Need help ID'ing shingling hatchet

This shingling hatchet belonged to my great great grandfather.

I retreived it out of the junk today and am trying to get some idea of who made it.

My first impression was an early Kansas blacksmith, or Illinois Blacksmith made it before he came to Kansas?

But after I knocked some of the rust off I found:
What appears to be a heart stamped in on side.
And some very small stamped writing on the other which I think are in three lines.

It is too badly rust pitted to read it.

Measurements are:
2 3/4" cutting edge.
6 1/8" OAL length.
1/2" x 1 1/2" eye.






The eye is cracked, and the hammer head badly flared over.

But I want to re-handle it and make something out of it again.

Maybe a Viking Ax, cause I think it is nearly old enough to be one?

Or maybe a walking stick head, cause I feel old & tired enough to need one.

rc

Is the crack actually into the eye or is it in the cheeks?

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I don't know what you call it, but the cracks in the head, right next to the front of the eye is visible in both side photos.

The right side is way worse then the left side.

I will maybe try the vinegar next time I get out to get some.

I have also heard Coca-Cola works like that too and the fizz helps work the rust off??
Know anything about that?

Thanks for the help!

PS: I still kinda wonder what use this thing was put too all those years.
The hammer head didn't get peened over & the eye (cheeks?) cracked pounding shingle nails on a wood roof I betcha.

My grandfather had a blacksmith shop on the farm with a forge & huge anvil, and ran steam engine thrashing machines as well as farming half a section with horses.

Now, I'm wondering if he didn't have a blacksmith hammer or three to go with it all and used this hatchet for making horse shoes & plow shears??


rc

10-4!

I may get white vinegar And some Coke
Been wanting to try the Coke thing for some time but never had any thought of using it to raise lettering on this old hatchet.

And if Coke or vinegar don't work?

I can always drink it mixed on the rocks or something??

rc

What do you get if you use Coke instead?

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Green teeth, and bad breath at both ends??

I won't try that I think!

rc

Well, it's swimming in a glass bowl of white vinegar as of 5 minutes ago.

We will see what happens.

rc

Hatchet head after 24 hours in white Vinegar.






Should have bought a Big bottle of vinegar instead of a small one!

It's getting tired of eating rust already!

rc

Well, that's certainly interesting!!
Still looks like cracks to me though!

Thanks for the link!!

I do agree the blade probably won't break clear off the head.

But the eye spreading at the cracks makes keeping a handle tight with wood and steel wedges nearly impossible it seems.

I remember launching this one off the handle at inopportune times more then once when I was a boy.

I re-handled it years ago, and I could never keep the handle tight.

rc

Nope!

My cracks are different then the crack Sam Cade posted.
I understand the crack they show is a result of forging the eye.
Seen them before.

But my cracks are on both sides, next to the eye, not down the middle in line with it.



rc

just plain old cracked because somebody loved it.

Click to expand...

Boy, you got that right!

The more I mess with it, I'm not sure I love it all that much anymore either!!

Still, I'm gonna finish cleaning it up, and see if I can somehow make out the writing.
But I think it is too far gone under the pitting to ever read it.

rc

I'll weld it myself if I decide to go that far.

Still pondering it's future.

A grind Something like this would get rid of the cracks I guess!!

Except that one is cracked in the eye too.

Course, it might be early iron-age.






rc

Yea!
I'll need it.

I still think the Heart shaped deep stamp on the right side is the best clue I will ever have.

I just haven't been able to find any old tool company with a three line address, and a heart shaped logo yet.

The heart could easily be a obscure & hand-made blacksmiths stamp.

But the three line address on the other side is too nicely done and too small to be whacked in with a hammer and letter stamps under a shade tree.

That's the part I want to find out somehow.

rc