Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 May 1894 — How an Axe is Made. [ARTICLE]

How an Axe is Made.

On entering the main workshop the first step in the operation which is seen is the formation of the axe-head without the blade. The glowing flat iron bars are withdrawn from the furnace and are taken to a powerful and somewhat complicated machine, which performs upon them four distinct operations, shaping the metal to form the upper and lower parts of the axe, then the eye, and finally doubling the piece over so that the whole can be welded together. Next the iron is put in a powerful natural gas furnace and heated to a white heat. Taken out it goes under a tilt hammer and Is welded in a second. This done, one blow from the “drop” and the poll of the axe is completed and firmly welded. Two crews of men are doing this class of work, and each crew can make 1,500 axes per day. When the axe leaves the drop there is some superfluous metal still adhering to the edges and forming what is technically known as a “fin.” To get rid of the fin the axe is again heated in a furnace and then taken in hand by a sawyer, who trims the ends and edges. The operator has a glass in front of him to protect his eyes from the sparks which fly off by hundreds as the hot metal is pressed against the rapidly revolving saw. The iron part of the axe is now complete. The steel for the blade, after being heated, is cut by machinery and shaped. It is then ready for the welding department. A groove is cut into the edge of the iron, the steel of the blade inserted, and the whole firmly welded by machine hammers. Next comes the operation of tempering. The steel portion of the axe is heating by being Inserted in pots of molten lead, the blade only being immersed. It is then cooled by dipping in water and goes to the hands of the inspector. An axe is subject to rigid tests before it is pronounced perfect. The steel must be of the required temper, the weight of all axes of the same size must be uniform, all must be ground alike, and in various other ways conform to an established stand. The inspector who tests the quality of steel does so by hammering the blade and striking the edge to ascertain whether it be too brittle or not. An ake that breaks during the tests is thrown aside to be made over. Before the material of the axe is in the proper shape It has been heated five times, including the tempering process, and the axe, when completed, has passed through the hands of about forty workmen, each of whom has done something toward perfecting it. After passing inspection the axes go to the grinding department, and from that to the polishers, who finish them upon emery wheels.—[Philadelphia Record.

It is said that those who do not wish of be stout should eschew ths yellow to eggs.