FORGING A SCANDINAVIAN HEWING AXE

In this video i try my best to forge a 18th century Scandinavian style hewing axe. I recently found instructions on how these axes were made and i really wanted to try it for myself. I decited to share my experience here on youtube, with you all. Thank you so much for watching hope you enjoy the video :)
Find me on instagram:
/ nilsogren
#hewingaxe #scandinavian #forging

[@beavercreekwoodcraft8134]

Beautiful Bila! From my understanding and what I've seen and own. All of the Swedish made collared axes were hand forged from multiple pieces forge welded together. They also werent produced much after the turn of the century, about 1920 is the cutoff for them from my understanding. Finland on the other hand was industrializing its collared axe production at the same time Sweden was going towards a western style. Finnish kirves were forged in open dies like Gransfors uses today. An iron body with a welded in high carbon bit. Other than the very old Bila/Piilukirves, I haven't seen many hand forged Finnish axes. I would say their most different feature is the sloped top of the blade and the angle at which it meets the collar. Swedish collared axes are typically 90° or close to it, Finnish axes tend to have the blade angled in towards the collar in an obvious way.

Thank you so much fpr the answer, that makes alot of sense!

[@JacobvsRex]

Practicing some of these processes myself at the moment. This is a beautiful thing

[@jay_idk337]

Hey man if u see this I think u should do some vids like skallagrim, testing weapons u make or buy, and talking about history, maybe ur axe vs a same price one, Think that’d be cool as love hearing u talk about ur axe, And hopefully more views cause u deserve it man Also do swords aswell lol

[@Erikreaver]

Oh my. I am getting to forging multipart axes (and knives and such) myself again after three or so years, but oh my, this one is so very complicated, yet beautiful. I think I'll have a go at making a collared axe someday, hopefully soon.

[@broadusthompson1666]

Good on you for tackling such an incredibly difficult forging! I like the honest self critique at the end, that’s how you get better as a craftsman.

Thanks!

[@HalfInsaneOutdoorGuy]

Loved this video! just starting to learn knife making, forging and heat treating is tricky!

Thank you!

[@anthonystrunk5360]

Beautiful axe and great insight into traditional forging techniques.. thank you!

Thank you alot!

[@Erikreaver]

Oh, and on topic of birch for haft material - I think that is part of the reason for why the collar is there in the first place! When I was travelling Finland, the majority of trees were birches, spruces and pines, and out of those I'd absolutely pick the birch. And the long collar means more wood is "gripped"/supported by the eye, working around using comperatively softer wood. That's my train of thought, anyway!

[@beavercreekwoodcraft8134]

Straight grained birch actually makes a fantastic handle compared to what we typically use, Hickory and Ash. The collared axes are better adapt at a soft wood handle like Birch, but alot of western style axes made by the Swedish forges were hafted in Birch. Very low shock to the hands with a birch handle.

[@Erikreaver]

Interesting! I'll have to give it a try. I'm accustomed to ash, oak, and a bit of beech, though I don't like the latter that much, it's what comes commercially here. Currently my own axe is hafted on elm and I cannot say a bad word about that either. Curiously, there were finds of axe haft remains from early middle ages from all kinds of woods, including a little surprising cases of cherry, apple, linden or even willow wood.

[@SrBossCheese]

Very fun video. Thank you for taking all the time to record and share this with everyone. I have been interested in these multiple part axes for a while and it’s interesting to see all the weld joints.

[@axelahrenholtz7309]

Lovely build! Those are some complicated forge welds. The discussion about Swedish vs Finnish style made me go out and actually look at my hewing axe restoration project that I was supposed to do something with forever ago. And made me realise that the axe I have flying around here is more than likely a 1-handed variant. Also made me realise that it is an axe head from a Swedish speaking area in Finland. Outside of a different blade shape - this one is leaning backwards quite a bit - the major difference seems to be a rectangular eye thats tapering down to the end, so probably wasnt wedged. Also at least now lacks a boss on the backside. There's a lot of mushrooming in that area, so it took some abuse. The way the the collar and the blade were attached seems more or less similar to your way of doing it though. Now the differences are probably coming down to different era and the fact that its a 1-handed axe in my case, but they were still standing out to me

[@DEJARONGSSangPenemu]

Thank you for sharing a great video with your amazing and fantastic videos.

