Oakwarden Hand Forged High Carbon Steel Viking Bearded Axe | 19 Inch | Wood Handle with Leather Blade Cover and Gift Box | Norse Bushcraft and Camping Gift | RK-405

Hand forged from high carbon steel and fitted to a wood handle, the Oakwarden is meant for the woodpile, the camp and the target board, in that order. Nineteen inches overall, 5.3 inches of cutting edge, 1.23kg all in, and a head taken to 58 to 60 HRC. It arrives sharp, in a gift box, with a leather cover over the bit. If this is your first axe, choosing a Viking axe walks through head, haft and purpose.

Axes turn up in Viking age graves far more often than swords, and the reason is economics rather than taste. A pattern welded sword represented weeks of a skilled smith’s time and a great deal of scarce steel, which put it at the price of several head of cattle. An axe used a fraction of the material, could be made in a day, and was a farm tool the rest of the year. When Norse law codes set out what arms a free man was obliged to own, the axe was the affordable end of that obligation. That is why the shape was refined so heavily. It was not a specialist item made for a few wealthy men; it was the thing almost everyone owned, used constantly, and expected to work.

Forged and finished in the Czech Republic. It ships with a leather blade cover, a gift box and protective packaging.

Specifications

The eye, and why it is the hardest part to get right

Everyone looks at the edge. The part that actually decides whether an axe survives is the eye, meaning the hole the handle passes through, and it is the most demanding piece of forging in the whole tool.

Viking age smiths made it by a method that is still instructive. Rather than punching a hole through solid stock, they took a bar, thinned a section of it, and wrapped that section around a tapered steel drift to form the eye, then forge welded the two ends together behind it and drew the blade out from there. That produced an eye with a wrapped, slightly teardrop section and left the grain of the metal running around the hole rather than being cut across by a punch. Grain that runs around a hole is far stronger than grain that has been severed by one, which is why so many of those heads survive intact.

The shape matters as much as the strength. An eye that tapers, wider at the top than the bottom, means the handle can only be driven up through it from below and locks tighter every time the axe is used, because the shock of each strike drives the head further onto the taper. Get the taper right and the head effectively tightens itself. Get it wrong and no amount of wedging will keep it on. Everything else about an axe can be adjusted later; the eye cannot.

Why high carbon steel and not stainless

This is high carbon steel taken to heat, quenched and tempered so the edge is hard where it needs to be and the body stays tough. It is the steel the original Norse smiths would recognise, and it is still what serious axes are made from, because it will hold an edge under impact loading without chipping.

Stainless is the wrong choice here and almost no axe maker uses it. The chromium content that gives stainless its corrosion resistance also works against getting hardness and impact toughness in the same piece, and a bit that meets a knot at speed needs both. Carbon steel also takes a field edge from a file in a couple of minutes, which matters on a tool used a long way from a workshop. The trade off is corrosion: a carbon head will patina, which is protection, and will show orange rust if it is stored wet. A wipe of oil solves it. If you are weighing it against a Damascus head, read Damascus versus stainless.

The wood handle

The handle is shaped from wood and finished by hand, and the grip fills the palm rather than sitting flat in it. Wood is the oldest handle material there is and it is still the best answer for an axe, for a reason no synthetic has beaten: it flexes very slightly under impact and absorbs shock that a rigid handle would send straight into your wrist and elbow. It is also warm to hold in cold weather, which matters when you are splitting kindling in January.

It is oil finished rather than lacquered, so it can be maintained at home rather than sent away. Feed it twice a year with a light coat of oil, keep it out of direct sun and out of a dry heated room over a long winter, and the fibres stay full and the head stays tight. A dried out handle is the single most common cause of a loose head, and it is entirely preventable. Care instructions are in wooden handle care.

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 handle. 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 whether it goes on the blade or the handle. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. The cheek of the head is the largest clear surface on an axe and takes deep lettering well; a rune line down the haft is the other common choice. See the engraving page.

Care and sharpening

An axe edge is maintained with a file and a stone rather than a fine hone. Clamp the head, run the file along the bevel following the curve of the bit, and stop before you flatten the belly of the edge. Finish on a puck or a fine stone. There is no point chasing a razor apex, because that is the first thing to chip when the bit meets a knot.

Keep the bit dry, oil the head, and put the leather cover back on between uses. Feed the handle at the same time so the two jobs become one habit. If the head does pick up surface rust, it comes off with fine abrasive and oil rather than a grinder, which would risk drawing the temper. The steel routine is in steel care and the sharpening technique in sharpening with a whetstone.

Made in the Czech Republic

The work behind this piece happens in a Czech Republic workshop that has kept to the old methods. Steel is forged and heat treated by hand, the grind is taken down by eye rather than by machine, and the handle, fittings and sheath are cut and finished one at a time. Because of that, every piece carries small marks of the hand that made it.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import direct, check each piece when it reaches us, and ship from our North Babylon, New York warehouse. Engraving is added here in the United States after arrival, so the piece you receive is finished to your order.

A note on handmade variation

The Oakwarden is hand forged rather than machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The hammer texture across the cheeks lands where the smith put it, the sweep of the beard is drawn by eye, and the colour left by the quench and temper runs anywhere from dark grey to a mottled blue.

The timber has its own grain, colour and figure because it came from a tree, and no two handles match. The dimensions, the steel, the hardness and the build are the same on every one. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between this and a modern hardware store hatchet

A production hatchet has a drop forged or cast head with an eye punched to a fixed shape and a machine turned handle. This is drawn out by hand, hung individually, and shaped to the bearded pattern, which gives a longer edge for the head weight.

Will it split logs

It splits kindling and small rounds well. It is a camp and carving axe at 1.23kg on a 19 inch haft, not a splitting axe, so leave the big seasoned rounds to a maul.

How do I know if the head is loosening

Hold the haft and tap the pommel end on a solid surface, then check for any movement or a hollow rattle at the head. If you feel play, stop using it, and re oil the handle. Most looseness is a dry handle rather than a bad fit.

Can I sand or reshape the handle

Yes. Many owners thin the grip slightly to suit their hands. Sand with the grain, finish at a fine grit and re oil it afterwards. Do not remove material close to the eye.

Is it suitable for a beginner

Yes. A 19 inch one handed axe is easier and safer to learn on than a full length felling axe, because the swing is short and controlled. Learn a stable stance and keep your body out of the follow through line.

What does the seven day return cover

Seven days from delivery on an unused piece in its original condition. Engraved axes are made to your specification, so they can only be returned if there is a fault with the axe itself.

What is in the box

• One Oakwarden Viking bearded axe
• Leather blade cover
• Gift box
• Protective packaging
• Care notes for high carbon steel and an oiled handle
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

Look through the rest of the Viking axes, or pair it with the Viking knives and the hunting knives. Sharpening, hanging and rust removal are all written up in the guides.

Compare it with these

Closest to this in the range is the Frostbirch Viking axe, high carbon steel. If this one is not quite right, there is the Thor Viking axe, high carbon steel. Also in this group is the Dragon Viking axe, high carbon steel.

If you are putting a set together, the Thrimhawk throwing axe sits alongside it. Pick the steel, the length and the fittings yourself on the custom Viking axe page.