After it arrives

Caring for a hand-forged axe

Steel, wood and leather. Ten minutes of attention, twice a year, and a piece outlives you.

5 min read

A hand-forged axe is three materials with three different enemies. Steel fears water. Wood fears dryness. Leather fears heat. Everything below follows from that.

SteelWipe dry, then oil. Rust starts at a fingerprint.
WoodLinseed oil twice a year. Dry wood loosens a head.
LeatherBalm, and never dried by a radiator.

After every use

  1. 01Wipe the head dryA cloth is enough. If it has been in wet grass or rain, do it the same day, not the same week.
  2. 02Lift sap and residueWarm water and a cloth. Hardened sap comes off with mineral oil. Never an abrasive pad on an etched Damascus face, it flattens the pattern.
  3. 03Oil the steelA few drops of mineral, camellia or light machine oil on a rag. Include under the haft collar, where damp sits unseen. Food-grade oil if the piece ever meets food.
  4. 04Let leather dry in airNever on a radiator or in direct sun. Heat shrinks vegetable-tanned leather and it does not come back.

The edge

Sharpen when it stops biting, not on a calendar. Every sharpening removes steel you cannot put back.

Bevel angle25 to 30° per side
ToolsPuck stone or fine file, then a leather strop
SequenceCoarse → fine → strop off the burr
AvoidPowered grinders, heat destroys the temper

Bought for display rather than use? Leave the factory edge alone entirely. There is nothing to gain.

Handles and leather

Wood

Ash, birch, rosewood, walnut and olive all move with humidity. Twice a year: boiled linseed oil or hard wax, let it soak, buff off the excess.

If a head ever feels loose, stop using it. Do not soak the axe to swell the wood, an old trick that rusts the eye and fails again as soon as it dries.

Leather

Vegetable-tanned, so it stiffens to shape and takes a patina. Balm or neatsfoot oil once or twice a year.

Do not store a blade sheathed for months in a humid room. Leather holds moisture against steel, which is precisely how pitting starts.

Do and do not

Do

  • Store dry, at a stable temperature
  • Oil before it goes away for a season
  • Loosen or remove the sheath for long storage
  • Keep mounted pieces out of direct sun
Do not

  • Put any hand-forged piece in a dishwasher
  • Use steel wool on etched Damascus
  • Leave it sheathed in a damp shed over winter
  • Test an edge across your thumb

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