I purchased this Broadaxe a long time ago at maybe a gun or antique show but I don't remember exactly when or where.

Decided to take a few pics of it as it's an interesting axe and people might like having a look at it and might have some ideas about purpose, age or provenance.

It's not a war axe and most certainly a wood working axe used in squaring timbers or something like it.

Statistics:

With handle 36" total length.
Head edge length 12 3/4".
Head width from hammer face to edge 10"
Maximum thickness on hammer 1 1/2"
P.O.B. 28 1/2" from the end of the handle ( Very much head heavy ..... :lol: )

WEIGHT: 9 lbs 2 oz.

Nice texture but no visible rust on the very dark patina.

Very very massive axe and weapon usage would be very impractical as recovery from a blow would be very very slow: Not designed for fighting, obviously, but just speculating how it could have been used if pressed into service if nothing else was available i.e. wood worker surprised by a raid while working.

One side of the axe is completely flat and the other side has a much more complex shape with central ridge and bevels.

In one of the pics the blade look crooked but this is just due to the shape of the bevels and don't mean that the other side is anything but dead flat. ( Sort of an optical illusion due to the way the axe is lighted for the pic ).

Probably French or Colonial French Canadian 19th century or earlier :?:

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Exactly right. its used for squaring up timbers. http://www.traditionalwoodworker.com/Broad-Ax.../367-7505/

Thanks for the link Christopher.

Have two broad-axes in the shed that belonged to my grandfather - he was a timber cutter during the great depression. They appear to differ slightly in that the blade edge has very little curve at all, they appear to be almost dead straight. Probably just a different manufacturer.

It looks old but may not be as old as you think. These things were made continuously for a very long time and I see a lot of them in antique stores around here which are configured exactly like yours. It is for squaring timbers and I have used one in the past for that purpose. They were also made in different sizes.

One of my grandfather's broad axes from my shed.

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I found an axe almost precisely like that in my grandfather's garage after he passed away. I looked up the makers mark and found that it dated from 1818-1824! Research on the net showed similar axes going for $8-20 a piece.

This is (roughly) a Pennsylvania pattern broadaxe, probably mid-19th century. The haft is nice but wrong, should you want an historically correct one. Theoretically, if you acid-etch the entire head we will be adle to date it mote accurately. It is about as large as they came, the form has evolved from British broadaxe of the 18th century.
There is a very nice but rather rare book about the subject: American Axes by Henry Kauffman.