A small axe ... for possible ID

[fernando]

Pictures taken with cell a phone ... in the worst conditions.
A small axe, square cross section handle, with a reduced 'hammer' head opposite to the small blade.
Two thinks atypical; 1 - strongly reinforced in both ends; the naked wooden part is extemely reduced. 2 - there is a square hole in the bottom, one inch deep, as if it was to couple an extension or ... i don't know .
Has anyone seen anything like this ?


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[David R]

Looks like a fireman's axe or hatchet to me.... Modern ones are all metal, so this looks like a progression from a plain wooden helve to the all metal construction we see now.

[Philip]

Originally Posted by David R

Looks like a fireman's axe or hatchet to me.... Modern ones are all metal, so this looks like a progression from a plain wooden helve to the all metal construction we see now.

Every fire ax I've seen (at least those used in the US) has a spike opposite the blade, not a flat poll. Also they are full sized, the length of a woodsman's felling ax, they are not small for obvious reasons.

The relatively shallow recess on the butt end of the shaft is a mystery to me.

A square, or quadrangular, handle, is also a bit unusual, at least in a Western context. Chinese carpenters' hatchets have such rectangular-section handles, so do many Japanese hammers and also some axes whose handles are rectangular for about 20% of their length before transitioning to oval. However nothing else about this specimen speaks to originating in either culture.

[fernando]

Thank you for your input, Gentlemen,
Philip, i concur with your assumption; notwithstanding the existence of fireman's axes of short length and or atypical shape, this example sums up details that altogether direct it to a different purpose ... the square recess on the butt being the main enigma.
By the way, its length is less than 50 centimeters.


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[CutlassCollector]

I agree with Philip in that fire axes generally have a spike. Could this one have been cut down to the poll? Fire fighters in the UK and much of Europe carried personal spiked hatchets in the late 19th and early 20th century until replaced by large axes carried on the trucks.
Fire brigades also carry numerous keys for opening service boxes or turning off supplies of gas, electricity and for machinery rooms, communal gates etc. I wonder if the square socket in the base is a key socket to operate a valve or access lock in common usage in a particular country.

CC

[fernando]

Well, it is not impossible that it had a spike that was later cut off; its head looks rather irregular. And in fact its owner started by suggesting that its butt socket was a key to turn whatever device; it was i who didn't believe so .

As for large axes, the local fire brigade station being in my street, since my childhood i kept seeing the men parading with those in cerimonial uniform, actually up until nowadys. However i am not certain of the period they ceased using them in actual fire fighting.


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