This was my first go at both an asymmetrically wrapped and a bearded axe head. I started with way too small of stock as I did not want to wait for my steel shipment to arrive. So, I made a hatchet sized head. I started with a length of 1"x1/2" stock. I have been studying James Austin's work and wanted to give it a try.

Here is the starting stock:


The end upset and rough shaped.

 

Eye formed.

 

And wrapped


Forge welded and shaped


Split and bit shaped


Forge welding.

 

welded and ready to be hardened and tempered.


All finished. Im not too happy with the look of the handle but I'm happy overall for a first try at this style.


Thanks for looking!
-Matt P.

Very cool. I will be happy as all get out if my first axe turns out half that well. Nice pictures, too.

Handles are pretty easy to change, so that's almost a minor problem.

very nice.

 

mark

It looks like quite a challenging piece of work to me!  I think you did a great job!  All those processes are much more difficult than they appear!

Thanks.

How thick was the blade when you cut the groove for the bit?

Thank you fellas. The edge thickness was ~ 3/16" but the next one I'll cut it at around 1/4" I think.

Very nice! one of these days ill get my feet wet and try that.

Very nice work!

Thank you. I made a second one today, non bearded. More of a corner axe.

Thanks for the follow-along pictures. I'm inspired. Awesome work.

That is good work .

I particularly like the "forge welding smile".

 satisfying work is satisfying.

Thank you.

That means a lot coming from you basher. Your work is fantastic, especially your axe work.

So are there actually 2 forge welds, one at the roll for the eye and one for the blade insert?

 

What did you use for the blade insert?

 

Amazing work -thanks for sharing

Yes sir there are two forge welds. I used some 1095 for the bits. Thank you!

That's just amazing. Lovely work there fella

Thanks!

Here is Number 3 - Some improvement. This one was forged from 3/4" x 2"  4" A36 with a 1095 bit.


From this:



To this:

Matthew that axe looks real mean, I love it.

Loving them all,  hoping to book a course with Basher this year. Thanks for sharing.

 

John

That is awesome, wow is all i have to say!!! WOW hope i can do that someday soon!

Oh wow, these are just so beautiful.

Great work. Love the 2 forge welds method you used. Turned out beautifully.

Thank you All!

Ive been very busy, and went a bit over the top with the axes. Ive got a bunch of progress photo but I'll pot some of the pictures that stand out. I think I'm on #10 or 11 of the heads.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for looking!
Matt P

Holy cow! I am very impressed. I love the pictures of the progression from bar to axe. Thanks for posting these.

That is gnarly man. You've just inspired me to try one this weekend.