Ok guys, I know relatively little about axes and I would like to hear your comments on historical accuracy of this axe. I doubt it is iron body + steel edge like it should be but how close it is to scandinavian 10th or 11th century battle axes except that? And is it hardened to 57Hrc only in the edge or is the body too that hard? It seems maybe even too hard for an axe...
http://www.gransfors.com/htm_eng/produkter/re...dsyxa.html

First of all, Gransfors Bruks are the top of the line as far as for axes and traditional woodworking tools. It is a kind of a firm who "turned back the wheel of time", from fully industrial method to hand forging, although as kind of industry line.
If they state the axe is composite we can trust it. I don't believe, though, the body is made of hard-to-find wrought iron, but rather of low-carbon steel, while the edge bit is high-carbon steel. A compostie axe cannot be hardened all out because of the different carbon contents nor it is requested, as the body of the axe must be a little softer to absorb the heavy shocks. 57Rc do sounds a little hared than usual for an axe.

I agree with Sa'ar in that whatever Gransfors say you can trust. The products are exceptional quality and come with a 20 year guarantee as well.

I have looked at the page and cannot see wheer you got the 57C from or the composite edge information, so I cannot comment on that but I had a battle axe in stock for a while and it is a beautiful thing, but I must say I did not notice it having a composite edge. The body is definitely steel though, not wrought.

Regards


Tod

I know Gransfors are high quality, I was reading their pdf booklet on their page and I like them very much, I saw some of their smaller axes in a shop, but they don't say the axe has composite but "accentuated steel edge" and that is I think only a thing of shape, not necessary different material than the rest of the body. I think this si just reinforced edge after thinner body like these axes usually had... Oh, and 57Hrc they say here:
"The room next to the forge is the sharpening room. Here the right edge bevel is established by grinding (beveling) and, after the tempering and annealling operation, the beveled edge is ground with a finer stone, honed and polished. After the forging and the first step of sharpening the edge, the lower part of the axe head, the blade, is tempered by warming it to 820°C followed by a quick cooling in cold running water. Then the axe head is annealed: kept for 60 minutes in an oven that is 195°C. This relieves the stress in the steel, built up by the forging and tempering processes and gives the bit the desired hardness and toughness. The hardness of the bit is measured, 57 Rockwell C, and enery single head is tested by a smith who, with a big hammer, strikes on the edge’s corners. If the blade does not break the head is good."

It seems I was a little hasty in my first post. I do own a Gransfors Wildelife hatchet and very fond of it. I highly appreciate their "ancient" line but those are very expencive even comparing with their regular line. I think for those prices they could put the effort and forge composite heads. I've serched the web for any additional info or video but I just came with the same result - the whole line is probably made from one solid piece of steel, differentialy tempered.

I see no pricelist on their page, would you mind to pm me to say what price should I expect for this battle axe?

As mentioned, Gransfors Bruks are probably the best out there. I like my battle axe....
The blade edge is steel, and is harder than the blade body. The body could be made from iron, for all I know, or simply unfinished lower-carbon steel? Anyway it's softer material.

I've used mine to break up large chunks of ice a couple winters ago. It does that very well.

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The current Gransfors price list in US dollars:

http://www.gransfors.us/Retail%20Axe%20Full%20Line%20Prices.pdf

I had to pick the most expensive one, like always... For that price, or even less, I just might go custom... :eek:

Even though I am sure these axes are nice- I notice that they do feature the rounded socket shape often seen on reproductions. I am wondering if they are drawing from historical specimens for this shape or are choosing this due to the relative difficulty of producing the more correct square-shaped socket.

I am not presuming historical inaccuracy in shape here as there may be pieces that feature this rounded socket but I am posing the question so that others may have the whole picture. We are talking historical accuracy as well as durability and aesthetic issues.

Socket on viking and baltic region axes of the period vary from round to oval and rounded triangle.

Luka - I agree. Although completely hand forged from quality steel the price is very high.