Twinbite Hand Forged 1095 Steel Double Bit Axe | 30 Inch Hardwood Haft | Etched Knotwork Head with Brass Collar and Leather Sheath | Woodland Camp Gift | RK-1576

Two bits, one head, a brass collar at the eye and a long dark hardwood haft with a leather wrap where the front hand sits. Both cheeks are covered in etched knotwork and a rune band that runs the width of the head. It is a handsome thing and it is a genuinely useful tool, so let us start with the part most sellers skip. This is not a Viking axe and it never was one. Every axe head recovered from a Norse context, from the light bearded hand axes to the great long hafted Dane axes, has a single bit and a poll on the back. Not one double bitted head has come out of a Viking Age grave anywhere in Scandinavia.

The double bit is an American invention, and a fairly recent one. It appeared in the logging camps of the north east in the middle of the nineteenth century, and the reason it caught on had nothing to do with fighting. A logger kept one edge razor sharp for clean felling cuts and let the other edge run a little thicker and blunter for grubbing near the ground, where a blade meets grit and bark and takes damage. Two edges also meant twice as long between trips to the grindstone. The double headed battle axe that turns up in films and games traces back through fantasy illustration to the Minoan labrys, a Bronze Age ritual object from Crete, not to any battlefield weapon. This one is forged, ground, etched and hafted in our Memphis, Tennessee shop, and it ships with a fitted leather blade cover.

Specifications

Why two edges, and how to use them

A double bit is balanced in a way a single bit axe never is. Because the mass sits evenly on both sides of the haft, the head does not want to roll in your hands at the top of the swing, and the axe tracks straighter into the same cut over and over. Loggers valued that far more than they valued the second edge, and it is the reason the pattern held on into the twentieth century after the second edge stopped mattering so much.

The traditional discipline is worth keeping. Take one bit and keep it keen for clean wood, sappy standing timber and fresh cuts where nothing will touch the edge but fibre. Let the other run a slightly thicker grind for the dirty work, roots near soil, deadfall that has been lying in grit, splitting rounds where the bit may find the ground. Mark the keen side somewhere on the haft so you know it by feel. Do that and the axe holds a usable edge through a whole weekend of camp work rather than needing a stone at lunchtime.

The brass collar at the eye is not just decoration. A collar spreads the shock of an overstrike, the moment when you miss the round and the haft takes the blow just under the head, which is how most axe handles die. It will not make the haft indestructible, but it takes the worst of the first hit.

1095 steel, the heat treat and the etch

The head is 1095 high carbon steel, the same steel we use for our blades, and it is heat treated so the edges land between 54 and 58 HRC. That range is chosen deliberately for an axe rather than a knife. Take an axe bit up to knife hardness and it will hold an edge beautifully right up until it meets a knot or a nail, at which point it chips instead of rolling. In the mid fifties the steel gives a little rather than fracturing, and a rolled edge comes back with a file and a stone in the field. A chipped edge does not.

The knotwork and the rune band on the cheeks are acid etched into the surface. We want to be plain about that, because a lot of decorated axes are sold with the pattern described in a way that implies pattern welded steel. This is not Damascus. The head is a single homogeneous piece of 1095 and the pattern is a controlled etch cut into its face. It is durable, it will not rub off and it sits below the surface, but it is decoration on solid steel rather than layers running through the metal. If you want genuine forge welded pattern, look at the Damascus pieces in our range instead and you will see the difference immediately.

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 axe the rune band across the cheek is the obvious place, and the leather blade cover will also take a name or a date on the face. Details are on the engraving page.

Handling, storage and display

A double bit needs more room than a single bit and more thought about where you put it down. There is no poll to rest on, so it will not stand on a bench, and laying it flat means one edge is always up. Keep the cover on whenever the axe is not in your hands. On a wall it hangs well from two pegs under the head with the haft dropping straight down, and the etched cheeks read best with light coming across them rather than straight on. Do not hang it over a doorway or a seat, and keep it well out of reach of children, because a double bit presents an edge in every direction.

Care

1095 is a carbon steel and it will rust if it is left wet. Wipe the head down after use, especially after cutting green wood, because sap is acidic and will mark bare steel overnight. A thin film of light oil on both bits and across the etched faces two or three times a year is enough for a tool that lives indoors, more often if it lives in a shed. Sharpen with a file for the heavy work and finish on a stone, following the existing bevel rather than trying to reprofile it. Keep the leather cover fed with conditioner so it stays supple, and never store a damp axe inside a leather cover, because leather holds moisture against steel and will etch a permanent shadow into the bit. Full rust and oiling guidance is on the steel care page.

Forged in Memphis

This axe is forged in our Memphis, Tennessee shop. The head is drawn and shaped here, the eye is drifted here, the heat treat is done here, the etch is cut here, the haft is shaped and stained here and the head is hung, wedged and pinned here. Nothing about 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 loose head or a failed weld is our problem, not yours.

A note on handmade variation

This axe 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 hammer texture on the cheeks, the exact depth and contrast of the etch, the grain and tone of the hardwood haft and the way the leather wrap sits 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 real Viking axe?

No, and we will not sell it as one. Norse axes are single bitted with a poll on the back, and no double bitted head has ever been found in a Viking Age context. The double bit is an American logging pattern from the nineteenth century. This is a Norse styled camp and woodland axe rather than a reconstruction.

Is the pattern on the head Damascus?

No. It is an acid etched surface pattern on solid 1095 steel. Real pattern welded Damascus has layers running through the metal and the pattern continues across every ground face. We say which is which on every listing.

Can I actually chop with it?

Yes. It is a working axe with a real heat treat, sized and weighted for camp and woodland use. Keep one bit keen for clean wood and let the other run thicker for dirty cuts, which is exactly how the pattern was used in the logging camps.

Can I use it in reenactment combat?

No. It is sharp and it is a double bit, which means an edge is always presented in two directions. It is not a blunted contact weapon and no reenactment group will pass it for a bout. Use it for camp work, display and photography.

Does it come sharp?

It ships with a working edge on both bits, ready to cut. Most owners then take one side up finer on a stone for clean wood and leave the other as it comes for rough work.

How long until it ships?

One to two weeks of processing, because each head is forged, heat treated, etched and hung to order and the leather cover is stitched 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 double bit axe head in 1095 steel, etched, hung, wedged and pinned
• Approximately 30 inch stained hardwood haft with a leather wrapped grip
• Brass collar fitted at the eye
• Stitched leather blade cover
• Care card covering oiling, sharpening and leather
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

The single bitted Norse heads are in Viking axes, the heavier working patterns are in splitting and felling axes, the war shapes are in battle axes, and the rest of the edged work is in Viking weapons. Steel, hardness and sharpening notes are in the guides.