Emberfall Hand Forged Steel Blacksmith Hammer with Mjolnir Shaped Head & Wrapped Leather Grip | Forge and Anvil Gift | RK-1454

Emberfall is a one hand forging hammer with a head shaped in the outline of Mjolnir, the short hafted hammer of Thor. The shape is not an invention of the modern fantasy shelf. Surviving Mjolnir amulets from Scandinavia and the Danelaw show exactly this profile, a broad squared head on a stubby handle, and the reason the handle is so short in the myth is that Loki interfered with the bellows while the dwarf brothers Brokkr and Sindri were forging it. Norse craftsmen were quite happy to keep telling the story on their jewellery, and the shape stuck for a thousand years.

What you have here is a working hammer wearing that shape, not a costume prop. The head is forged, the faces are hardened and drawn back, the collar carries an engraved knotwork ring and the handle is wrapped and finished with a polished steel end cap and a leather wrist loop. Every one is forged, dressed and hung in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee. Free shipping inside the United States, one to two weeks processing, seven day returns, and a genuine lifetime warranty against defects in the forging, the grind, the heat treat and the fittings, with no end date and no receipt needed.

Specifications

Why a hammer face is crowned rather than flat

Pick up any smith hammer that has been used and look at the working face edge on. It is not a perfectly flat plane. It has a very slight crown, a dome so shallow you can barely see it, and the corners are eased rather than left square. That crowning is the single most important detail on a forging hammer and almost nobody notices it.

A dead flat face with sharp corners will bite the edge of the corner into hot steel every time you land the blow at even a couple of degrees off square, and every one of those bites leaves a crescent mark that has to be forged out again. A crowned face lands cleanly whatever the angle, moves metal outward from the point of contact and leaves a smooth surface. The eased corners do the same job at the rim. Emberfall is dressed this way from new, which means it is ready to work rather than needing an hour on a belt grinder before it earns its place on the bench.

The two faces are also there for a reason. Having a working face at each end lets you turn the hammer over rather than change hammers when you want a fresh, unmarked face, and it keeps the head balanced on the axis of the handle so the hammer does not want to twist in the hand at the moment of impact.

The steel, the hardening and the grip

The head is forged carbon steel with the faces hardened and then drawn back. That last step matters more than the hardening does. A fully hard hammer face is brittle, and a brittle face on a hammer can chip and throw a fragment, which is the reason you never strike a hardened face against another hardened face. Drawing the temper back leaves the face hard enough to resist mushrooming and denting while staying tough enough to absorb impact.

The flanks are polished, which is cosmetic rather than functional, but it is also how you spot a crack early. A polished flank shows a hairline long before a rough forged surface does. The grip is wrapped over the haft for a warm, non slip hold in a cold shop, and the polished steel end cap gives the hammer a defined butt so the hand knows where the end is without looking. The leather wrist loop is there for a smith who is working over a fire and does not want a dropped hammer landing on a foot.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the leather. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On this hammer the collar carries a knotwork ring already, so a rune line ordered for the collar takes its place, and the flank of the head is the other natural home for a longer line. Full detail is on the engraving page.

Mounting and display

Emberfall looks right hung head up on a wall by the wrist loop, or laid across a pair of pegs so both faces show. If you are displaying rather than working it, keep it out of a damp garage or a shed that swings through the dew point every night, because a bright polished head in a cold shed will bloom with rust spots in a single wet week.

If it is going to be used, keep it on the bench rather than on the wall. A hammer that lives on a hook is a hammer that never gets dressed, and a working hammer wants its faces checked and touched up occasionally like any other tool.

Care

Wipe the head down after a session and put a light film of oil or paste wax on the polished surfaces before it goes away. Check the faces for mushrooming at the rim from time to time and dress any spread metal back with a file rather than letting it grow into a lip that can shear off. Never strike another hardened face, a hardened punch head or a hardened anvil edge directly with this hammer. Feed the grip wrap and the wrist loop with a neutral leather conditioner two or three times a year. Our steel care page covers oiling, storage and rust removal.

Forged in Memphis

The head is forged, punched, drifted, dressed, hardened and tempered in our own shop in Memphis, Tennessee. The knotwork ring is engraved here, the grip is wrapped here and the hammer is balanced and checked here before it is boxed. Nothing is drop shipped from an importer catalogue with our name on the label. We know who made it, which is why we can stand behind it for life.

A note on handmade variation

This hammer is hand made and not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Hammer texture on the cheeks, the exact sweep of the Mjolnir profile, the polish depth and the tone of the wrap all vary because each one is worked by hand. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a working hammer or a display piece?

A working hammer. The faces are hardened, drawn back and crowned, and it is dressed and ready to use on an anvil from new. It happens to display well too.

What weight is the head?

It is built as a one hand forging hammer and balanced for bench and anvil work. Because each head is forged individually there is slight variation between them, so we do not quote a single exact figure we cannot guarantee.

Can I strike a hardened punch or chisel with it?

Strike soft struck tool heads only. Never bring this face down on another hardened face, a hardened punch head or the hardened edge of an anvil. That is how chips get thrown.

Will the polished head rust?

Yes, if it lives somewhere damp. Carbon steel is not stainless and a bright surface shows spotting quickly. Wipe it and oil it and it will stay clean for years.

Can I get a name on it?

Yes. Use the rune converter and we will cut your line into the collar or the flank of the head. On the collar it replaces the knotwork ring that is there already.

How long does it take to ship?

One to two weeks, because each head is forged and dressed to order, a little longer with engraving. Shipping inside the United States is free.

What is in the box

• One Mjolnir profile blacksmith hammer, faces dressed and ready to work
• Wrapped grip with a polished steel end cap
• Leather wrist loop fitted through the cap
• Engraved knotwork collar, or your own Elder Futhark line in its place
• Care, dressing and oiling notes
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See more in blacksmith tools, Viking weapons and engraved and personalized pieces, or read the guides for how a hammer face should be dressed.