Gränsfors Splitting Hatchet

The smaller, lighter version of the splitting axe. The wedge-shaped head with concave blade as well as the protective steel sleeve on the handle make this axe ideally suited for chopping already cut logs smaller. The handle is long enough to enable two-handed use.

Lavish demands and meticulous thrift are the two attitudes with which the Swedish blacksmiths around Gabriel Brånby at Gränsfors Bruks make their famous axes. Lavish are the demands on the material (a specially alloyed axe steel and the best hickory handle wood), lavish is also the time each blacksmith takes to forge, harden, temper, straighten, sharpen and polish his axe handle, add rounded notches for better grip, fit and secure it. (The two letters in the head of each axe are the initials of the one who made it). One after another the result: axes that are light and balanced in the hand, and in a way not quite explainable are clearly more beautiful than their peers.