Hand Forged Tomahawk, 19 Inch Oak Handle with Round Poll

Kindling for a morning fire, a branch limbed where it fell, bark off a log, a peg pointed for a tarp line. Plain camp work, done with one hand. The head is 1095 high carbon, the haft is oak, and it is 19 inches long. The round back of this head is what gets argued about online, so it gets a straight answer below.

Specification

The head

The steel is 1095 high carbon. The forged skin stays dark and the hammer marks sit heavy across both sides. The bevel is ground flat and polished bright. The head runs 6 inches front to back with a 3.5 inch edge, so the bit is narrow for its length, and a narrow bit goes deeper into wood for the same effort. Behind the eye the poll is round, and soft compared to the edge. It carries weight, nothing else. Carbon steel darkens the more you use it, and it rusts if put away wet.

The handle

Oak is hard and stiff, so 19 inches of it sits more solid in the hand than lighter woods. The eye is a friction fit, which is what separates a hawk from a hatchet. No wedge anywhere. The haft tapers and drops in from above, and every swing seats the head further down and tighter. Pull the head, push on a fresh haft, and you are cutting again inside a minute. Hold at the butt for weight, up under the head for close work.

The leather head cover

The cover is vegetable tanned leather, cut to the outline of this head and not to a size that roughly suits it, so nothing rattles. The edge is welted, so a strip of leather keeps the stitching back from the bit. It is stitched by hand, the face stamped in a basket weave, and a snap strap closes over the eye. Put it on dry. Damp leather against steel is how covers ruin edges.

Who it suits

This is the plain one. No pattern in the steel, no carving past the stamp, nothing on it that is not doing a job.

• Anyone after a working hawk with no decoration
• Campers carrying one tool who want it light
• People who like carbon steel and expect it to darken
• Anyone who would sooner fit a new haft than send a tool away

What comes in the box

• The tomahawk on its oak haft
• The stitched leather head cover
• A care card
• Your engraving, if you ordered it

Every piece is different

Every head is forged, ground and sharpened by hand, so runs stay small and no two come out alike. The hammer marks land where they land. Oak grain and color shift from haft to haft, and the leather takes the stamp differently each time. Yours will not match the photographs exactly.

Looking after it

Wipe the head dry after use. Oil the steel before it goes away, and the cover goes on dry. The haft takes boiled linseed oil, three to five coats over as many days when new, then once a year. Never varnish it, and never stand a loose head in water. Lay linseed rags flat outdoors to dry, since balled up indoors they can catch fire. More on our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per piece, added on this page. Around 30 characters fits, so a name and a date go on the steel. We send a proof image first, and nothing runs until you say it reads right. It adds 3 to 5 business days. Orders of 10 or more are engraved free. Details sit on the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

Can I hammer with the back of it? No. That poll is not hardened and was never built for pounding. Keep a hammer for nails.

Then what is the round poll for? Weight behind the eye, which settles the swing. Nothing sticks out of it, so nothing catches in a pack.

How does the head stay on with no wedge? The haft tapers and slides in from the top, so the swing pulls the head tighter onto it. Tap the butt on a block if it feels loose.

What happens to the steel over time? It darkens, and that gray protects the surface. Left wet it rusts instead, so dry it and oil it.

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

Can I sharpen it myself? A file first if the edge is damaged, then a stone, then a strop. Sharpening here is free for life.

For the same shape with a pattern in the steel, see the Damascus tomahawk on hickory, and for a springier haft the hand forged tomahawk on ash. More of both sit in tomahawks, carbon steel axes and axes and hatchets.