Craftsmanship in Wood

just bought this axe from a collection of many incredible tools, wondering if someone can pull a name off of it??

ono? oh yes.

Ah, nice to see clearly legible kanji for once, and not in a cursive style so they are relatively easy to read.

This is what you have:

本則弘

That's read hon-norihiro

'Hon', 本, in this context, generally means the 'main~', the 'genuine~'

Norihiro seems to have made a variety of adzes, hatchets and axes, but I haven't been able to find any solid info on the smith or his history. His name appears in Volume 6 of a series from the Takenaka Carpentry Museum in a listing of axe and hatchet makers. It appears the smith was active in Niigata in the early Shōwa period, but information is scant otherwise.

thanks Chris. always exciting to find out the kanji on a pre-owned tool doesn't say, "Generic Tool."