Any guesses on what it says

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kenv1950

kenv1950

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Can anyone take a shot on what it says ?
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Haertig said:
Well, the bottom line says "CAST STEEL" with backwards letter "S" in both words.

The top line ends in "CORIO", which is a European steel company:

CORIO GMBH, Steel, special, Steels and metals - machining, Sand blasting - steels and metals, Machine tools - metal shaping on europages. - europages
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I've read that cast steel was introduced in America about 1750 . Why would a European Co. stamp in English back then ? ( by no means do I disbelieve you) I'm just trying to find the approximate age. I have two of them and the other is made completely different, smooth , no hammer marks like the one in the picture . Just asking , you seem to know more than I .
other one
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Different photo angles and different lighting may help bring out individual letters. Try to take several individual pictures that best highlight a single letter, as opposed to one photo that does the best average of all letters.
 
Haertig said:
Different photo angles and different lighting may help bring out individual letters. Try to take several individual pictures that best highlight a single letter, as opposed to one photo that does the best average of all letters.
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Thats a tough one for me and an auto focus the way I shake but i'll try :D I googled Corio and can't find anything before 1983
 
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kenv1950 said:
you seem to know more than I
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Not at all. I threw your picture into GIMP (a program like PhotoShop) and applied various filters and color/exposure tools to it to try and clarify it. The "highpass filter" with appropriate adjustment seemed to give me the best results, but they still weren't good. Which is why I suggested more pictures from different angles, different lighting, maybe even different distances.

Once I came up with "CORIO" (which is not a 100% certainty), I used Google to search for "cast steel corio" and up popped a link to the European company. But "CORIO" could just as well be "COPVO"
 
kenv1950 said:
Thats a tough one for me and an auto focus the way I shake but i'll try :D
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Rest your elbows on the table where the ax is as you take the picture. You can also try aiming the camera off center a bit, sometimes it will snap into focus better if you're not pointed directly at what you want it to focus on. That sounds counterintuitive, but sometimes it works. Also try with and without flash (even if without flash comes out dim, you can sometimes enhance in GIMP/PhotoShop to it's actually better than a flash image. Never hurts to try different things - sometimes you get surprised when something unexpected works. If your camera has an "HDR" setting ("High Dynamic Range"), sometimes that will help too.
 
This is a tough one. I sent your pictures to a friend of mine who was once into axes, in hopes that he might be able to come up with a manufacturer name from that first line that I can't quite decipher. I will reply back here if my friend comes up with anything useful.
 
Haertig said:
This is a tough one. I sent your pictures to a friend of mine who was once into axes, in hopes that he might be able to come up with a manufacturer name from that first line that I can't quite decipher. I will reply back here if my friend comes up with anything useful.
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Thanks , I was into antiques for years , I've had them laying around for fifty years . Something I learned years ago on stamped metal was to put white shoe polish on let it sit for a couple days then lightly sand the area . That is if your wondering what the white stuff is.
 
LadyLocust said:
Did you try doing a "rubbing"? paper then soft led or charcoal~
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Yup,,, poor stamping and some letters are backwards some not stamped deep enough makes it very difficult . Now its up to Haertigs friend , hope he has some input . For stuff I work on I have a dissecting microscope (for rats) and still can't make them out
 
kenv1950 said:
Yup,,, poor stamping and some letters are backwards some not stamped deep enough makes it very difficult . Now its up to Haertigs friend , hope he has some input . For stuff I work on I have a dissecting microscope (for rats) and still can't make them out
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From what little I've read, there were many "companies" often by the last name of the owner, then the words Cast Steel. Will be interesting to see what he comes up with. We like old tools around here 😊
 
the concept of a cast axe is kind of sketcy, cast has really high tensile strength, but no ductility and there appears to be a forge joint line on the side, , a cast line is very thin, but maybe cast means something else in the part of the world where the head was made
 
My friend was not able to read any more letters than we've already been able to, and could not think of a manufacturer that would match what we have so far.

He did mention that he believes this is a broad ax - typically used for finishing beams and such by hewing to a line on the beam.

He suggested that you might try removing the white stuff and using some naval jelly to see if that would take off any of the rust. I know nothing about naval jelly, what it's useful for, or where you get it - I'm just passing along the comments from my friend.
 
Haertig said:
My friend was not able to read any more letters than we've already been able to, and could not think of a manufacturer that would match what we have so far.

He did mention that he believes this is a broad ax - typically used for finishing beams and such by hewing to a line on the beam.

He suggested that you might try removing the white stuff and using some naval jelly to see if that would take off any of the rust. I know nothing about naval jelly, what it's useful for, or where you get it - I'm just passing along the comments from my friend.
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I knew it was a hewing axe , I have a left one and a right one . I think the only difference between a broad and a hewing is the handle I might be wrong on that . The one in the pic I believe is the original handle . Time will tell. I'll clean the shoe polish off and go from there , I don't like navel jelly , turns the metal black . Maybe I'll try some white vinegar it will take longer though . I'll post some pics when i get the white off and then after the vinegar.
Thanks again . Vinegar works great on rust but takes time , I've used it many times . Just don't use it on Damaskas. Thanks for trying
 
Hewing axes are typically left and right. They also have the bulk of the blade set to one side, as opposed to centered. Allows a closer cleaner line to be hewn.

There is another method to remove rust. I want to say its called electrolysis. But I may have the name wrong. I'm not sure of the method. Ill search around and see what I can find.
 
heating really helps vinegar remove rust, but you probably are aware of that. I have boiled the rust off of lumps , to have a new looking part when finished
 
Bacpacker said:
Hewing axes are typically left and right. They also have the bulk of the blade set to one side, as opposed to centered. Allows a closer cleaner line to be hewn.

There is another method to remove rust. I want to say its called electrolysis. But I may have the name wrong. I'm not sure of the method. Ill search around and see what I can find.
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Both of mine are sharpened from one side , so i guess their both hewing
 
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