A Viking axe

[PederVisti]

Hello again!
I have yet to get bored of axemaking, and i am always finding myself coming back to the subject.
Here is another one, the construction method is symmetrically wrapped with a medium-carbon edge bit!
It started out as a piece of mild steel, with the dimensions 12x35x190mm, and a small piece of ø25 round ck60 forged out to form an edge insert.
The handle material is elm, and the axe is hafted from the top like a trade axe.
Final dimensions are an 86mm cutting edge, head weight about 460g, and haft length 480mm

Here it is, as forged and normalized




And here it is after grinding, heat treat and polishing.








And here it is as hafted.








Best regards
Peder Visti

 

[bobnewboy]

That is a very handsome piece of work, all the way through to the elm haft is great. Nice job

 

[Samon]

Very nice! please share some tips on how you get such a beautifully polished edge!??

 

[Mesquite]

That's a really nice looking axe, thank you for sharing it with us

 

[PederVisti]

Very nice! please share some tips on how you get such a beautifully polished edge!??

Thank you! The initial edge is ground on a 50mm belt grinder with a coarse 40 grit belt, after this i go to a small homemade discgrinder made to use 150mm velcro discs.
Here i do the convex grind pre heat treat, after heat treat i start at 120 grit on the disc sander and go up all the way to 1000 grit, followed by stropping on leather with autosol.
It is probably way overfinished for an axe, but from 320 grit to 1000 grit only takes a couple of minutes so i might as well!

Peder Visti

 

[Knife Craft]

I really like this!

 

[SoldierPalmer]

Nice I have a thing for ancient axes and the polished finish is superb.

 

[Tommyd345]

Love that polished edge!

How do you do the whole for the haft? It's the only thing stopping me having a go at forging an axe head, as I don't have a power hammer/spike thing!

 

[PederVisti]

Love that polished edge!

How do you do the whole for the haft? It's the only thing stopping me having a go at forging an axe head, as I don't have a power hammer/spike thing!

Hi Tommy, and thanks!
In this case the axe was constructed in a bow-tie manner, ie without slitting and drifting a hole but simply just folding the material back on itself after forging recesses in the steel, and i don't have a powerhammer either

Peder Visti

 

[Tommyd345]

Hi Tommy, and thanks!
In this case the axe was constructed in a bow-tie manner, ie without slitting and drifting a hole but simply just folding the material back on itself after forging recesses in the steel, and i don't have a powerhammer either

Peder Visti

Ah ok, hadn't really thought of doing it that way! Doesn't it take really extreme heat to forge weld them together? My set up is charcoal and a hairdryer, so exact heat isn't an option haha!

 

[Samon]

Thank you! The initial edge is ground on a 50mm belt grinder with a coarse 40 grit belt, after this i go to a small homemade discgrinder made to use 150mm velcro discs.
Here i do the convex grind pre heat treat, after heat treat i start at 120 grit on the disc sander and go up all the way to 1000 grit, followed by stropping on leather with autosol.
It is probably way overfinished for an axe, but from 320 grit to 1000 grit only takes a couple of minutes so i might as well!

Peder Visti

Much appreciated! I assumed it was done so in a similar way, but I never seem to be able to find sanding discs in fine grit!

 

[Klenchblaize]

Very, very nice as is the piece of elm you've chosen.

Are you taking orders as I'd rather purchase an axe from you than one stamped with the Woodlore logo?

Thanks

K

 

[PederVisti]

Ah ok, hadn't really thought of doing it that way! Doesn't it take really extreme heat to forge weld them together? My set up is charcoal and a hairdryer, so exact heat isn't an option haha!

Yes the you need a good clean hot fire, and many welding heats to ensure a full weld!
Charcoal and a hair dryer is probably not going to get you there, but i started with exactly the same!

Very, very nice as is the piece of elm you've chosen.

Are you taking orders as I'd rather purchase an axe from you than one stamped with the Woodlore logo?

Thanks

K

Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated!
No orders at the moment, my journeymans test is coming up here pretty soon, so no time for that im afraid!

Peder Visti

 

[Tony]

Lovely work, show us some more

 

[American Viking]

Absolutely gorgeous work, very impressive. I wish I had your knowledge and tools! Not to mention the guts to attempt such a feat.