Axes & Straight Blades
My First Trial Axe with a “Swedish Eye”
On July 12, 2015 by jaustinAfter some preliminary research on forging dimensions (stock size and fullering-layout) I began test-forging Swedish axe eyes using the information I’d gathered from Mattias Helje. The first order of business is to learn to forge the eye since it is used on several types and sizes of traditional Swedish axes. The axe below represents my
Axes & Straight Blades
Axe Tour of Norway and Sweden: Part 4
On June 29, 2015 by jaustinFrom Oystein’s smithy I made my way by train and bus back north in Norway to the small town of Trysil on the border with Sweden. The next blacksmith of my Scandinavian axe journey, Mattias Helje, picked me up there and took me to his home and smithy in western Sweden in the town of
Axes & Straight Blades
Axe Tour of Norway and Sweden: Part 3
On June 5, 2015 by jaustinAfter I left Hjerleid Craft School in Dovre I traveled to the coastal town of Sandefjord south of Oslo. Here I met and spent a few days with Øystein Myhre. Øystein forges axes and other traditional Norwegian tools in the very cool smithy which he built on his property. Based on his own collection of historical
Axes & Straight Blades . Classes
Axe Tour of Norway and Sweden: Part 2
On May 28, 2015 by jaustinThe day after I landed in Oslo I took a 3-1/2 hour train trip north to the Hjerleid Craft School in the town of Dovre. I spent the next 10 days there teaching a class on forging Viking age axes. There were 12 students in the 1-year class, which is run by Benjamin Kjellman-Chapin –
Axes & Straight Blades
Axe Tour of Norway and Sweden: Part 1
On May 13, 2015 by jaustinIn early April I traveled to Norway and Sweden for a month-long trip to study traditional axe forging. Axes are still used there to hew and join logs for the construction and maintenance of beautiful, traditional houses. Below are a few pictures from my first day in Oslo. Both the weather and the scenery were