Wayrune Hand Forged 1095 Steel Blacksmith Hammer with Vegvisir Engraving & Carved Rosewood Handle | Forge Bench Gift | RK-1580

A clean rectangular head in polished 1095 steel, engraved on the cheek with the Vegvisir, hung on a dark hardwood handle that has been carved with a spiral twist along the shaft and finished with a shaped pommel and a leather thong. It is a hand hammer built to a smith proportions and finished to sit on a bench where people will see it. Since the symbol on the cheek is the reason a lot of people will buy it, here is the straight story about it.

The Vegvisir is not a Viking Age symbol. It appears for the first time in the Huld Manuscript, a small collection of Icelandic magical staves compiled by Geir Vigfusson in Akureyri in 1860, roughly eight hundred years after the Viking Age ended. The note beside it says that whoever carries this sign will not lose their way in storms or bad weather even when the way is unknown, which is a lovely idea and a genuinely old Icelandic one, just not a Norse one from the age of the longships. It belongs to the Icelandic grimoire tradition of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. We put it on this hammer because it means something to people and because it is beautiful, not because we are going to tell you a Viking carried it. The hammer is forged, engraved and hung in our Memphis, Tennessee shop.

Specifications

Why a hammer head is hard in one place and soft everywhere else

A hammer that is hard all the way through is a hammer waiting to shatter. Hardened high carbon steel is strong and brittle at the same time, and a brittle block being driven into another block of steel a thousand times a day will eventually throw a chip, which is how people lose eyes in workshops. The traditional answer is differential treatment. Harden the face so it resists denting and mushrooming, then draw the temper back through the body and leave the eye area soft and tough so it absorbs shock and flexes microscopically instead of cracking. That is what has been done here.

The eye itself is drifted rather than drilled. Punching and drifting the eye pushes the grain of the steel around the hole rather than cutting through it, which leaves the strongest possible material around the most stressed opening in the tool. It is more work than boring a hole and it is the difference between a head that stays on a handle and one that splits out through the eye wall.

Be honest about the rest. This is finished as a presentation hammer. The head is polished, the cheek is engraved and the handle is carved. It will do real work at a bench, and we would not put it into eight hours a day of production forging, because carved decoration on a handle removes material from a shaft that is meant to be plain, thick and boring for a reason. If you want a hammer for daily forge work, buy a plain one and keep this for the bench, the shelf and the day someone retires.

Steel and the handle

The head is 1095 high carbon steel, the same steel we forge our blades from. In a blade we take it to 54 to 58 HRC because it has to hold a cutting edge. In a hammer we do not, because a hammer face wants toughness ahead of hardness, so the face is hardened and then drawn back deliberately. The finish is polished rather than left black, which shows the engraving properly and shows any damage honestly.

The handle is a dense dark hardwood, carved with a spiral running along the shaft and a shaped pommel at the butt with the leather thong through it. The spiral is not just decoration, it gives the rear hand something positive to sit against, and the flare of the pommel stops the hammer sliding out of a sweaty grip on a long swing. The polished steel collar at the eye is set over the wedge and protects the top of the handle from an overstrike.

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 cheek carries the Vegvisir as standard, and a name, a shop mark, a date or a rune line will go there in its place. It is far and away our most requested retirement and anniversary piece for smiths and for people who work with their hands. Details are on the engraving page.

Bench use and display

On a bench, hang it on a hook by the thong with the head down so the face is protected and the handle is where your hand expects it. On a wall it sits well on two pegs, head to one side, with light raking across the engraved cheek. Do not stand it head up on a shelf where it can topple, because a two pound head landing on a foot or a floor is a bad day either way. Keep it off masonry and out of a damp garage, since polished bare steel in a Memphis summer will spot within a week if it is left on concrete.

Care

Polished 1095 is carbon steel and it will rust if it is left damp or if fingerprints are left on it. Wipe the head after handling and put a thin film of light oil or paste wax over it two or three times a year. If it does freckle, fine steel wool with oil will lift the spots without hurting the engraving. Keep the face clean of scale if you do use it on hot steel, because scale hammered into a polished face leaves permanent pitting. The hardwood handle wants a coat of oil or wax once a year, worked into the carving with a cloth and buffed off. Never soak a hammer handle to tighten a loose head, since it swells, dries and comes loose worse than before. Full guidance on oiling and rust is on the steel care page.

Forged in Memphis

This hammer is forged in our Memphis, Tennessee shop. The head is drawn and shaped here, the eye is punched and drifted here, the face is hardened and drawn back here, the Vegvisir is engraved here, the handle is turned and carved here and the head is hung, wedged and collared here. Nothing in this listing is drop shipped from an importer catalogue. It carries our lifetime warranty against defects in the forging, the heat treat and the fittings, with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

This hammer is hand made, not machine made and not bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The chamfers on the head are filed by hand, the polish takes light its own way, the hardwood handle has its own grain and colour and the carved spiral is cut freehand so the pitch of the twist differs. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Vegvisir a real Viking symbol?

No. It first appears in the Huld Manuscript, compiled in Iceland in 1860, about eight hundred years after the Viking Age. It belongs to the Icelandic magical stave tradition rather than to Norse archaeology. It is a genuine piece of Icelandic folk history, just not a Viking one, and we would rather say so.

Can I actually forge with it?

It is a real hammer with a properly drifted eye and a differentially treated face, and it will do light bench work happily. We would not put it into daily production forging, because it is polished and the handle is carved for presentation. Keep a plain hammer for the anvil and keep this one for the bench.

How heavy is it?

The head is around 2 lb 4 oz and the whole hammer is around 3 lb at roughly 15 inches long. That is a comfortable one handed weight for most people rather than a sledge.

Is the head hardened all the way through?

No, and it should not be. The face is hardened and then drawn back, and the body and eye are left soft and tough so they absorb shock. A fully hardened head is brittle and can chip dangerously.

Can I have something else engraved instead?

Yes. A name, a date, a shop mark, an Elder Futhark line or your own design will all go on the cheek in place of the Vegvisir. Choose the engraving option above the add to cart button. It is our most popular retirement gift for smiths.

How long before it ships?

One to two weeks of processing, since the head is forged, drifted, heat treated and engraved to order and the handle is carved and fitted to that head. Engraving adds a few days. Shipping is free within the United States and returns are accepted within seven days.

What is in the box

• One 1095 steel hammer head, engraved with the Vegvisir, hung and wedged
• Carved hardwood handle with a spiral shaft, shaped pommel and polished steel collar
• Leather thong fitted through the pommel
• Light oil sachet and a care card for polished carbon steel
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

More bench and forge pieces are in blacksmith tools, the axes are in Viking axes, the edged work is in Viking weapons, and the custom cut pieces are in engraved and personalised. Steel, heat treat and care notes are collected in the guides.