[@DERWALDRUFT]

Great piece of art. The fusion of the different parts and especially the forgeweldings are inspiring

[@babyhuey1878]

Хорошая работа. Скандинавы знают своё дело.

[@klausnielsen1537]

I like your "Reckless testing". Well done.

Thank you sir!

[@magnusbergroth5319]

Tack för en verkligen bra video. Mycket uppskattat och inspirerande. 👍

[@porkofatty6601]

Man ripped a log!!! Heck yeah dude

[@patrickdean9797]

that is a quality axe right there heirloom quality very well made

[@thomasstrandh]

Beautiful work Nils!

[@atelier_nilsson]

Bra jobba!

Tack!

[@shawnpittard5961]

Really enjoyed the video Nils and the commentary about the build afterwards. That's important to us Noobs. Been following you from the ForgeCast, seems like you are starting to hit your stride. Keep up the great work.

Thanks alot! Means alot!

[@jb8086]

Awesome build man. Your reckless test drive turned out better than my carefully planned builds. Great to see such a complicated process.

Thanks alot!

[@-Honeybee]

I'm furious I've not seen your channel before. This is truly brilliant work.

Dont be angry! Im glad you found me!

[@janosszentpeteri1922]

@ Hi, for the first time it really looked to me it was made out of one single still. And just now I have realised it has at least 3 parts of it. Always good to learn new things. Thanks Nils

[@jakepogg2733]

Nils,you've done a Really good job on this,for the first time-especially,right on. The "book" that you mention-is that Lars Enander's? Have you by chance heard of a gathering of axe-smiths in France,last year,on the subject of this very or a very similar axe-code named "1700"?If not,look to see if maybe Jim Austen has written something about it(he was the chief presenter),but lots of good smiths were there,Terje GranaasMathieu Colette,et c.Maybe look up Mathieu's page,it has some photos of 1700 construction on there somewhere:facebook.com/Taillanderie-Claudel-609826759129934/photos/?ref=page_internal I cannot speak about the differences between this Bila and Piilukirves.They're Very closely related without any doubt(and both probably related to their common ancestor,some sort of Germanic "goosewing" type socket,which also had 2-3 or even more variants). I'd say that a big factor would be the type of local ore,and charcoal,and also socioeconomics(how much time/resources people could dedicate to refining steel).One-piece socket like you did(typical for Sweden)takes some Very clean,And highly refined iron. Possibly things in Finnmark were a bit more difficult with this.Also,their construction techniques were a bit different also,like hewing the vertical faces on logs after the walls were up...

[@diegostrain9037]

1:00 Subtitles: [music] 1:19 Subtitles: [Laughing]

[@alasdairyoung18]

12:46 "This was based..." Yes.

[@benjaminwalter3452]

The axe is brilliant. The handle looks awesome!

[@Andy-Gibb]

Awesome job please keep making movies of your work.

[@АлексейТитов-т2к]

Здравствуйте ! Очень интересный получился топор !

[@robertcesena6329]

That was an AWESOME build. Different approach than some i have seen, but GREAT execution. Well done. Thanks for sharing. What steel did you use?

Mildsteel body, and ss2090 springsteel in the edge

[@stevenlisk2468]

I think you did a fantastic job and did a great job on the video I always wondered how they managed to draw down such a long handle socket well done 👏

[@csabavarady4711]

Good job. Seems to be durable. That curly birch handle is really nice. Loved to watch you vid. Congrats.

[@johnjude2685]

Your attempt, You nailed it figured it must surport the axe . I'm still messing trying to forge weld. But after some advice I trying again this week. Love your videos, Thanks Also the speaking at the end Thanks

[@ajcawley8104]

I would so take that into battle. Cool axe dude, amazing

[@JarlSeamus]

Beautifully done. If your parts are slipping before welding and you don't want to tack weld, try cutting a few "barbs" into the insert with a chisel so that it bites a bit when heated and you should find they stay in place a bit better. Skal

[@58dunc]

Brilliant result mate. That is one great looking axe . Well done.

