Who writes it, and how.
This is a citation-first field guide to the makers of American axes — every fact on it tied to a period catalog, price list, patent, or trademark record. It is written and maintained by one collector and restorer.
My name is Ethan Trex. I have been an axe enthusiast since earning my Paul Bunyan Woodsman Award en route to becoming an Eagle Scout many years ago. I began restoring, rehanging, and researching old American axes and hatchets around 2010, after going down a similar path with cast iron cookware and American pocket knives.
Since then, I've dug around for axe heads at thrift stores, barn sales, flea markets, estate sales, and everywhere in between. Something about finding an old, rusty lump of steel with a cracked haft and slowly returning it to its former glory is therapeutic and fun, and it's rewarding to use a tool you've "rescued" in the yard or the woods.
Restoring old heads took me down the rabbit hole of Internet research, and I've pulled this site together using public-domain primary and secondary sources. The world of old tools is complicated, but learning more about the artisans who crafted my axes and hatchets heightens my appreciation of the tools themselves.
My go-tos at the moment are a Collins boy's axe and a Plumb roofing hatchet I'm pretty sure is from the late 1940s. Even after all these years, I am still pretty bad at hanging axes, but I still put in orders with House Handle.
When I'm not making a mess with white vinegar, angle grinders, and sandpaper, I work in digital media.
— Ethan Trex
Every page here works the same way: a claim is only as good as the document behind it. Primary sources — manufacturers' and wholesalers' catalogs, price lists, trade journals, and patent and trademark records — establish the facts; secondary works are treated as leads until a primary confirms them. Each page carries its sources and a confidence flag (✓ read directly, ~ corroborated, ⚑ identified but not yet transcribed) so you always know what proves what.
Found an error, or have a period catalog that would sharpen a page? I'd genuinely like to hear it — get in touch.