Hand Forged Throwing Axe, 16 Inch Oak Handle with Thin Bit

Throwing is repetition. You walk up, you pull, you walk back, and you do it again until the light goes. What decides whether that walk ends in a hit or in a rattle on the floor is the shape of the bit. This one is 16 inches of oak under a 1095 high carbon head, ground thin so it goes in and stays there.

Specification

The head

1095 high carbon, 5.5 inches from bit to poll, with 3.5 inches of cutting edge. The forged skin is left dark under a light hammer texture, with the bevel polished bright. The bit is ground thin. A thick bit shoves the wood sideways without opening it, and the head comes back at you. A thin one parts the fibres and buries itself in the first inch. The poll is plain and not hardened, so keep it away from stakes and nails. Carbon steel darkens with use and rusts if you leave it wet.

The handle

Oak, 16 inches, straight. Oak is stiff and heavy for its size, and stiffness is what you want under a thrown head, since it goes where your wrist sent it instead of flexing late. The eye is wedged. The handle is driven up through the head from below, a wooden wedge spreads it tight against the steel, and a steel wedge crosses that. 16 inches is a one hand length, long enough for a full turn at most board distances.

The leather head cover

Vegetable tanned leather, stitched by hand, with a welt in the seam so the thread sits back from the edge. It is cut to this head's own outline, so the bit has nowhere to move inside it. The face is stamped in a basket weave and a snap strap holds it shut over the haft. It goes on dry. Put a wet head into leather and they sit there rusting all week.

Who it suits

This is for somebody who throws often enough to care what the bit does on landing.

• Anyone setting up a board in a yard or barn
• People who want a plain axe they can throw hard
• Throwers moving up from a hardware store hatchet that bounces
• Anyone who would rather sharpen a thin bit than fight a thick one

What comes in the box

• The 16 inch throwing axe
• The stitched leather head cover
• A care card
• Lifetime warranty and free sharpening

Every piece is different

Every head is forged, ground and sharpened by hand in small runs, so no two come out the same. The hammer texture lands where the hammer landed. Oak grain runs how the tree grew it, pale in one handle and browner in the next. What turns up will be close to the photographs, not a copy.

Looking after it

Dry the head after a wet session and oil the steel before it goes away. The cover goes on dry, never over a damp bit. A new oak handle takes three to five coats of boiled linseed oil over as many days, then one a year. No varnish. Lay oily rags out flat outdoors, since one left screwed up can catch fire on its own. More is on our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per piece and you add it here on the product page. Around 30 characters fits, so a name and a date works better than a sentence. We send a proof image before the laser runs, which adds 3 to 5 business days. It is free on orders of 10 or more. The engraving page has the rest.

Questions buyers ask

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

Will it rust? It will if you let it. 1095 darkens with use and spots if it is put away wet.

What holds the head on? A wedged eye. The handle comes up from below, a wooden wedge spreads it against the steel, and a steel wedge crosses that.

Why is the bit thin? It opens the wood instead of pushing it aside, so it goes in on less speed and stops there.

What should I throw into? Soft end grain, pine or poplar rounds stood on end. The board is a consumable. It gets eaten and you rebuild it.

Is it sharp when it arrives? Yes, sharpened by hand before it ships.

For the same 16 inches with a pattern in the steel, the Damascus throwing hatchet on olive wood has an etched head. For a longer haft and a wider bit meant for wood, there is the bushcraft axe on a 19 inch oak handle. This one sits with the throwing axes, plain steel heads are under carbon steel axes, and the rest are in axes and hatchets.