Stormcleft Hand Forged Damascus Bearded Axe with Hammer Poll | 28 Inch Overall Length | Engraved Head and Leather Wrapped Hardwood Haft | Norse Woodsman Gift | RK-1811

Stormcleft is a hand forged Damascus bearded axe on a long hardwood haft, with a deep curved beard that drops well below the eye and a flat hammer poll set opposite the cutting edge. The head is folded from 1095 and 15N20, etched so the layers stand up in the light, and the poll face carries a cut scroll panel. The haft is dark close grained hardwood with a leather wrap at the lower hand, and a stitched leather edge sheath comes with it.

The beard is the oldest working feature on this shape and it was never decoration. Norse smiths cut that hollow away because it did two useful things at once. It took mass out of the head without shortening the cutting edge, so a broad edge could sit on a light head, and it left an open gap behind the steel where a hand could choke right up under the blade for close carving and shaping. The same profile turns up again and again in Scandinavian grave finds, which is a fair sign that the men using them thought it was worth the extra forging work.

This one is forged, ground, heat treated and finished in Memphis, Tennessee. It ships with the leather edge sheath, a light coat of protective oil on the steel and a card explaining how to keep the etch bright. Free shipping inside the United States. Processing runs one to two weeks because each head is worked and etched by hand.

Specifications

What the hammer poll is actually for

Plenty of Viking styled axes are sold with a plain wedge back. This one has a proper flat hammer face, and that changes what the tool can do. A poll face lets you drive a wooden wedge, set a tent peg, knock a froe through a billet or seat a rivet without reaching for a second tool. It also puts mass behind the eye, which moves the balance point back toward the hand and makes the axe feel calmer in a swing than a head of the same weight with nothing behind it.

The trade off is honest. A hammer poll is not a substitute for a proper hammer on hardened steel, and hitting hardened metal against hardened metal will chip both. Use it on wood, on wooden wedges, on tent pegs and on soft fasteners, and it will do that job for decades.

The steel and the pattern

The head is a billet of 1095 and 15N20 forge welded together and folded. The 1095 is a simple high carbon steel that hardens deep and holds a keen edge. The 15N20 carries nickel, which resists the etch and stays bright, and that contrast is the whole reason Damascus looks the way it does. There is no dye and no coating involved. What you see is two steels reacting differently to acid.

After forging the head is normalised, hardened and tempered to 58 to 60 HRC. That is hard enough to take and hold a working edge on wood and soft enough that the edge rolls rather than shatters when it meets a knot. The bevels are ground and hand finished, then the flats are etched and neutralised. Because the fold pattern is drawn out by hand, no two heads carry the same figure.

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, the leather or the wood. 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 usual places are the flat of the poll, the cheek above the beard or the leather sheath. See the engraving page for what fits in the space.

Handling and balance

With the hammer poll behind the eye this axe balances close to the head rather than out at the tip, so it wants a short controlled arc rather than a long swing. Hold it low on the leather wrap for felling and splitting, and slide the hand up under the beard for carving, shaping and any work where you want the edge close to the eye. The lower wrap is there so a wet or cold hand still has something to hold.

This is a working axe head on a working haft. It is not a competition throwing axe and it is not intended for full contact combat. Treat it as a felling, camp and display axe and it will be honest about what it can do.

Care

Damascus is high carbon steel and it will rust if it is left wet. Dry the head after use and wipe a thin film of mineral oil, camellia oil or paste wax over the etched flats. If the pattern starts to look flat and grey it has usually just picked up a haze of skin oil and dust, and a wipe with a soft cloth brings it back. Fingerprints left on bare Damascus etch themselves in over weeks, so wipe the head down before it goes on the wall. More detail is on the steel care page.

The haft needs a rub of boiled linseed oil once or twice a year, more often if the axe lives outdoors. Feed the leather sheath with a neutral leather balm and never dry it near a heater, which shrinks and cracks the fibre.

Forged in Memphis

Every one of these is forged, ground, heat treated, etched and hafted in our Memphis, Tennessee shop. Nothing is bought in finished from an importer catalogue and relabelled. That is why the lead time is one to two weeks rather than same day. It is also why the lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings is real, with no end date and no receipt needed. If the head loosens, the weld opens or the heat treat is wrong, send it back and we will put it right.

A note on handmade variation

This axe is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The Damascus figure is drawn out under the hammer and it moves differently in every billet, so your ladder pattern will run its own way. The hardwood haft is a natural material and its grain, colour and figure vary from stave to stave. The leather sheath will take its own tone. Hammer texture near the eye and the exact sweep of the beard shift by small amounts because a hand is doing the work. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is the edge sharp when it arrives

Yes. It ships with a working edge that will bite into seasoned wood straight away. It is a splitting and carving edge rather than a razor bevel, because a razor bevel on an axe chips the first time it finds a knot.

Is the Damascus pattern real or printed on

It is real forge welded Damascus. The pattern goes all the way through the head, so sharpening and regrinding will never remove it. A printed or laser marked pattern sits only on the surface and disappears the first time you touch a stone to it.

Can I actually chop with it or is it a wall piece

You can chop with it. The heat treat, the geometry and the haft are all built for use. Many buyers hang it on the wall instead, which is fine, but nothing about it is display only.

Will the haft take a rune line as well as the steel

Yes. Runes cut into the hardwood haft show up well against the dark grain, and that is often a better choice than the steel if you want the inscription to be readable from across a room.

How is the head fitted to the haft

The eye is drifted to a taper and the haft is fitted and wedged from the top, wood wedge first and then a cross wedge. If it ever loosens through a dry winter we will rehang it under the warranty.

How long until it ships

One to two weeks of processing, then free shipping inside the United States. If you have a firm date, put it in the order notes and we will tell you honestly whether we can hit it.

What is in the box

• One Stormcleft Damascus bearded axe with hammer poll
• Stitched leather edge sheath
• Protective oil film on the steel
• Care card for etched Damascus and hardwood
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See more in bearded axes, viking axes and viking weapons, or read the guides for how to hang and rehang an axe head.