A Damascus axe puts a folded billet where most people expect a plain bar. On a blade the pattern is the point; on an axe head it is harder to make and harder to justify, because the head takes shock rather than slicing. Done properly, with 1095 and 15N20 forge welded and etched, you get a head at 58 to 60 HRC that holds an edge longer and shows the layers across the cheek every time you pick it up.
The heads and hafts
Haft lengths run 16 to 32 inches. The short end is a bearded head on a 16 inch walnut haft with a brass rune collar and a leather head sheath, and a bearded hatchet on a walnut haft with a rune line and a leather mask. The middle covers bearded heads at 19, 20 and 22 inches, several with 4.5 to 7 inch cutting edges, including one with an engraved vegvisir, a hooked horn and a black collar, one with an engraved longship, a hooked horn and a riveted leather collar, one with a helm of awe etched into the head and a brass collar and butt cap, one with a triquetra engraved cheek on pale ash with a steel collar, and one with a rune bordered head on a 22 inch ash haft. The long end brings a bearded axe with a hammer poll at 28 inches on a leather wrapped hardwood haft, and a Viking axe on a 32 inch ash haft with a Mjolnir stamped poll. There are also two double heads, a felling axe with twin bits on a walnut haft with a brass collar, and one with twin Damascus bits and an engraved Mjolnir cheek. A valknut axe with a pattern welded head, a hammer poll and a curved ash haft sits at the top. Prices run from 249 dollars to 389 dollars.
Real pattern and how to keep it
Patterned axe heads attract fakes more than blades do, because the etch is easy to imitate on a surface nobody inspects closely. Our page on real against fake Damascus covers the tells. The etched surface also shows rust sooner than a bright one, so wipe it and keep a film of oil on it, along with everything else in the axe care notes. To shop by shape, the beard is in bearded axes and the heavier heads are in war axes.
Ransack Viking is a US company based in Memphis, Tennessee. These pieces are handmade in the Czech Republic, then imported, inspected and shipped from Memphis. Engraving is done in the US after arrival: text 19 dollars, symbol 39 dollars, family crest 49 dollars.
Free US shipping
On most pieces. Heavier and oversized ones carry a flat charge.
Hand Forged
Heated, hammered and ground by hand.
Engraving available
Names, dates or Norse runes on most pieces.
