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An Ax to Grind: A Practical Ax Manual

Brief History of the Ax, continued

We no sooner got started on this book than confusion over terminology set in. The simplest term to decide was "ax" instead of "axe." Although most historical sources go with axe, we chose ax because that spelling is preferred in the government's style manual. More problematic was the correct term for a single-bit ax. We found single-bit axes described as a single-bit ax, felling ax, American ax, and pole ax. Although woods workers commonly refer to a single-bit ax as a pole ax, dictionaries refer to the pole ax as a medieval battle ax, an ax that's quite a bit different than the axes we are writing about. Pole ax probably refers to the poll (steel counterweight) on the back of the head of a modern single-bit ax. The trade axes that preceded the single-bit ax did not have a poll. The American ax and felling ax have slightly different meanings to me, so we compromised on single-bit ax throughout most of the text. Whether or not single-bit axes should be hyphenated is yet another story. We chose to rely on a modern dictionary for the spelling.

Ax Types, Patterns, and Uses

During the 19th century, America's agrarian society was not as mobile as our society is today. People lived their lives in relatively small geographic areas. This is one explanation of the hundreds of different ax-head patterns that developed over the last 150 years.

The individual skills of local blacksmiths and their view of what an ax needed were important factors in the development of ax-head patterns. Ax patterns became a matter of regional preference.

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