axe - plea for recommendation

[Martin Lubojacky]

This is small old Turkish, maybe Ottoman axe head (10 x 11 cms). It was too much rusty so I applied tannin to neutralize deep rust (after the basic mechanical cleaing) and I did not clean it further (I think black colour, very similar to that old "black rusty patina", is also ok).

Please could you help me ? - I would like to know, how long was the original axe helve, if it had any iron mounts or adornment, how was the shape of the shaft.
Old Picture of this complete axe type or picture of native with this axe would be most welcome....
Ragards
Martin

[Martin Lubojacky]

No ideas, findings ?

[kronckew]

dimensions? especially inside dia. of the eye? haft would be round, could be iron/steel if the dia. is small, or wood if larger. if wood, may have had part of the haft near the head enclosed in a metal tube for protection.

[kronckew]

oops, double post.

[Timo Nieminen]

Originally Posted by Martin Lubojacky

I would like to know, how long was the original axe helve, if it had any iron mounts or adornment, how was the shape of the shaft.

Indian axes of similar size and appearance usually have straight wooden hafts with no metal mounts. I've seen some with remains of painted decoration on the hafts.

About 75-80cm is probably good for length, and about 750g weight. The hafts are usually fairly uniform in thickness. Some look like the head is fitted over the head end, but the end of the haft through the eye is about the same thickness as the rest, and some look like the head is fitted over the butt of the haft. Either way, the size of the eye is a good estimate of the thickness of the haft. In turn, this determines the weight for a given length. If 75-80cm will give you something lighter than, say, 700g, you could go longer if you want. Maybe up to walking-stick size, or about 1m. If 75-80cm would give you something over 1kg, shorten it, down to 60cm if needed.

Anyway, that's Indian style for similar heads in my experience. Maybe Ottoman/Turkish practice is different, but 60-80cm, 600-800g is really common for battle axes.

[Martin Lubojacky]

Thank you both.
Best, Martin

[ALEX]

Originally Posted by Timo Nieminen

...
Anyway, that's Indian style for similar heads in my experience. Maybe Ottoman/Turkish practice is different, ...

Here's Ottoman head for style comparison.