![]() ![]() (Update: I do have a child now, and I haven’t forgotten about the “baby axe.) I often joke that if I ever have a child, I would first hand them a froe and club, and soon after that, one of Djarv’s “baby axes”. Given the tiny nature of the business, and the apparent quality of the work, I imagine the investment is well worth it, but I have not had the pleasure of using their tools. Among the tools they forge are some rather unique axe patterns, which command a rather high price tag. Svante Djarv is a very small family-run operation based in Sweden, where they make no more than 4000 tools each year. Read more about this one from Robin Wood himself. I could never justify getting another carving axe myself, but this one would be a top pick. The s-curve handle looks equally well-done. This is John Neeman Tools’ take on the carving axe pattern, with an exceptionally clean blade design. ![]() The Robin Wood edition Carving Axe with gorgeous shaping and haft It’s just about the best combination of old and new - creating extraordinary and timeless tools with traditional skills, and promoting the stuff through very modern means. The small team of craftsmen are based in Latvia, where they do everything in-house - forge the steel, handle the tools, create the sheaths, and promote the final products through stunning videos and a popular facebook presence. John Neeman Tools (to be known as Northmen beginning in 2017) puts out some stellar quality hand tools, as many people have seen through their high quality photo and video presence online. To celebrate the axe and the people who continue to make them, here is a selection of 26 modern day hand forged axes made by a variety of blacksmiths that are beautiful, functional, and swoon-worthy. Of course I love using them, too, probably more than any other hand tool. It’s the sheer variety and the craftsmanship that I’m most attracted to, I think. Over the hundreds of thousands of years they have been in use by humankind, any number of styles, shapes, and sizes have been made to perform a variety of splitting, chopping, carving, and shaping work. I think it’s their timeless functionality and dashingly good looks. I’ll admit, I spend perhaps an inordinate amount of time looking at images of axes. The very artful John Neeman Goosewing Broad Axe
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