Thorn Wood Forge Harrier

[Springchicken]

A friend of mine recently showed me a carving axe that he had bought at the recent Bodgers Ball. It was one of those tools that exuded quality of design and manufacture; the fact that it was hand made in Somerset deepened the appeal and piqued my interest - dangerously.

So, I went online and found out more about Thorn Wood Forge. It was purely a fact-finding mission, you understand...

After a delightful spell finding out about the company and its range of tools, I found myself on the Woodsmith website, pressing that dread 'add to cart' button.

Today, my Harrier arrived so I thought I'd share its unboxing with you.











Initial impressions? This is a stunning axe, thoughtfully designed and beautifully made.

Obviously, I'll get to know it and give it a deeper review. But, for the moment, "I'm just going outside. I may be some time."

 

[Thorn Wood Forge]

Hey @Springchicken thanks so much for the kind words here. Really appreciate it!

A bit on the Harrier Forest Axe - As ex-bushcraft instructors, woodland managers and green wood workers ourselves, our approach to tool design and creation is from 'the other way around'. Tool makers often try to get the tool to fit the process, we come at it from the other way around - we make the 'process fit the tool'. (Which is a really tough way round to do it!) Understanding what you want and need from an axe has to come first before lighting up the forges.

The Harrier was forged for use in the UK woodland right at the centre of the design. A camp axe to do it all, from processing hard and softwood rounds, splitting kindling, feather sticking and coppicing. It's wieldy, packable and a workhorse of a camp axe. What sets it apart is the level of refinement, quality and the materials we use. The leather sheaths are all saddle stitched by hand from Oak bark tanned leather, sourced from the last Oak bark tannery in the UK (J&FJ Baker in Devon). Traditionally hafted using Ash timber, and hand forged from a piece of EN9 steel by the blacksmiths in our workshop.

I hope you experience many happy memories with this axe and cherish it for a lifetime! Please pop by to see our whole collection if you're ever around South Somerset.

All the best,

Sam