In this episode I talk about how to plan your own DIY project to make your own viking axe head from a modern axe using power tools and cooling while showing a sample axe I made this way to replicate a Swedish find from around 950 AD. http://imageshack.com/a/img684/7247/axeheadhistoricenhanced.jpg This is a Petersen type D axe head but with some sharper corners than is most common and with the addition of a fuller. Obviously going form modern axe stock It won't be a perfect replica in iron with a welded in steel edge, it won't be made with the special skills of a true axe smith. Having done some real forging myself with not so perfect results I have a lot of respect for the few people today that master the skills for real tool hand forging and support them with all my heart. But I also know most people won't want to or can't spend $500 or even $1000 on a hand forged welded in steel edge and iron body replica of a viking age axe. If you can and want one then by all means get one of those beauties from master forgers like Owen Bush or Paul Binns and others like them. Or if you want something a bit less expensive, you can buy one from the Gränsfors historical line. Those are really sweet axes. Modifying a modern cheap axe head to at least look right and be a fully functional modern tool is a good start to understanding and appreciating them as a hobbyist or collector. This video is for making a basic starter axe so to speak to use in re-eactment gear, perhaps for camp chores or to start collecting even giving you some idea what an axe can be and look like. My project resulted in a hard edged monosteel axe with original tempering retained and looking just like one from viking times and retaining most of the function the original had. If you want a crafts axe instead have a look at my other videos and be inspired. These only cost a few bucks in material and can turn out pretty decent as replicas go if you put the effort into it and have an eye for shapes. Now if you didn't like this video and pressed the dislike button you probably didn't read this far or get what I'm trying to show. I can't giude you rhand through the learning process of using an angle grinder to carve steel. It's dangerous and takes years of practice to learn and perhaps decades to master. But if you have it you can make one of these axes pretty easily. -With the right work planning. I'm not stealing business for craftsmen trying to make a living, quite the reverse, I'm trying to revive intestest in historical axe making with what small contrubutions I can. Getting people to try to make their own cheap axes will make them appreciate the good stuff all the more. No seriously. It will. Seen it with similar crafts stuff and know this is how it works long term. Nor am I advocating any kind of violence with axes toward people. But as we all know they were sometimes used for that back in the day, and are still. I'm just curious how they work from a scientific viewpoint, not TO use them for real. Big difference. So if you read this after pressing the dislike button, I forgive you. We all do this sometimes with youtube clips that we don't get at first. If you instead liked the video, feel free to press the "like" button. But really, nobody has to. If you do like it, or even if you disliked it and may be curious what I'm really about I recomment having a look at my other videos. I show various historical crafts and replicas I've made and woordworking and leatherworking techniques as well as showing some sweet re-enactment stuff I have in my modest collection at home. This video is really my least favorite, just a simple and not very exciting sideline to some of the others, and the least exciting of them to me (apart from the surprisingly huge numner of views) and I don't understand why this is the one that became so popular with viewers really.