Braidhewn Hand Forged 1095 Steel Bearded Axe | 20 Inch Haft | Celtic Knotwork Etched Head and Leather Edge Cover | Norse Woodcraft Gift | RK-1832

The Braidhewn is a bearded axe, the pattern that turns up more than any other when Viking age graves and river finds are dug out and laid on a table. The head is polished 1095 high carbon steel with a band of Celtic plaitwork etched along the lower edge of the beard, and it sits on a dark hardwood haft with a ribbed grip section and a steel butt cap. A leather cover for the edge comes with it.

The reason so many original axe heads survive is a detail of how they were built. Steel was expensive in the ninth century and iron was not, so a smith would take a bar of wrought iron, bend it around a mandrel to form the eye, forge weld the two tails together to make the blade, and then weld a thin wedge of hardened steel into the cutting edge and nothing else. The body of the axe was cheap iron. Only the last quarter inch was the expensive stuff. It is one of the most economical pieces of metalwork anyone has ever designed, and it is why a working axe was something an ordinary farmer could own when a sword was not. We do not need to save steel that way now, so ours is forged as one piece of 1095, heat treated through, and finished by hand in Memphis, Tennessee.

Specifications

What the beard on a bearded axe is actually for

The beard is the part of the edge that hangs below the eye, and it does three separate jobs. The first is that it gives you a long cutting edge without giving you a heavy head. Length of edge is what lets you shear rather than chop, and mass is what tires your arm out, so an axe that gains edge by hanging it downward rather than by making the whole head bigger is a better tool to swing all day.

The second job is the gap behind it. Because the beard curves away from the haft there is an open space between the steel and the wood, which means you can slide your hand right up under the head and hold the axe just behind the bit. That grip turns a felling axe into a carving tool. It is how you shape a tenon, take the corners off a post or trim a spoon blank, and it is the reason a bearded axe is still the pattern green woodworkers reach for.

The third job only matters if someone is standing in front of you. A hooked lower point catches things. In the sagas it catches a shield rim, and once the rim is caught the shield comes down and stays down. That is not a use we recommend, but it is why the shape looks the way it does.

The steel, the etching and the haft

The head is 1095, a plain high carbon steel with close to one percent carbon and nothing much else in it. It hardens deeply, it takes a keen edge on an ordinary stone, and it is tough enough to go into seasoned hardwood without chipping. We run it at 54 to 58 HRC, which is a working axe hardness rather than a knife hardness. An axe edge that is too hard chips on a knot, and an axe that chips is worse than an axe that dulls.

The knotwork band along the beard is acid etched rather than laser marked, which leaves the pattern slightly below the surface of the polish so it holds its line as the axe wears. Interlaced plaitwork of this kind runs across Insular and Norse metalwork for centuries, from the Book of Kells to Urnes style carving, and the whole logic of it is that the band never ends. It is a single cord that crosses itself and returns.

The haft is a close grained hardwood, stained dark, with the grain running along the length of the head as it must on any axe that is going to be used. A haft with the grain running across the eye will break. The ribbed section under the head gives you something to hold when you choke up on it.

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 place for a rune line is the flat cheek above the knotwork band, and the engraving page shows how deep the cut sits on a polished face.

Handling and balance

A 20 inch haft is a one handed length. You swing it from the elbow, not the shoulder, and the head does the work. Held at the bottom of the haft it has enough reach and speed to take a limb off a log in a few strokes. Held choked up under the head it becomes a controlled carving tool and the weight stops being a factor at all.

Balance sits well forward, as it should on an axe, which is the opposite of a sword and is what makes an axe feel heavier than its weight. That forward mass is the whole point. It is what carries the edge through the cut once you have started it, and it is why a light axe swung hard does less work than a heavier axe swung correctly.

Care

Wipe the head down after use and put a thin film of oil on it. Bare 1095 will show rust freckles if it goes into a damp shed wet, and a leather cover left on a wet head is the fastest way to get them, so let it dry before the cover goes back on. Sharpen with a puck or a coarse stone worked in circles along the bevel, then strop it. Do not put an axe on a bench grinder. Heat kills the temper and you cannot put it back. Feed the leather cover with a neutral conditioner once or twice a year. Oil the haft with boiled linseed when it starts to look dry and pale, which also swells the wood in the eye and keeps the head tight. Our page on steel care covers rust removal and oiling in more detail.

Forged in Memphis

Forged, ground, heat treated, etched and hung in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee. Nothing here comes out of an importer catalogue with our name put on it afterwards. The honest cost of that is time. Processing is one to two weeks before it leaves, and longer if you have added engraving, because the engraving happens after the head is finished and the axe is then inspected again. Shipping within the United States is free. The lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings applies with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

This axe is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The hammer texture on the cheeks falls where the hammer fell. The etched knotwork bites slightly differently into every face. Hardwood is a natural material and takes stain unevenly, so one haft will be warmer or darker than another and the grain will run its own way. The leather cover will vary in tone. The edge length, the steel, the heat treat and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is it sharp enough to actually cut wood

Yes. It arrives with a working edge and it is built as a tool, not as a wall piece. Split kindling with it, carve with it, take it camping.

Can I throw it

You can, but a stained hardwood haft with a butt cap is not built to survive repeated misses hitting the target sideways. If you want an axe purely for throwing, buy one with a plain replaceable haft and keep this one for cutting.

Is the leather cover included

It is. The fitted cover in the photograph ships with the axe and slips over the edge with a stud closure.

Will the knotwork wear off

No. It is etched into the steel rather than printed on top of it, so it survives sharpening and normal use. Heavy polishing over years will soften it slightly.

How do I keep the head tight on the haft

Keep the wood fed with boiled linseed oil and store the axe somewhere that is not bone dry. Wood shrinks in a heated room over a winter, and a head that has gone loose can usually be brought back by oiling the haft rather than by hammering the wedge.

How long does shipping take

One to two weeks of processing, then free shipping inside the United States. Engraved orders sit at the longer end.

What is in the box

• Braidhewn bearded axe with a 1095 high carbon steel head
• Dark stained hardwood haft with a ribbed grip and steel butt cap
• Fitted leather edge cover
• Care card covering oiling, sharpening and haft maintenance
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See the rest of the bearded axes, the wider Viking axe range, the Viking weapons we forge, or read the guides for how an axe head is hung and kept tight.