Egan Farm

Egan Farm - Axes

The smallest axe, with a relatively narrow blade, is a felling axe used for cutting a wedge into a pine trunk so that the tree may be felled where desired. Before 1870 only axes were used in this process.

The two larger, similarly shaped and heavier axes are scoring axes. One appears to have been hammered as a wedge. These were used to roughly shape the sides of a log square by notching the log and by score-hacking.

The largest axe is a broad-axe, bevelled and sharpened on one side only along a steel blade welded into the iron body. It was used like a large chisel to square and smooth the sides of large pine logs into squared timbers.

Broad Axe

Collection: Egan Farm
Object: Axe
Material: Iron
Period: Early 19th Century - Mid 19th Century
Date: 1830 to 1855

Broadaxes were bevelled on one side only to function as large chisels for squaring large logs. The single cutting edge was backed by a heavy poll for balance and cutting power. Stamped into the axe poll on the front side: Blasdell (presumably the common TMBlasdell stamp) and TOW (presumably BYTOWN).