Brilliant to be featured in 'bloom' magazine!

We are beyond pleased that bloom magazine - something we have always enjoyed reading - has featured our Skatewood Hatchet.  Being included in 'bloom loves' is great in itself. But the title of 'happy chopper' is probably our favourite bit of the feature!

It's great to see our Skatewood Axe getting some recognition and 'love' as it really has been a project that we're enjoyed and it was months in the making. Each axe is completely unique, and brings together the talents and skills of four British makers to create what we reckon might just be the first axe to be made using skatewood. 

The head was designed by Alex Pole and made at The Forge, Somerset. Alex Pole and his forge are renowned for making exceptional quality kitchenware and tools. Edd wanted to make a 1lb hatchet as this is a great size for everything from kindling to camping - so Alex designed us a head with a strong Elwell influence, with distinctive asymmetrical lugs, to create the easy to use weight and feel that we wanted. Each head has been hand forged from a single piece of EN9 carbon steel by Alex and his exceptional team of blacksmiths at The Forge. The EN9 head means it'll hold a great edge that you can use and sharpen over the years.

The haft (handle) was made by Sam Morris, The Axe and Edge Tool Co, Powys, Wales - using skatewood made by Ben Footlit, Afterlifebf, Lincolnshire. Integrating skatewood into tools enables us to produce one-off designs, as no two handles are ever the same. Ben salvages skate decks and meticulously reworks them into new wood, keeping a keen eye on how the coloured laminations will work in the finished handle. Sam takes making axe hafts to an art form. His signature style of using contrasting woods in a handle's palm swell enabled us to bring our skatewood handles into being. The Ash handles are 13" long and feel great in the hand thanks to Sam's beautifully designed oversized shoulder, curved belly and palm swell.

The sheath was designed and made by Edd, Tinker and Fix, Rutland.  Edd designed the sheaths to reflect the shape of the axe, and they have been made to fit each individual head using 3mm veg tanned leather.  

The Skatewood Hatchets are available to buy online and we’ll also be taking some to shows over the coming months and in the lead up to Christmas.