Hults Bruk 1.75 lb Montreal Pattern – Pre 1988
I received a very rusty old axe head as a gift, in order to attempt refurbishing it. It had been used as a door stopper. After a lot of work with wet sandpaper some markings became visible: One side is stamped “08/1¾” and the other with “Hults bruk”. It had a lot of mushrooming which I removed with a file. I did not sand out all the battle scars as I think they give the axe character and patina.
After a bit of shopping I found a rather expensive but beautiful dark hickory handle from Hultafors that fit pretty well. The edge was decent but had some chips in it. Got most of the chips out with a Tormek, the edge became shaving sharp.
Took it for a trip in the forest yesterday and it performed very well. It easily slices through one inch thick branches with one stroke. This fairly light axe head balances beautifully on the 65 cm handle, making it easy to go where I want it to go. I am glad i did not put it on a short handle like I originally intended. The edge showed no signs of dulling even after two hours of chopping in fairly dry resinous pinewood. This has been my first successful axe restoration.
Are you able to identify the model and possibly age of this axe? Also I wonder what the number code means.
16 Comments
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JamesMay 24, 2017 at 5:08 pm
Congratulations on restoring that axe! You’ve saved it from being a doorstop and put it back to its intended purpose. The axe is a Montreal pattern, from the Agdor range of axes. The 08/1¾ stamp corresponds to the weight of the axe head (0.8 kg, 1¾ lbs.) It was made sometime between 1950-1988, hard to tell an exact date. Thanks for sharing!
KevinOctober 3, 2017 at 3:22 pm
That cleaned up nice! Great job!
Chris GloverOctober 3, 2017 at 3:37 pm
Love that Montreal
NiklasOctober 3, 2017 at 4:02 pm
Amazing work! Looks Great with the patina. Good job
Kerry ScottOctober 3, 2017 at 4:26 pm
Sweet looking axe. Nice restoration!
JesseOctober 3, 2017 at 4:37 pm
I heart this one the best
EricOctober 3, 2017 at 9:59 pm
Nice work! Beautiful axe. Quality is apparent with this company!
RomanOctober 4, 2017 at 1:47 am
Great axe, as simple as beautiful – great Refurbishment job!
Robert PaynterOctober 4, 2017 at 2:45 am
Fantastic restoration! Glad you have kept some of the marks and patina from its previous life! Hope it brings you many happy hours of chopping!
Sandy GunnOctober 4, 2017 at 5:45 am
A fantastic take with you axe! Amazing what door stops can do with a little effort!
DanielOctober 4, 2017 at 9:35 am
The restoration looks great and love the Montreal.
Frank ScaleroOctober 4, 2017 at 2:20 pm
Love the edge and the clean-up job.
bent are iversenOctober 4, 2017 at 4:55 pm
Thank you for all the kind comments, everyone!
Here are some more pictures from that same series.
JeremyOctober 5, 2017 at 12:21 pm
Gorgeous axe! Beautiful restoration!
StephanOctober 14, 2017 at 12:51 am
Gorgeous!
RB WigintonOctober 17, 2017 at 3:40 pm
Classy!