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A Hatchet in the Viking Style
A symmetrically forge-welded steel-edged kindling-chopper

We'll be making a light wrap-around hatchet with a Viking-ish feel to it (We will be drawing out cusps on the cheeks of the eye). The body of the tool will be mild steel bent around the eye and forge welded together. A spring steel edge will be welded in so that the tool's edge can be hardened and tempered.
The finished head will be around 8oz.
This same recipe and collection of techniques, once the student has a handle on them, can be used to make ax or hatchet heads of any size the forge will get hot enough.

Techniques:
Drawing-out, shouldering, spreading, measuring, bending, *welding*, heat-treating, sharpening.

It's not expected that we will get all the way to hanging (putting the handle in) the hatchet, but there will certainly be discussion of the process.

Gift Certificates for A Hatchet in the Viking Style are available.

9 hours in three 3 hour meetings    dates&times

Instructor: Carl West
Tuition: $375 per student
Maximum 4 students, one per forge

Prerequisite:

Required: A rapid Covid test that day.
Yes, really, we're still asking for it in 2024.
It's still out there, and no fun at all.

This is Not a Beginner's Class.

The student will be 18 or older and will have finished at *least* Rudiments III,
have good fire-management skills, and be at least slightly comfortable with forge welding.
Having taken our Nothing but Knives and/or DIY Off-the-Grid Guerilla Patternwelded Billet classes would be a good thing too.

Please wear proper clothing for visiting or working in the forge:
closed toe shoes (preferably leather, preferably high-topped. Sneakers are sufficient, sandals, crocs, pumps, mules... are not), natural fiber clothing, long pants that cover the tops of the shoes.
Click here for more safety information.


Dates and Times:
If none of the dates below work for you (or are already full), we suggest you
 Add yourself to the Notification List for this class.
(The notification list gets emailed soon after classes are put on the schedule.)

This class is either:
- not upcoming on our schedule,
- or we've fallen behind in our clerical duties and not entered it in the database.
If you found it on our calendar page, we are planning to offer it on that date.

If you're interested in taking A Hatchet in the Viking Style and it's not on the calendar, please tell us using our Notification-List Page.

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