing about it.
any info would be gratefully recieved.

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[crosslandkelly]

I'm not sure, but it looks like an old slaters axe for roofing. I don't think the handle is original.

 

[Silverhill]

It's very similar to modern carpenters axe patterns. Have a look at the following website if you get a moment. There's usually similar axes for sale;

http://www.timelesstools.co.uk/axes.htm

 

[toilet digger]

It's very similar to modern carpenters axe patterns. Have a look at the following website if you get a moment. There's usually similar axes for sale;

http://www.timelesstools.co.uk/axes.htm

had a look yesterday and couldn't find anything close.

I'm not sure, but it looks like an old slaters axe for roofing. I don't think the handle is original.

think it maybe is as its ash. i didn't want to put a new handle on so i cut just below the collar then reshaped and inserted the now shorter handle. chopped a splintered section off the end. then steeped in veg oil to put a bit of spring back into what was very dry wood.
the hammer side was quite badly mushroomed so these got ground off. the whole axe weighs 3lb with a very substantial hammer section, so its been used but in what capacity!
it is reminiscent of the long handled saxon war axes , that were used for bringing down cavalry.

 

[toilet digger]

right it looks like it could be a lathing axe. still don't know what its for though

 

[toilet digger]

got this from http://www.collectorsweekly.com/tools-and-hardware/axes-hatchets
''A lathing hatchet had a flat end so that nails could be hammered into the laths very close to a ceiling. A notch in both types of hatchets could be used to pull nails if one lacked a claw hammer.''

BUT it weighs a ton and looks to predate plasterboard!

 

[Adze]

If you put a mirror up to it then it would make a fair kent pattern felling axe - any chance it's been modified in it's history do you reckon?

 

[toilet digger]

If you put a mirror up to it then it would make a fair kent pattern felling axe - any chance it's been modified in it's history do you reckon?

naah looks virginal. i do know it was hanging in the wood machine workshop of the last place i worked at, up here in northumberland for the last 25 years. judging by the gilpin stamp which lacks finnese, i'd say its twice that age at least.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Just because the handle is ash does'nt mean it's an original, but then at 3lbs who knows. Cheers.

 

[shaggystu]

.....BUT it weighs a ton and looks to predate plasterboard!

lathes pre-date plasterboard by a long way, in fact, once you've got plasterboard then lathes become pretty much useless. i've seen this style of axe lots of times before and they're generally described as "lathing hatchets" or something similar, i've always been curious about them because i doubt very much that it's a tool that i'd even consider using for doing lath and plaster work, but then i've never done any lath and plaster work, i'm a tad too young for that kind of thing. i don't suppose anyone on here has ever done any lath and plaster have they? it's been pretty much obsolete since the introduction of plasterboard in the 30's/40's, but i guess someone might have worked on some kind of renovation or similar

cheers

stuart

 

[toilet digger]

lathes pre-date plasterboard by a long way, in fact, once you've got plasterboard then lathes become pretty much useless. i've seen this style of axe lots of times before and they're generally described as "lathing hatchets" or something similar, i've always been curious about them because i doubt very much that it's a tool that i'd even consider using for doing lath and plaster work, but then i've never done any lath and plaster work, i'm a tad too young for that kind of thing. i don't suppose anyone on here has ever done any lath and plaster have they? it's been pretty much obsolete since the introduction of plasterboard in the 30's/40's, but i guess someone might have worked on some kind of renovation or similar

cheers

stuart

yeah was looking at laths and all that earlier. still its very useable, so i'm gonna try it out on my next hedgelaying comp