Hand Forged Bushcraft Axe, 19 Inch Ash Handle, Hammer Poll
Hand Forged Bushcraft Axe, 19 Inch Ash Handle, Hammer Poll
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- Engraving adds 3 to 5 business days.
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A week in the woods puts most of the work on one tool. Kindling for the fire, tent pegs cut and pointed, a pole trimmed for the tarp, a dead limb brought back to stove length. That is the job this axe was drawn up for. At 19 inches overall it rides on a pack frame or lies under a canoe seat. The head is 1095 high carbon. The handle is ash.
Specification
| Head length | 6 inches |
| Cutting edge | 3.5 inches |
| Overall length | 19 inches |
| Handle length | 19 inches |
| Handle wood | Ash |
| Head steel | 1095 high carbon |
| Head finish | Dark forged skin with heavy hammer texture, bright polished bevel |
| 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 steel is 1095 high carbon, 6 inches of head with 3.5 inches of edge. The forged skin is left dark and the hammer texture stays on it, because that is how it came off the anvil. The bevel is polished bright and left a little full behind the edge, so it goes into green wood without sticking. There is a poll at the back. It is not hardened, so leave nails and steel stakes to a hammer. Carbon steel darkens as it gets used and rusts if you put it away wet.
The handle
Ash is the right wood under a working head. It grows long straight grain and it bends a little rather than jarring your hands. The eye is wedged. The handle is driven up through it from below, a wooden wedge is driven into the top to spread the wood tight against the steel, and a steel wedge is set across that. Nineteen inches gives you two grips. Hand at the butt for splitting, hand up under the head when you are pointing a peg.
The leather head cover
The cover is vegetable tanned leather, cut to the outline of this head rather than a shape that fits everything. A welt is sewn into the seam so the stitching sits clear of the edge, and that stitching is done by hand. The face is stamped basket weave and a brass snap holds the strap. Put it on dry. Leather holds damp against steel, so a cover over a wet head is how rust starts.
Who it suits
This is for the person carrying one axe that has to do everything.
- Canoe trippers and long walks in
- Cutting kindling and stove wood at camp
- Shaping pegs, tarp stakes and green wood
- A first proper axe
What comes in the box
- The bushcraft axe
- The hand stitched leather head cover
- A care card
- Your engraving, if you add it
Every piece is different
Every head is forged, ground, heat treated and sharpened by hand, so batches stay small and no two come out the same. The hammer texture falls where the hammer fell. Ash runs from near white to light honey and the grain goes its own way in each handle. The basket weave sits differently on every cover.
Looking after it
Wipe the head dry and oil it before it goes in the pack. The handle wants boiled linseed oil, three to five coats on a new one over as many days, then once a year. Never varnish it and never stand a loose head in water. Spread linseed rags flat outdoors to dry, because a rag left screwed up can catch fire on its own. A file first for damage, then a stone, then a strop. More on our knife care and sharpening page.
Put a name on it
Laser engraving is 20 dollars per piece and you add it on this page. Around 30 characters fits, so a name and a date, or the year of a trip. We send a proof image before the laser runs and it adds 3 to 5 business days. Orders of ten or more are engraved free. See the engraving page for what fits.
Questions buyers ask
Is one axe enough for a week out? For camp work, yes. It cuts kindling, brings down dead limbs and shapes green wood. Standing timber wants a saw.
Will it fit on a pack? Nineteen inches lashes to the outside of most frames and lies flat in a canoe with the cover on.
How is the head held on? The eye is wedged. The handle comes up through it from below, a wooden wedge spreads it tight against the steel, and a steel wedge crosses that. It does not lift off like a friction fit head.
Will it rust? It can. It is carbon steel. Wipe it dry, oil it before storage, and never snap the cover onto a wet head.
How long does shipping take? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.
Does it come sharp? It ships sharpened, and sharpening is free for life.
If you want a curve under your hand, the bushcraft axe on curved hickory is the same idea in hickory, and the Damascus bushcraft axe on rosewood is the one for a pattern showing. The rest are in bushcraft and forest axes, carbon steel axes and axes and hatchets.