Best early "trade axe" commercially available?

[Bark-eater]

I'd like to get a reasonably accurate early trade axe. There are lots of tomahawks out there that fit the general description, but are any of them a match for a bog standard trade axe?

Second question:

A lot of the hand forged hawks I see are left a little on the "rustic" side with forging marks. Are any of these a good "blank" to clean up with a file?

I'm looking at picking up a cheap Cold Steel Frontier hawk as a fill in, but wouldn't mind spending a bit more to get something more accurate. Thanks, Woody

 

[Rató:rats]

Are you looking for a trade axe or a tomahawk? The cold steel frontier is a great hawk, throw mine all the time. It’d fit the bill for a tomahawk but not a trade axe.

My 2lb Biscayne trade axe by Jeff Miller complete with French regime stamps is a good representation of an 18th century trade axe. It does most of the wood processing in camp. Most 18th century woodsmen got around by canoe and horseback so weight wasn’t an issue so an axe like this could be found in camp.

If you’re looking to do most of your travelling afoot it might be too much so a smaller hawk, or even a squaw axe might be better.

Some of my hawks. They’ll restrict you to smaller work than a proper axe but that’s not a huge deal if you’re just out for 2 or 3 nights.

 

[Bark-eater]

Are you looking for a trade axe or a tomahawk? The cold steel frontier is a great hawk, throw mine all the time. It’d fit the bill for a tomahawk but not a trade axe.

View attachment 323084View attachment 323085

My 2lb Biscayne trade axe by Jeff Miller complete with French regime stamps is a good representation of an 18th century trade axe. It does most of the wood processing in camp. Most 18th century woodsmen got around by canoe and horseback so weight wasn’t an issue so an axe like this could be found in camp.

If you’re looking to do most of your travelling afoot it might be too much so a smaller hawk, or even a squaw axe might be better.

View attachment 323086
Some of my hawks. They’ll restrict you to smaller work than a proper axe but that’s not a huge deal if you’re just out for 2 or 3 nights.

I was thinking about the tomahawk style heads, like the upper left hand one in your picture, though I'm not sure when they started to be listed as tomahawks on the trade invoices.

 

[Hermit Tim]

I've got a few cold steel hawks. Once you remove the finish from the head and stain the handle they can be made to look reasonably accurate. Specially once you remove the sticker that says American Tomahawk Company (made in China) as it is quite tacky. But they are good, strong hawks. For my hunting hawk I bought the small one offered by the Townsend's. Actually cheaper than cold steel, well made, and shipped fast. I almost received it before I placed the order they were so fast. They have a few choices on their site and are all reasonable.