The Coopers’ Axe

Images are from the Lehmann Collection, shared by Hans Brunner Tools.

A coopers’ axe (coopers’ side axe) is a specialized hatchet designed for barrel making. They have a wide, thin, single-bevel blade for precise trimming and beveling the staves, which fit together to form the barrel. The short handle is typically both offset and canted to protect the user’s hands.

While axes and other edge tools were used by barrel makers (coopers) for centuries, the most defined and recognizable coopers’ axes (with short offset handles and wide, thin blades) became firmly established around the late 1700s or early 1800s.

At the peak of the trade between the 1700s and early 1900s, barrels were the world’s primary shipping container for all kinds of commodities and were being produced in the millions.

Even as machinery gradually entered larger cooperages, the axe remained essential for fine shaping into the mid-1900s.

After WWII, as metal and plastic containers replaced wooden casks, cooper’s axes fell out of regular use. And these days they’re often found in old workshops or antique markets, mistaken for hewing axes or broad hatchets.

Design of Coopers’ Axe

The cutting edge of a Coopers’ Axe is long and straight (often 8–12 inches across), much broader than other hatchets, enabling it to slice along a stave’s length. The head is stout and weighty for momentum.

The blade is typically beveled on only one side (chisel-edged), with the opposite side flat or nearly flat. This single-bevel design allows making smooth, flush cuts on the flat sides of staves.

This also means they can be right-handed or left-handed.

The handle is short, but can vary between 12″-18″ long, designed for one-handed use. This compact size lets coopers wield it in one hand while holding a stave in the other.

A key feature of a Coopers’ axe, is that the handle is offset from the blade of the axe by angling or offsetting the eye (where the handle mounts). Whereas most other broad axes just had bent handles. However, the handle of Coopers’ axe is also often curved or bent.

These exaggerated handle offsets kept the user’s knuckles from rubbing, bumping, or scraping against the wood during use.

Variations of the Coopers’ Axe

Unlike a lot of other kinds of axes, North American and British axe makers largely followed a similar design for the Coopers’ axe. But there were different design variations.

How the Coopers’ Axe was Used

The cooper’s axe was the primary tool used to rough-shape the wooden staves that form a barrel. Before a cooper could smooth or joint a stave, he began with a process called listing. Listing was chopping a split board to a rough stave profile. Holding the stave against a chopping block, he used a one-handed side axe with an offset handle and flat blade to shave away material, tapering the ends and trimming the sides.

Once the axe work established the basic profile, the cooper moved on to finer tools like drawknives and planes to hollow, curve, and bevel the staves so they would fit tightly together. In every traditional cooperage, the side axe was considered one of the most vital tools for turning raw timber into barrels.

Coopers’ Axe Gallery

These axes are availble for closer review as part of the Lehmann Collection:

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Do you have a rare or unique axe? Did I get something wrong? Please share any pictures, information, or any insights to help improve the archive.
Email: museum@axeandtool.com

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Sources:

1. Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library – Coopers
2. Victoria Collections
3. Matheson Tools – Shaping Staves
4. Library of Congress
5. Hans Brunner Tools