Damascus Throwing Hatchet, 16 Inch Hickory Handle
Damascus Throwing Hatchet, 16 Inch Hickory Handle
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- Engraving adds 3 to 5 business days.
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Most throwing starts on borrowed steel, house axes with the finish worn off the hafts. This one is yours. It runs 16 inches from butt to bit, the head is Damascus pattern welded over a high carbon core, and the hickory haft is left plain. It looks like nothing else on the rack, which is most of why people buy one.
Specification
| Head length | 5.5 inches |
| Cutting edge | 3.5 inches |
| Overall length | 16 inches |
| Handle length | 16 inches |
| Handle wood | Hickory |
| Head steel | Damascus, pattern welded over a high carbon core |
| Head finish | Etched raindrop pattern running the whole head, fine bright edge |
| Eye | Wedged, wooden wedge with a steel wedge across it |
| Head cover | Hand stitched leather, stamped basket weave face, snap strap |
| Engraving | Laser engraving, 20 dollars per piece |
| Made in | Forged and finished by hand in High Point, North Carolina. |
| Warranty | Lifetime warranty against defects, free sharpening for life. |
The head
The head is 5.5 inches long with a 3.5 inch cutting edge, which keeps the mass in close. Pattern welded layers run either side of a high carbon core. The etch lifts a raindrop pattern across the whole head and leaves the edge fine and bright, and the bevel behind it is ground to cut wood rather than to be looked at. An edge that narrow takes a clean bite out of end grain. The carbon under the pattern darkens with use, and it rusts if the axe goes away wet.
The handle
Hickory is here because it gives a little under load and comes back, which saves a haft when a throw lands short of the edge. The grain runs the length of it. The eye is wedged, so the haft is driven up from below, a wooden wedge spreads the wood hard against the steel, and a steel wedge is set across that. At 16 inches the haft suits one hand or two, and it turns once over a short walk back.
The leather head cover
The cover is vegetable tanned leather, stitched by hand and cut to the outline of this head rather than a size that roughly fits. A welt between the two faces keeps the stitching in a channel of its own, off the edge. The face is stamped in a basket weave and a brass snap holds the strap. Put it on dry. Wipe the head first and leave the cover off until both are dry.
Who it suits
This one is for somebody who has thrown enough house axes to know what they want.
- Somebody bringing their own axe to a friend's lane
- Anyone who has thrown enough to have a preference
- A thrower who wants the steel seen from the line
- Someone buying for a thrower who owns plain heads already
What comes in the box
- The 16 inch Damascus throwing hatchet
- The stamped leather head cover
- A care card
- A gift box
Every piece is different
No two heads come off the anvil the same. The raindrop pattern goes where the etch takes it, so no face repeats on the next one. Hickory varies too, pale and tight in one haft, streaked darker in the next. Expect the axe in the photographs, not a copy of it.
Looking after it
Wipe the head dry after a session and oil it before storage. The haft takes boiled linseed oil, three to five coats over as many days when it is new, then once a year. Never varnish it, and never stand a loose head in water. Oily rags can catch light on their own indoors, so lay them flat outside until hard. The rest is on our knife care and sharpening page.
Put a name on it
Engraving is 20 dollars a piece, added here on the page. About 30 characters will fit, so a name and a date, or initials. A proof image comes to you before the laser runs, so you see it before anything is permanent. Allow another 3 to 5 business days. Ten pieces or more are engraved free. See the engraving page.
Questions buyers ask
What size is it? The head is 5.5 inches long, the edge measures 3.5 inches and the axe is 16 inches overall.
How is the head held on? The eye is wedged. The haft goes up from below, a wooden wedge spreads it tight and a steel wedge crosses that.
Will it rust? Yes, if you let it. Dry the head after a session and oil it before it goes in the cover. Carbon darkens as the axe gets used, and that is not a fault.
The edge has taken a knock, now what? A file takes the damage out, a stone brings the bevel back and a strop finishes. Sharpening is free for life.
Why pay for Damascus on an axe that gets thrown? The pattern is in the outer layers, the core does the cutting. You buy it to know which one is yours.
How long does shipping take? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.
Plain carbon steel on a walnut haft is the hand forged throwing axe on walnut. The same pattern on a longer haft is the Damascus bushcraft axe on rosewood. The rest sit in throwing axes, more of this steel under Damascus axes, and gifts for him for a present.