Thank you!

[@jimackerman5323]

Very nice

thanks!

[@yopyopu3258]

New sub and amazing video mate :) keep up your amazing work : D

Thank you so much!

[@ShootingUtah]

I'm not one to talk as I've never forged anything this big but I've seen a lot of really good smiths chisel in barbs along edges that fit inside another piece of the metal to keep the parts from slipping during the forge weld. Hopefully that makes sense. Look at black bear forge on youtube. He has a trade axe/tomahawk video where he uses the technique. Anyways awesome axe, the handle wood is amazing!!!

[@danojames8329]

Totally awesome n sweet

[@scottturcotte1860]

This was a very satisfying video to watch, I have no smithing experience, but liked how the front was all video, and then you finished with a comprehensive explanation of your project, I thought you did quite well, especially after learning this was your first time making something like this Of coarse each next time will give you a much better intuition to work with from practical experience to guide you.... as for the Swedish/Finish differences, I also have no knowledge, but wonder if it was nothing more than regional pride and bragging, if both styles are relatively equal in function and reliability... thank for a great video!

Thank you very much!

[@AnhTuanNguyen-hh1sp]

Mình là người Việt Nam nên không biết tiếng anh ,mình thấy bạn làm các mẫu rìu rất đẹp mình rất thích , ở Việt Nam không có ai làm các mẫu rìu như bạn cả níu có thì phải đặc làm mà giá tiền công rất cao☹

[@vincentgolden5352]

Well done.

[@sandooo4603]

It was gonna be cool if you do some demo in the end. You know split some wood and bottled or watermelons. :D :D But amazing Axe bro, good job

Thanks for the tip! Ill try to use that in my next video!

[@1873Winchester]

@ See if that other swedish guy making the log house wants to try and hew with it

[@Barnie2275]

Very cool

[@Roscoe3721]

Good job!👍🏻

[@stanleyjaxen9487]

wow that came out amazing thanks for sharing wouldnt it be easier though to assemble it all flat then bend the final side of the collar over at the end?

[@HeavyForge]

Awesome vid!!!!🔥💪🏻⚒

🔥🔥🔥

[@XBullitt16X]

Your axes are so pretty man. Edit : it did look really tricky to forge, the design is seemingly quite complicated for an axe, considering its in 3 parts.

[@cuttwice3905]

Don't feel guilty about using the power hammer. Look at the painting "The Forge" by Goya to see how much labor was used in the early 18th century. The blacksmith had two assistants. I've seen the original which is under a stay-at-home order in New York City. It is much better than any of the images I've seen online.

[@osricsbruk]

Nice work Nils, just subscribed! 👍

[@Arnseb]

Grymt!

[@horseblinderson4747]

Eye socket is deep!

[@clydecox2108]

In my opinion your doing fine. And I respect your opinion on the handle material, ash or hickory would be stronger. Great video

Thanks! Historically birch was the most common wood here, since hickory does not grow here. Ash is most common in the south of Sweden, birch is far more common here.

[@jackdawg4579]

I have always wondered why they didn't fix fiddly bits with a rivet before they then went on to forge weld.

[@mikeford963]

Besides the pain in the butt process of making holes then having to remove the rivet later so that it didn't have different steels mixed in the high carbon section. This way, the higher carbon steel is uninterrupted along it's weld length.

[@rhodridavies9426]

Found your channel after seeing Skallagrim try out the bearded axe you made him, gotta say, beautiful piece of work, as is this axe. I've always wanted to see a Lochaber Axe, ever since first reading the Elenium trilogy by David Eddings years ago. I know it's one of the hundreds of types of pole axe, but now I'd just love to see you make one! :-P

Thank! Ill look into it!

Thank! Ill look into it!

[@archymarchy]

Can you forge a ciupaga? Please teach others. You have a great talent.

[@nofunclub]

Subbed Fin øks da Lærte til og med en ting eller to Takk Fra holland

Tack så mycket!

[@zacheryhill4490]

What type of wood was used for the handle.

Mauser birch!

[@sidstone8845]

What wood is that? Is it sturdy? Good video

[@КонстантинЮликов]

Очень понравилась ваша работа!

