Contributed by Davistown Museum
Description
No information or working dates are available for this toolmaker, who almost certainly made this tool for Maine's timber harvesting industry. There is also an H. A. Bragg noted as making edge tools at Katahdin in 1856. Was this the same person? Did Bragg use pig iron from the Katahdin Iron Works blast furnace and refine it into malleable iron before making this rather crude hewing or broad ax? We note that this ax lacks a fine quality weld steel cutting edge.
Size: 9 long, 7 1/2 wide head, 21 long handle.
Signed: H. BRAGG CORNVILLE.
A broad axe (also called a hewing axe) is a short-handled axe that has a long cutting edge intended for squaring up a timber such as might be used in a log house. The cutting edge is normally beveled on one side only. There are numerous distinctive types out there, this is just one example.
About This Item
- Title: Broad Axe, ca. 1840
- Creation Date: circa 1840
- Subject Date: circa 1840
- Location: Cornville, Somerset County, ME
- Media: Forged iron, wooden handle
- Local Code: 062603T1
- Collection: Maine Made Tool Table-Maritime IV
- Object Type: Physical Object
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For more information about this item, contact:
Davistown MuseumPO Box 346, 58 Main Street #4, Liberty, ME 04949
(207) 288-5126
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