Damascus Bushcraft Axe, 19 Inch Rosewood Handle

Kindling for a stove, tent pegs from a green branch, a limb cut to lengths a fire will accept. That is the week this axe is built around. It stands 19 inches overall, the head is Damascus, pattern welded over a high carbon core, and the haft is rosewood. Most buyers pick it for the pattern, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Specification

The head

Damascus means layers of steel forged together and drawn out, then etched so the light and dark bands show. Here it reads as a ladder pattern across the head. Now the honest part. The pattern is there to be looked at. The cutting is done by the high carbon core under it, the same core as in our plain axe. The bit is 6 inches with a 3.25 inch edge, ground fine and left bright, the weight behind the bevel. Carbon steel darkens with use and rusts if left wet.

The handle

Rosewood is dense and oily. It takes a knock without denting the way a soft wood does, and stays smooth in a working hand. The eye is wedged. The handle is driven up through the head from below, a wooden wedge is driven into the top to spread it tight, and a steel wedge is set across that. At 19 inches you can choke up under the head to shape a peg, or drop to the butt and let the head swing.

The leather head cover

The cover is vegetable tanned leather, cut to this head's own outline so it sits close and does not rattle. The edge is welted, a strip of leather between the bit and the stitching. It is hand stitched throughout, the face carries a stamped basket weave you can feel, and a brass snap closes the strap. It goes on dry, never over a wet bit, or you trap water against the steel.

Who it suits

It suits people who want the look and the work in one tool and are honest about the first half.

• Buyers who want a patterned head that still gets used
• Anyone with a plain axe wanting better beside it
• People buying a gift that has to hold a room
• Woodsmen who prefer a dark dense haft

What comes in the box

• The Damascus bushcraft axe, hung and wedged
• The hand stitched leather head cover
• A care card covering oiling and sharpening
• Lifetime warranty and free sharpening for life

Every piece is different

Each head is forged, etched and hung by hand, so runs stay small and no two finish alike. The ladder pattern never repeats, so yours will read differently from the photographs. Rosewood varies too, near black to warm brown. Take the images as the make, not a portrait of your axe.

Looking after it

Wipe the head dry after use and oil it before storage. A file first if the edge is damaged, then a stone, then a strop. The handle wants boiled linseed oil, three to five coats when new, then once a year. Never varnish it, and never soak a loose head. Linseed rags can catch fire on their own if left screwed up indoors, so dry them flat outside. More in our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per piece, added on this page. Around 30 characters fits, so a name and a date is comfortable. We send a proof image before the laser runs, and it adds 3 to 5 business days. It is free on orders of 10 or more. Clean line art engraves well, photographs do not. See the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

Does the pattern make it cut better? No. The pattern is cosmetic. The edge is what cuts.

So what is the extra money for? The look, and the hours of forging and etching behind it. The plain axe does the same work for less.

Is the Damascus only on the surface? No. The layers run through the head over a high carbon core, and the etch brings them to the surface.

How is the head held on? The eye is wedged. The handle goes up from below, a wooden wedge spreads it tight inside the eye, and a steel wedge crosses that.

Will it rust? It can. Dry the head after use and oil it before storage.

How long is shipping? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.

If the pattern is not worth the difference, the hand forged bushcraft axe in plain carbon steel is the same tool with a plain head. If it is the rosewood you like, we hang the Damascus tomahawk on the same rosewood. The rest sit in bushcraft and forest axes, the patterned heads in Damascus axes, and everything else in Damascus steel.