History

In Europe there are many different forms of axes, they are different in most regions. There are many different shapes that serve the same purpose but look different. Like arches, lines, angles, corners, etc.... They all have in common that they are more or less adapted to the local conditions. There are some patterns that are only dedicated to one task, but a few were used for felling, limbing and then rough-hewing the trunk. Large trees were and are rare, and the forestry conditions were not conducive to innovation.

In america, the settlers, thirsty for arable land, were industrious in cutting down the primeval forests. The felling axes from europe were too poor for the masters of the axe and the trees were huge. Better felling axes were invented. The American felling axe had already been perfected by 1790. It was shorter, heavier and more balanced. The ear was made smaller by hickory. The handles were thin, flexible, double-curved and had a knob. The need was there, and the world's largest blacksmiths were formed. Some of them produced mainly axes, which led to numerous innovations. The industrial revolution brought another wave of innovation: blades with hollows, later hollow-ground axes.

Generally speaking, the thinner the blades could be made, the lighter the axes became. This made work easier on long days. In addition, the angular speed is more important than a high axe weight.

Historical overview of the development of the axe in Central Europe
In the time of the Chelléen (about 350,000 years ago), a quite deliberate and advantageous striking technique for creating cutting edges on stones is found. It shows that at that time there was already a dichotomy of techniques that basically followed different paths.

One direction proceeded in the production of its tools by beheading a flint nodule and then cutting off almost evenly shaped broad-surfaced chips.

The other group, on the other hand, does not smash the lump of stone, but only removes as much of its outer parts as is necessary to create a usable piece.

The resulting shape is called a "fist wedge", but it would be better to call it a "fist knife", because the tool is completely unsuitable as a wedge, but as a knife it has a very practical shape. Such almond-shaped, triangular and oval fist wedges show admirable manual dexterity as well as a highly developed sense of form even 300,000 years ago. We cannot yet speak of an axe in these times. The hand axe has two important prerequisites: it is machined from two sides and the cutting edge is rounded. But the obstacle that prevented it from being used for striking was the sensitivity of the cutting edge. For this reason, the hand axe was probably only exceptionally equipped with a handle. Incidentally, the danger of the edge breaking also made it difficult to work with wood in later periods. The peculiarity of the axe cut when felling and limbing trees almost always causes a bending stress on the cutting edge.

Until the Neolithic period, the finishing of the axe cutting edge was characterised by the fact that it was made by retouching. The cutting edge was similar to a saw blade, i.e. wavy to jagged. In addition, the cuts usually left a shell-shaped, i.e. concave, indentation, which made the cutting edge susceptible to wear and breakage.

The great progress that was now in the offing, and which can be perceived earlier in Eastern and Southern Europe than in the North, consisted in the fact that by grinding away all depressions and elevations in the vicinity of the cutting edge and by means of crowning, a resistance to breakage was achieved which alone created the prerequisite for the working of wood. The tool was thus the primary thing that made the use of wood on a larger scale possible in the first place. The change in Stone Age cutting processing has perhaps not yet been sufficiently appreciated in its technical significance.

The Neolithic shows an unimagined wealth of axe forms: broad-edged, tongue-shaped, pointed-nosed, broad-nosed, flat and roller axes, curved and boat-shaped types, hammer and double axes. The variety of types is associated with an improved handle attachment compared to the previous club or knuckle axes: the pierced stone axe. The one-piece stag horn hoe is still used as an axe weapon or agricultural tool. (for hoeing, root digging, chopping the ice during winter fishing,...).

Whether axes were used as weapons or tools is often more difficult to determine with stone axes than with metal axes. Only if certain traces of wear are found on the axe edges can it be concluded with certainty that they were used as tools: most important is the degree of wear on the front part of the cutting edge, the axe toe. This phenomenon is also found on modern axes. This wear is caused by the fact that the axe touches the dulling ground more often with the toe than with any other part of the cutting edge during the normal striking movement. When the axe is used as a weapon, this characteristic does not show.

In the Bronze Age, the basic shape of the Central European bronze axe is based on the simple flat shape of the stone axe. Lateral, often only slightly pronounced rims were intended to give the axe a better grip in the branch handle. When these ridges became more pronounced and were formed into lobes, the medium-size and later the full-size lobe axes came into being. The lobes give the handle a much firmer support, which is reinforced by moulded recesses to protect the handle and increase its life. (Heel axes)

If the lobes are completely closed, grommet-like forms are created, the grommet axes.

The skill of forging and processing iron leads to the production of iron axes, which already have hardened cutting edges in the early Central European Iron Age. Sometimes two types of use can be clearly identified, namely axe forms that are particularly suitable for fighting or for working wood. As early as the younger Stone Age, the neck was used to supplement the weapon's effect by giving it hammer-shaped or hemispherical forms. Similar examples can also be found in the Near East and in the La Tene period.

In the early metal age, sometimes tongue-shaped extensions of the house gave the handle a firm hold against lateral handle movements. Also elongated outgrowths running above (helmet top) and below the handle aimed at a better hold of the handle against vertical movements. During the Middle Ages, an eye shape tapered towards the front was common. It seems that this type was preferred when the axe was to be weakened little or built up little during the transition from the house to the blade. Such ears are still common on carpenter's broad axes and on woodcutter's axes in Finland and northern Sweden.

Very often one finds on iron axes, also on modern forms, a notch of the back flank opposite the house. It is most likely to be explained as follows: It is advantageous if the axe edge is placed in such a way that a connecting line axe toe - axe heel would touch the handle in its extension. The axe smith's sense of art demanded an equiangular blade formation, in which the axe edge was regarded as a triangular base line, but the two legs were determined by the front flank and the back flank. To maintain the equiangularity, the blade had to be notched. In one or the other case, one could also think of a rudiment from the era of the "bearded axe". This not very descriptive expression is meant to symbolise the shape of the leaf, which is strongly extended towards the stem. Even if the length of the beard is reduced, the notch still remains. The "Harzer Axe" and the Finnish form still clearly show such old types. (In some forms common today, the notch only serves to mark the back flank when hafting in).