William;

Looks a lot like one I bought years ago at some antique store, gun show or antique show. ( Don't really remember exactly where. )

Mine looks bigger the edge being a good 15" to 18" wide and the "shoulders" curve out of the massive socket block ( Not sure about the name. ) in a convex curve rather than straiter in your example.

And it came on a short but thick handle about 24" long that tapers from wide near the axe head to smaller where you old it, the handle then sweels to a wooden ball.

As yours it is completely flat on one side. I'm almost sure that these were used for wood work, maybe in hand squaring large logs into square beams.

Now two handed use is a challenge, one handed, even with it's short handle, handling seems impossible.
At least in a weapons context were speed of recovery is important.

Thanks for the info. guys. Someone did say they thought it was a felling axe, but this one is totally flat on both sides. Still how anybody swung one of these critters around all day is beyond me. I break out in a sweat just picking it up. :surprised:

Bill

But that's just it--it wasn't meant to be swung. Rather it was just held in place and whacked all day. The weight worked for the craftsman rather than against him.

So it was used more like a splitting wedge than a normal axe? Or just short chopping motions allowing the mass of the blade to do the task at hand.

Bill

Exactly. In fact, Sloane actually uses the term "wedge" to describe this axe.

If you start going all squishy inside for early American tools, you might want to check out Whitman's Song of the Broad Axe:

http://www.bartleby.com/142/81.html

It's 255 lines, so be sure to pack a lunch.

Then you can send me all your Mortuary swords. :lol:

uuuhhhh......... no. The Mortuary tumor is graphted in too deep. :D Just had this axe laying around for so long, it needed to be ID'ed properly. Thanks again for all the help & sorry for invading you intital thread.

Bill