Damascus Viking Hand Axe, Walnut Handle and Carved Cover

An axe head that travels needs something over it, and most covers are a folded rectangle with a stud. This one is cut to the head and carved by hand, acanthus leaves worked into damp hide with a swivel knife. The axe under it runs 15 inches overall, a Damascus head over a high carbon core, hung on walnut. Close to a third of what it costs sits in the leather.

Specification

The head

Damascus is layers of steel forged into a single bar. Raindrop comes from sinking dimples into the bar and forging it flat again, so the layers ring around each one and acid lifts them out as loops. The pattern is decoration. Look into it and the loops sit in rows. The high carbon core under it takes the edge. The etch carries down the bevel with no plain steel showing. The head is 5.5 inches with a 3.5 inch edge, small and close to the hand. Carbon steel colours with age and rusts where water sits.

The handle

Walnut is middling hard with open grain, and it darkens where hands work it. The eye is wedged. The handle is driven up through from below, a wooden wedge goes into the split in the top so the wood spreads tight against the steel, then a steel wedge is set across. At 15 inches the head sits near your fist, which suits paring rather than long swings. Walnut is here for how it looks beside brown carved leather. We will say so plainly.

The leather head cover

Vegetable tanned leather, cut to this head's own outline and hand stitched with a welt in the seam so the thread never lies on the edge. The face is carved, not pressed. Acanthus leaves are cut into damp hide with a swivel knife, then beaten down with punches so the leaves stand off the ground. A stamped face takes minutes. This one takes most of a day. A snap strap closes it and it goes on dry.

Who it suits

Nobody needs a carved cover. People buy one because the axe gets looked at as often as it gets used.

• Buyers who want the leather to match the steel
• Anyone marking an occasion with a tool
• People who like carved work over stamped work
• Collectors who keep an axe where it shows

What comes in the box

• The Damascus hand axe on walnut
• The hand carved acanthus leaf cover
• A care card
• Free sharpening for life

Every piece is different

The raindrops fall where the dimples were sunk, so no two heads read the same. The carving is cut freehand into hide, and hide is skin, so it takes the knife differently every time. Walnut varies from board to board. Yours will be close to the photograph, not a copy.

Looking after it

Wipe the head dry and leave a film of oil over the pattern. The cover goes on dry, never over a wet head, since damp under carved leather marks both. A new walnut handle takes boiled linseed oil, three to five coats over as many days, then once a year. Never varnish it. Used rags go flat in the open air, since linseed oil balled up can heat until it burns. More sits on the care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars a piece, chosen before checkout. Around 30 characters fits, a name or a date. On this one we would rather talk about placement first, since the pattern and the carving both have opinions. Nothing is cut until you approve a proof image, adding 3 to 5 business days. Orders of ten or more carry no charge. The engraving page covers it.

Questions buyers ask

Why does a carved cover cost so much more? Hours. A stamp is struck in minutes. This face is drawn on, cut with a swivel knife, then shaped punch by punch.

Will the carving flatten out? The lines are cut into the hide rather than pressed on, so handling darkens the leather but the relief stays.

Can I use it or is it for show? Use it. The cover will pick up scuffs and look better for them.

What holds the head on? A wedged eye. The haft is fitted from underneath, then opened at the top with a wooden wedge and locked with a steel one.

Will it rust? It can. The core beneath the pattern is carbon steel. Dry it and oil it.

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

The same size with a stamped cover is the 15 inch hand axe on oak, and more carved leather sits on the rosewood axe with a brass collar. It is in viking axes, etched steel in Damascus axes, the rest in axes and hatchets.