Here’s a quick look at a beautiful custom axe made by Peeter Reenmann. He’s a blacksmith based out of Estonia who specializes in hand forged woodworking tools. Lately, he’s been producing quite a few collared axes. With his collar design being very consistent and quite close to the originals.
This particular axe is a specialty tool designed for timber framing and hewing. As well as other various carpentry tasks. It all started with a sketch and rough dimensions. Something inspired by older Scandinavian models and meant to be used on a very short handle.
The final product came out very close to the sketch. Something that is quite difficult to do and shows how skilled the blacksmith is. It’s why most blacksmiths prefer to do batch work over actual custom work.
You can see how wonderfully crisp the lines are. With seamless forge welding and a smoothly tapered bit.
There are a few shortcomings though. The handle lacks shape and is poorly fitted. I’ve mentioned it before in my Hand Forged Axe Buyer’s Guide but handles tend to be an afterthought. All they do is add cost, shipping expense and rarely suit the end users needs. And it’s tough to blame the maker. There just isn’t any money to be made on handles. Or sheaths for that matter.
Below are a few pictures of the original handle. You can see the poor grain orientation, massive growth rings and epoxy used to fit the head.
Rather than struggle on with the original handle a new handle was carved and fitted. This time with a perfect fit and shaped to suit the task. Below you can see just how large this axe really is. Compared to a Gransfors Bruks carving axe.
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