[@RovingPunster]

I always thought of that shape as a "goose wing" axe, and that a hewing axe had a much wider blade (i.e., less gap between the beard and the shaft). I guess I have some reading to do.

This is not a goosewing. This is the scandinavian model, however in hindsight there are some things I would do different. I do have a goosewing axe video also if you check my channel

[@RovingPunster]

@ Thank you for the 'splainage and the tip, kind Sir. Will add to my watch list. Peace. 😇👍

You got! Hope you like the video :)

[@rishishenoy]

Hey Nils great video. I am a newbie to the world of black smithing. Just wanted to understand the mechanics behind joining three pieces instead of making it out of one single piece. ? ? Thanks,

Well, in a way its easier. Especially if tou are making a collared eye. You have to remember that back in the day you didnt have powerhammers the way we have them today and also, steel was a precious and expensive material, iron was alot cheaper. So making the body out of iron and then inserting a small piece of steel in the edge saved alot of expenses.

[@rishishenoy]

@ Thanks for the reply. That makes a lot of sense.

[@norscanhordes]

Beautiful handle material. Curly birch?

We call it mauser birch, i dont know if thats the same thing.

[@sunuvehbeachbolt7875]

Awesome Video! I would like to learn to forge. Any tips for beginners?

[@lazynut81]

I just wondering ,what a purpose of the axe for?Obvious not enough a weight for work and long handle? But it's really complicate to forge.

It is a hewing axe. It meant for precision work while building log houses

[@lazynut81]

@ thanx.

[@fedezmorello203]

I want one Nils

[@themarlboromandalorian]

Hew many foe-men.

[@OZZIE06525]

Nils Osterberg what is the flux you use in you forge welds?

Its a borax that mixed, check out castrasteel.com

[@matiasshanahan5164]

Hi, where do You get that blacksmith book? I wanted!!. Nice Axe, congratulations!!!. Regards from argentina

The book is in Swedish! Its called "klassiskt järnsmide"

[@rolandjohansson7428]

www.bokus.com/bok/9789197261586/klassiskt-jarnsmide/

[@mikedanforth4570]

Sorry to ask a stupid question but what was that white substance called and why is it used? Thanks.

Its called borax. It prevents oxidation. You want a clean surface without forge scale when forge welding. The borax flies off when i hit the pieces

[@ryanhagler9410]

What kind of wood is the handle?

[@pa3k845]

Absolutely stunning work! Can I ask you - which model of Scheppach saw do you use? I consider buy one and yours looks perfect for me. Thanks.

Im not sure! It is a cheap bandsaw, so it cant make very good cuts...

[@pa3k845]

@ And if you look at sign on a saw? Can't you see model sign? E.g. HBS 20 etc.? Btw if you say it is not good - which problem do you have with it?

[@dontetenon8796]

Good Idea to use berch at first so you know it will fit in your hand the way it's sculpted or uses scrap wood. Then shape your more expensive wood or wood you don't have on hand. It might be easier that way. Not a professional.

[@thesixfootsixblacksmith4772]

I appreciate not tack welding and also wonder how it was done during the Middle Ages. I assume you used a gas forge. Why use a gas forge over the coal forge when forging such a bulky object? The coal forge doesn’t have the space limitations.

my ventilationsystem was broken! thats why i used the gasforge. the fan broke down a couple of weeks ago.

[@thesixfootsixblacksmith4772]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIHMlWpsYs-cY6s This dude makes it look easy and it’s not. The old timers were amazing.

[@tomasztyczynski9695]

What kind of wood is that? Pretty nice patern, i want to find this for my knife sheets.

[@michababich2315]

Tomasz Tyczyński curly birch

[@sanclertojal917]

10 ok 👍👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏

[@sanclertojal917]

LAKE 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@am4XiXlike]

Vill testa smide. Finns det en möjlighet att testa det hos dig?

har i nuläget inga kurser planerade. vart bor du?

[@am4XiXlike]

@ skåne. Hässleholms hållet

Jag håller ju hus i Värmland. Om läget är okej i sommar tänkte jag planera några kurstillfällen!

