Damascus Viking Axe, Rosewood Handle with Brass Collar

The swing that comes up short is the one that ends a handle. The edge misses, the log catches the top of the haft, and a few of those chew the wood through behind the eye. That is an overstrike, and it kills more handles than anything else. A brass collar sits where this haft meets the eye. The axe is 19 inches overall, rosewood below the collar, Damascus over a high carbon core above.

Specification

The head

Damascus starts as many layers of steel forged down into one bar. Raindrop comes from sinking dimples into that bar and forging it flat, so the layers ring around each dent and acid opens them into loops. The pattern is decoration. Turn it in the light and the loops move. Underneath, the high carbon core is what sharpens up. The etch runs to the edge with no bare bevel left. The head is 6.5 inches with a 4.5 inch edge, so the weight stays close to your hand. Carbon steel darkens with use and spots if put away wet.

The handle

Rosewood is dense and oily in the grain, so it polishes rather than furs up. The brass collar wraps the top of the grip under the eye, which is the strip of wood an overstrike lands on. Brass dents instead of splitting. The eye is wedged. The handle is driven up from below, a wooden wedge spreads it tight against the steel, then a steel wedge crosses that. At 19 inches it swings one handed with the collar under your knuckles.

The leather head cover

Vegetable tanned leather, cut to this head's own outline and stitched by hand. A welt in the seam keeps the thread off the edge. The face is carved, not stamped, a scroll and vine cut into damp hide with a swivel knife and worked with punches until the stems lift clear. A snap strap closes it over the poll. It goes on dry, since damp under leather does the steel no favours.

Who it suits

Most people who ask about a collar have replaced a handle once and did not enjoy it.

• Anyone who has chewed the top of a haft
• Buyers who want brass against dark wood
• People working one handed close to a block
• Anyone who likes carved leather with an etched head

What comes in the box

• The Damascus axe on rosewood
• The hand carved scroll and vine cover
• A care card
• Free sharpening for life

Every piece is different

Rosewood runs from red to nearly black in the same board, so no two handles read alike. The raindrops land where the dimples were sunk. No two are the same. The collar is fitted to its handle and filed flush, so the line where brass meets wood is different every time.

Looking after it

Dry the head after use and put a film of oil over the etch. The cover goes on dry. Rosewood takes boiled linseed oil, three to five coats over as many days on a new handle, then once a year. No varnish, and never stand a loose head in water. Lay oily rags flat outside, since a screwed up rag indoors can catch fire on its own. The care and sharpening page covers the rest.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving costs 20 dollars for each piece. You get roughly 30 characters, so keep it short. The collar is no place for letters, so they go on the cheek where the pattern is quietest. The proof image reaches you first and the work takes 3 to 5 business days longer. Ten or more and it is free. See the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

What is an overstrike? A swing that lands short, so the log meets the handle below the head instead of the edge.

Does the collar stop that damage? It takes the hit that bare wood would take. It does not make the handle immune, and a hard miss is still a hard miss.

Can the collar come off? It is fitted to this handle and stays with it. If the handle is ever replaced, so is the collar.

How is the eye fitted? A wedged eye. The haft is pulled through from underneath and both wedges go in at the top, wood first and then steel.

Will it rust? It can. High carbon steel sits behind the etch. Dry it and oil it.

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

Brass worked into the grip rather than around it is the olive wood axe with brass inlay, and shorter with the same carved leather is the Damascus hand axe on walnut. It sits in viking axes, etched steel in Damascus axes, the rest in axes and hatchets.