Hand Forged Viking Broad Axe, 20 Inch Ash Handle
Hand Forged Viking Broad Axe, 20 Inch Ash Handle
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- Engraving adds 3 to 5 business days.
- We engrave your text exactly as typed, so double check the spelling.
- We send a proof image before we engrave.
- Engraved blades cannot be returned or exchanged unless the blade itself is defective.
Taking a face off a log is a different job from cutting through one. You work down the side of the timber and shave the round away in long slices until there is a surface to build on. That wants a tall wide edge. This one is 20 inches overall on ash, a 1095 high carbon head with six inches of edge, shaped for hewing rather than felling.
Specification
| Head length | 7.5 inches |
| Cutting edge | 6 inches |
| Overall length | 20 inches |
| Handle length | 20 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 and a steel cross wedge |
| 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
1095 high carbon, 7.5 inches of head carrying a six inch edge. The skin is left dark with heavy hammer texture and the bevel polished bright, so the head shows what the hammer did and what the stone did. The edge is tall and close to straight, and that is the working part. It lands along the whole length of a cut and pares a wide slice off in one pass. A curved edge bites in the middle and leaves the ends. Carbon steel colours as it is used and spots when wet.
The handle
Ash again, and springy ash suits a head this wide, since a wide head meets the wood over a long line and sends more back up the handle. The eye is wedged. The handle is driven up from below, a wooden wedge is set into the split in the top so the wood spreads tight against the steel, then a steel wedge is driven across. Twenty inches lets you work close with a hand near the head, and still swing when the slice is a big one.
The leather head cover
Vegetable tanned leather, cut to the outline of this head, which on a broad axe is mostly edge. A welt in the seam keeps the stitching off it, and every stitch goes in by hand. The face is stamped in a basket weave, one press at a time, with a snap strap over the poll. Leather is a hide, so the stamp lands its own way each time. It goes on dry, never over wet steel.
Who it suits
People asking for a broad axe usually have a project rather than a chore.
- Anyone flattening a face on a log or beam
- Buyers shaping posts, sills and bench tops
- People who work with the head held close
- Anyone who wants a wide edge over a heavy one
What comes in the box
- The broad axe on its 20 inch ash handle
- The stamped leather head cover
- A care card
- Free sharpening for life
Every piece is different
Every head is forged and ground by hand in small runs. Heavy hammer texture is the least repeatable finish we do, since it lands where the hammer lands. Ash is sawn from a board and the grain runs its own way. Yours will look like the photograph without being the same piece.
Looking after it
Wipe the head dry and oil the steel. The cover goes on dry. A new ash handle wants boiled linseed oil, three to five coats over as many days, then once a year. Never varnish it. Rags with oil in them lie flat outdoors, since a pile in a corner can set itself alight. A file first, then a stone, then a strop. The rest is on our care and sharpening page.
Put a name on it
A laser does the engraving, 20 dollars a piece. Room for about 30 characters, a name and not much else. There is a lot of cheek on a head this wide, so letters sit clear of the bevel. Expect a proof image to look over, and 3 to 5 business days on top. No charge on ten or more. The engraving page has the rest.
Questions buyers ask
What is a broad axe for? Taking a face off a log. You work down the side of the timber and shave the round away until it is flat.
Why is the edge so wide? A wide edge takes a wide slice, so a face comes flat in fewer passes with fewer ridges left to clean up.
Can I fell a tree with it? Not well. The edge is long and the head is not built to sink into a notch. Use something narrower.
What keeps the head tight? A wedged eye. The haft passes through from below and two wedges finish it, wood down the split and steel across the grain.
Will it rust? It can. Leave it wet under the cover and it will pit. Dry it and oil it.
How long does shipping take? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.
Twice the handle with a thinner head is the 40 inch long hafted axe on ash, and for small work close in the 15 inch hand axe on oak. It sits with the viking axes, plain steel in carbon steel axes, the rest in axes and hatchets.