Notchcrown Hand Forged 1095 Steel Viking Hand Axe | 16 Inch Ash Haft | Chevron Etched Cheek and Hammer Poll with Snap Closed Leather Mask | Camp Gift | RK-1904

Notchcrown is a one handed Viking hand axe with a broad flaring bit, a squared hammer poll on the back of the head, and a nested chevron pattern etched into the cheek. The head is 1095 high carbon steel finished in a soft satin, the haft is white ash left bare at the ends with a band of dark brown leather wrapped around the middle, and a leather mask with a snap stud is included to cover the edge. It is the size of axe that lives in a pack rather than a display case.

The poll, the flat square face on the back of the head, is the detail that tells you this is a working pattern rather than a costume one. Norse axes almost all carried one, and it is the reason an axe was the most common tool in a Viking household. With a poll you can drive a wedge, set a tent peg, knock a stubborn joint apart or straighten a nail without reaching for a second tool. Without one you have half an axe. Notchcrown is forged, punched, drifted, ground, heat treated and hafted by hand in our shop in Memphis, Tennessee.

Specifications

Why the bit flares and where the beard came from

The bit on Notchcrown is narrow at the eye and flares out to a wide curved edge, dropping below the haft line at the lower corner. That flare is doing two things. It gives a long cutting edge without adding the weight that a head of uniform thickness would carry, because all the steel is concentrated where the eye takes the shock and thinned out where the edge does the cutting. It also brings the lower corner of the edge down and back, which is what people mean by a bearded axe. That corner lets you choke up and grip the haft right under the head for fine work, carving or shaving, with the beard shielding your fingers from the edge. A rectangular headed axe cannot do that at all.

The steel, the heat treat and the haft

1095 is the right steel for an axe because it is tough and simple and it can be selectively hardened. The head is forged, then punched and drifted for the eye rather than being folded around a mandrel, which gives a stronger eye wall. In heat treat we bring the edge to 54 to 58 HRC and leave the body around the eye softer, because a fully hard axe head splits at the eye the first time it takes a real shock. The haft is white ash chosen for grain running dead straight the full sixteen inches. It is fitted, wedged from the top, locked with a steel cross wedge, oiled rather than lacquered, and then wrapped at the centre with leather so a wet hand has something to hold.

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 Notchcrown the chevron pattern on the cheek is the marked surface, and it takes a short rune line or a set of initials well. A longer line burns into the ash haft instead. See the engraving page.

Handling and balance

Under two pounds on a sixteen inch haft, this is a one handed axe you can swing all afternoon. The balance sits close under the head, so it feels controlled rather than heavy, and it will not wear out a wrist the way a heavier camp axe does. Hold it at the butt for reach and power, or slide the hand up under the beard for carving and detail work, which is what the flared bit is designed to allow. It arrives sharp. Keep the leather mask on it whenever it is in a pack, because a bare axe edge in a bag finds everything soft in there.

Care

Bare high carbon steel rusts, and an axe that lives outdoors sees more moisture than anything else we make. Dry the head after use, wipe sap and resin off with a little mineral spirit and then re oil, and keep a light film of oil or paste wax on the cheeks. The ash haft wants re oiling once or twice a year, which stops the wood drying and shrinking away from the wedge, and that shrinkage is the single most common cause of a loose head. Never soak a haft in water to swell it tight, which is an old trick that works for a week and then leaves the wood worse. Feed the leather mask and the grip wrap once a year. Notes on rust are in the guide to steel care.

Forged in Memphis

This is not brought in from an importer catalogue with a label added. The head is forged, punched, drifted, ground, etched and selectively heat treated in our Memphis, Tennessee shop, and the haft is selected, shaped, fitted, wedged and wrapped at the same bench, with the leather mask cut and stitched here as well. Getting a selective heat treat right on a head this size takes attention, since the line between hard edge and tough body is set by hand at the quench. Expect one to two weeks of processing. Shipping inside the United States is free, returns run seven days, and the lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings has no end date and needs no receipt.

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 flare of the bit is ground by eye, the chevrons sit at their own depth and spacing, the hammer texture on the poll is unique to each head, and the ash haft ranges from near white to warm honey with its own grain. The dimensions, the steel, the heat treat and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is this sharp enough to use straight away?

Yes. It arrives with a working sharp edge that will bite into seasoned wood without any touch up.

Can I hammer with the poll?

Yes, for tent pegs, wedges and light work. It is a proper hardened poll rather than a decorative lump. Do not use it on hardened steel such as a cold chisel head.

Is this a throwing axe?

We do not sell it as one. A thrown axe takes repeated hard impacts on the haft as well as the head, and a leather wrapped grip is not built for that.

What do I do if the head goes loose?

Send it back and we will re wedge it under the warranty. Do not soak the haft in water, which swells the wood temporarily and then leaves it looser than before.

Does the leather mask fit on the belt?

It covers the edge and closes with a snap stud. It is a blade mask rather than a belt sheath, so it protects the edge in a pack rather than hanging the axe from a belt.

Can I have a name burned into the haft?

Yes. Choose the engraving option and tell us the haft. A longer line fits there than on the cheek, and burned lettering in ash lasts as long as the wood does.

What is in the box

• Notchcrown Viking hand axe in 1095 high carbon steel on a white ash haft
• Leather edge mask with a snap stud closure
• Care card covering oiling the head, the haft and the leather
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

Browse the bearded axes, the Viking axes, the axe handles and hafts, and the guides.