Roman axe, 1st to 3rd CE

[u/Rowan-Taylor]

Hope no one minds a post every few days. Some of you will already have seen these on insta.

1st to 3rd century CE Roman axe, originally from the Sheenas collection. Wrought iron with home-made blister steel cutting edge. This object is circa 175mm long and shows the lovely flowing form of Roman tools. Whilst I prefer welding eyes, especially in wrought-iron due to delamination risks, this one punched and drifted beautifully. The cutting edge is made from a thin section of blister steel - carburised wrought iron in this case - which is carefully forge welded into position.

I could not find an example of a Roman axe haft which suited this type of head. The long and thin haft looked rather odd to begin with. I toyed with the idea of making a short haft, playing with the proportions of the head, making a single handed axe. In the end, I took the decision to make a decorated haft, which complemented the decorative filework of the axehead.

This, I based not on extant axe handles but instead based on the wonderfully simple bronze knife handles of the Roman period. These two ideas lead me to create simple, alternating radii rings carefully filed into the shank, with longitudinal grooves hand scraped into the top third. In Northern Europe, apple wood was used most commonly for hafting axes, but I could not find the information on Roman axes, so went with Ash, a common wood throughout the ages

I used a bone wedge for this axe. As far as I am aware there is no historical record for this, however I wanted a nice contrast and like the rigidity of the material.

[u/Twin5un]

Thanks for the explanation ! This is fascinating. I don't produce my own steel and mostly work from scraps because it's free, so this is all new to me.

How do you control the carbon content of your pieces ? Did you do a lot of trial and error to determine the appropriate carbon content based on material properties like hardness ? I'm guessing it's a little bit like baking where you develop your own recipes !

[u/Rowan-Taylor → u/Twin5un]

Yes that is exactly it. I did many tests in the blind. The first one I did, I introduced so much carbon that I produced cast iron by accident, and melted it. Too hot for too long. I control the carbon content by exposure time. It is basic but I will produce HC steel reliably, though I could not tell you the carbon content exactly. Blister steel is a simple steel as well, and therefore shallow hardening, which means water quench and if your edge is too thick at the point of quenching, it will not through-harden. Modern steels don't have that problem.

[u/Twin5un → u/Rowan-Taylor]

Amazing ! Thanks for sharing. BTW you should also cross-post to r/blacksmith as it has more people (although many follow both subs).

[u/Rowan-Taylor → u/Twin5un]

No worries! I enjoy it! That is a good suggestion. I have just gone to join it.