New viking carving axe from Mike Deibert

Deoje

Deoje

Craftsman
Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
271
I originally learned of Mike's viking axes from this post A Couple of New Pieces.

I have always loved tomahawks, but I have recently become addicted to axes of all kinds. So I contacted Mike and asked if he could make me something. We came up with the axe shown below. It will be used as a carving axe so I wanted one side with a convex bevel and the other side flat. I decided that I would make a haft for it so I just needed the head. He usually makes tomahawks and had not made a head with a traditional axe eye. He said he had to make the drift to shape the eye. Well it turned out great. I am quite happy with the axe.

I made the haft out of dogwood. I had read of someone making a haft out of dogwood and I had some that was dry so I figured I give it a try. Since I am using the axe as a carving axe it shouldn't be subjected to the same kinds of stresses a felling axe would be. Anyway I hope the dogwood stands up to use. If it doesn't I'll make another one out of something more traditional. This is only the second haft I have made from scratch so I thought it turned out pretty good.

Mike communicated with me throughout the order from start to finish. I was very happy with his customer service. I picked up the axe at the Blade show and got to meet Mike. I should have hung out and talked to him more, but I had just arrived and I was in a hurry to look around. Mike if you read this, sorry if I seemed rushed.

Ok I'm sure no one wants to sit listen to me all night so here are the pictures. If you have any questions that I can answer don't hesitate to ask. Mike is a member Mike Deibert here so you can always contact him too.

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Very beautiful! I gave Mike a forging hammer and he gave me a tomahawk at the Blade Show, so I've gotten to handle his ax work up close. He does very nice work. Good score!

The only problem I see is the chisel is on the wrong side for me. :)
 
I see that although the blade is a single bevel it is not off-set in relation to the eye, so no follow through on the swing possible.

E.DB.
 
Thanks for posting the pics Deoje! That was a good and challenging project. I hope you'll let me know how it holds up. I can't claim to make the best axes in the world but I've been using mine for quite some time and they seem to hold up decently.

Ernest: Thanks for pointing out the lack of an off-set. This is something I overlooked in my lack of experience with this style of axe. Actually I don't think we could really call this a style as it is more of a hybrid that Deoje came up with. He liked the viking axe we make but wanted it to have some carving capabilities. That being said I think an offset would be an improvement worthy of working into this model. I appreciate the critique.
 
Mike I have been enjoying the axe. The handle was a fun project. I'm excited to use it for its intended purpose soon. Pretty sure the offset eye is not going to be an issue at all for my intended use.
 
I love it, "A short handled broad axe". That is super sweet.
 
You did a great job on that handle!
Deoje said:
Mike I have been enjoying the axe. The handle was a fun project. I'm excited to use it for its intended purpose soon. Pretty sure the offset eye is not going to be an issue at all for my intended use.
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Dogwood seems like an ideal wood for a chopping tool. One kind, (Cornus mas), is the wood many French blacksmiths traditionally used for handles on their forging hammers. I have a piece up in the hay loft to dry and have only chopped into it a bit but could tell from that it could be a very resilient wood. I don't know the extent of your experience with wood but wonder if you could describe how it seemed to you working with this dogwood.

E.DB.
 
This is the first time I have worked with Dogwood other that turning it on a lathe. I cheated and used power tools (band saw and belt sander) to do most of the shaping of the handle. I need to build a shave horse so that I can more effectively use some hand tool on handles in the future. I just haven't had the time to build one.

I have always liked turning dogwood. My experience has been that it is very dense and you can get a great smooth finish if using sharp tools without sanding. On items that I have turned when it was wet there was a ton of checking and large cracks. Small bowls that I have turned from the wood that has been well dried have turned out very nice. I have also turned a few shaving brush handles from dogwood that have been continually exposed to water on a daily basis. They were coated with boiled linseed oil and have stood up to the wet and dry cycles fine for several months. Once the wood has dried it seems to be pretty stable. At least the small sample that I have observed.

I don't really have enough experience with working it using hand tools to comment on that.
 
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