Hand Tooled Leather Axe Head Cover with Belt Loop

This is a leather cover for an axe or a hatchet head. No axe comes with it. Vegetable tanned full grain in tan, hand carved with an oak leaf and acorn inside a stamped border, cut for a cutting edge of 3 to 4.5 inches. A brass snap closes the strap, and a separate belt loop strap is in the box.

Specification

The leather

Vegetable tanned full grain in tan, which means bark did the work and not chrome. It leaves here pale and firm, and handling darkens it, so a cover carried for a season looks nothing like the one that went out in the box. Chrome tanned hide stays as it is and will not hold a cut line, which is the other reason we buy bark tanned. The carved leaf and its border went in while the leather was damp. Dry leather takes no impression and cracks if you push it.

How it is made

The cover is cut by hand to the outline of a head. Then the carving. A swivel knife cuts the line of the leaf and the acorn, and the shape is worked up with punches. That is several times the work of running a stamp in rows, which is why carved leather costs what it does. The seam is stitched by hand in cream thread, and the raw edges are rubbed with water and friction until they go hard and glossy.

How it carries

The cover goes over the bit, the strap wraps round behind and the brass snap shuts. The belt loop strap is separate, so it is your call. Leave it off and the cover lives in a drawer. Fit it and the head rides on your belt. One rule matters more than the rest. The head goes in dry. Steel shut inside damp leather is how a good bit ends up pitted.

Who it suits

Most people buying this already own the head and want it covered properly.

• Anyone with an uncovered hatchet
• People who prefer carving to a stamp
• Campers with a head loose in a pack
• Gift buyers with a wood splitter to please

What comes in the box

• The carved head cover and its snap strap
• The separate belt loop strap
• No axe, and no knife either. The head is yours
• Lifetime warranty on stitching and hardware

Every piece is different

Carving is done with a knife that swivels under one finger, so no two leaves run the same line and no two acorns sit alike. Hide varies too. One panel takes color deeper than the next, and a scar from the animal shows through where it lands. Yours will not match the photograph.

Looking after it

Keep it out of standing water. If it gets soaked, let it dry slowly at room temperature, away from a radiator and never in an oven, because heat cooks leather stiff and it stays that way. Feed it with a leather conditioner once or twice a year. Wipe the head and oil the steel before covering it. More on steel and edges is on our care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Initials go into leather with a steel stamp, not a laser. It is struck into damp hide. The stamping is 20 dollars per piece and around 20 characters fits. We send a proof image first, because a stamp does not come out again. Add 3 to 5 business days. Free on orders of 10 or more. See the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

Does an axe come with this? No. You get the cover and the belt loop strap. No axe, no knife.

What size head does it fit? Axe and hatchet heads with a cutting edge of 3 to 4.5 inches. We do not cut to named models.

Why does carved cost more? Time. A stamp is struck in rows. Carving is cut with a swivel knife, then shaped by punch.

Can I cover a wet head? No. Leather traps moisture against steel and that is how a bit pits.

Do I have to use the belt loop? No. It is a separate strap. Fit it or leave it.

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

The smaller version is the leather belt sheath for a 4 to 5 inch blade, and it hangs off the hand tooled leather belt with a solid brass buckle. The rest sits in sheaths and accessories, carved pieces in gifts for him, new work in new arrivals.