[@am4XiXlike]

@ ok. Tack så mycket.

[@asdarsu]

so in the 18th century it was "cheaper/more effektive to make a hewing axe out of 3 pieces ?

I guess so, getting many smaller pieces was easier than getting one big piece. Also its easier to work with without big machinery, not everyone had a water driven hammer

[@seangere9698]

Do you do comission work?

Yeah, check out my website or write me an email at: www.nilsogren.com

[@BalderE]

Är det ett fint gammalt söderfors 90 kg du smider på :) ? Dina videos är väldigt trevliga, jag gillar att du behåller ljuden ifrån smedjan och arbetet och inte lägger in en massa musik som en del gör! MvH

[@ВладимирШмидт-ф7и]

👍👍👍👍👍😉

[@teodorstiernholm]

Vilket vackert hantverk!

[@genoedcknifecollecter1538]

What are these axes designed to do?

Hewing axes are made to work with big logs of wood, used primarily for building log houses

[@javanbybee4822]

Whats the book you got?

It is kalled "klassiskt järnsmide" unfortunatly its in Swedish

[@joshd2013]

How well did your welds stick it looked like you might not of been at proper temperature on a couple of them other than that it looks beautiful I bet it chops well

[@House-ns9be]

Great video. But the ax is not shown at work.

[@galigogb4683]

You are Norwegian right...?

Swedish

I do have Norwegin heritage on my mothers side of the family

[@p.dejong4160]

I hope u did not forget me :) ??

Write me an email if its buissness

[@p.dejong4160]

@ i will write you, yess don’t worry its business

[@hippis563]

Viking seax vad blir dit pris [e-mail] låt höra!

[@huuo1336]

I would like your ax. Send it to me

[@thrownswordpommel7393]

Well, that's optimism if I've ever seen some.

[@TheDnmrtn]

Really good work. Good to see a fellow scandinavian hard at work :) im impressed seeing you forgeweld those difficult and complicated pieces :) keep it up :) where did you get the wood?

Thanks! Got the wood from a local woodsman!

[@TheDnmrtn]

@ nice :) thanks for answering :)

Thanks for commenting ;)

[@davidcoalkey6074]

I think they would have pinned the pieces together and then forge weld it. This technique was used in complicated forge welds.

[@lexiconsska9904]

When you welded collar to body and it moved...i thought it was over!.. But you stayed with it. That was impressive. I just subscribed yesterday! I'm loving your work and the nice follow up description talks at the end. It means a lot to know what you were thinking during the process. Adds a lot of value to the videos!-Lex

[@LiamJPenn]

Beautiful work! You killed it! I wish my forge was big enough for me to attempt things like that. Maybe someday.

Thanks Liam!

[@thevikingoli8847]

Respect very nice job nice handle lightweight axe fantastic long beard. Nice weapon to enter Valhalla. 🤘🤘🇧🇪🇧🇪

[@Jalbert1995]

That's a great idea you have setting up the shop-vac under the grinder. I'm gonna have to steal that page out of your playbook for sure. Awesome work and video!

Thank you so much!

[@fernandojimenez2922]

Muy buen trabajo te felicito desde España

[@MrSIXGUNZ]

Amazing axe!!! Beautiful workmanship end to end!!! Blessings to you and your family 😇

Thank you very much!

[@wiley979]

Complicated build, looks great from our view.

Thanks! More than anything it was a good forging experience!, thank you for watching!

[@jacechatman2703]

Great job, it looks fantastic, as always love the content and keep up the great work.

Thanks alot!

[@chrisdaube5435]

Hey Nils, Try not to be too critical,you’re learning and basically re inventing the “wheel” so to speak!! But I’ll say you’re found a hell of a fine job. Do you have any idea of gas consumption,like how long a 9kg (20lb)has bottle would last you with forging heat and welding heat together? Nice work!!

Thanks! Depends, are you using a forced air or natural air blower?

[@chrisdaube5435]

Nils Ögren l was just wondering what your forge uses ? I run forced but our propane in NZ is mostly butane and not as volatile

[@checopasha8772]

Perfect vid but not enough views and subs Lets add some :D