Axe for ID

[fernando]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

... Do my eyes play tricks on me, or is there a 'broad arrow' marking on your blade, 'Nando? ...

Well Mark, one of us is definitely being tricked by his eyes
What i see is a few grooves and spots, result of rough forging texture. But i see what you meant, though .

Originally Posted by M ELEY

... BTW, thanks for posting that Spanish example and am glad to finally have a look at one! !..

Don't mention it; and if you use the link i inserted in the picture, you will see a few more examples, although not in the same context, together with some boarding pikes .. and you have a chance to practice your castillian .

[CutlassCollector]

Hi Fernando,

That is a much better shot of the mark, looks like too many right angles in it to be accidental so perhaps it is a makers symbol. Was there a mark on the other axe?

Also thanks for the Portuguese translation, I cannot find many pictures either. The Spanish link was very informative. I have seen one axe with a single "O" stamp on the centre of the axe head does that indicate a particular Spanish maker?

Regards, CC

[fernando]

Originally Posted by CutlassCollector

... That is a much better shot of the mark, looks like too many right angles in it to be accidental so perhaps it is a makers symbol. Was there a mark on the other axe?..

No there is not; however with a different handle wood and a slightly more pointy spike it must have been made by a different smith.

Originally Posted by CutlassCollector

... Also thanks for the Portuguese translation ...

The diminutive is also used by Spaniards ... hachuela, even hacheta; but the results show that in practice the term hacha for boarding axes is massively preferred,

Originally Posted by CutlassCollector

The Spanish link was very informative...

Yes, a rather interesting text. A note for when Dom Calvó quotes Brigadier Barrios in 1881:
“aún se conserva y considera necesaria el hacha de abordaje”, añadiendo: “los efectos de esta arma de abordaje son verdaderamente horrorosos y sangrientos"
meaning:
The need for the boarding axe still is preserved and considered; and adds that ... the effects of this boarding weapon are realy horrifying and bloody.

Originally Posted by CutlassCollector

... I have seen one axe with a single "O" stamp on the centre of the axe head does that indicate a particular Spanish maker? ...

Not in the quoted Spanish link, but somewhere else ? I wouldn't know, but most probably.