Side Weld Technique: Forging a Side Axe

Damn dude. Thats one hell of an axe!

Beautiful craftsmanship and by the look of it somewhat a labour of love. Thanks for the great content, this is my first encounter with your channel. All the best, Ian

Wonderful craftsmanship! Keep it up

Cool, glad to see you push yourself with a material that you've failed with in the past. We grow only by pushing ourselves beyond our failures.

Amazing work! For the bending, I think the main problem is that you have tried a dry bending

It would be really cool if your son takes to forging - he already appears keen and would have a brilliant teacher. Rheumatoid arthritis has finally put paid to my activities, but my son carries on in my shop, currently as a hobby. The forging work he does in his day job weigh several tonnes. Keep up the good work Sir :<)

Tuckfinn here in sunny Florida, I am an avid outdoorsman and have decided to include forging as a new hobby. Your video is perfectly narrated for even the beginner and I appreciate the detail. I’ve started my venture with fabricating a break drum forge but have decided to go with the duel burner gas Forge.
I have started gearing up and I’m trying to get everything in place to start foraging when the weather cools off it is super hot here forging in Florida is definitely a winter time Hobby thanks for all of your help, Tucker’s out.

Nils I commented on your vido and received an e-mail that said I won your giveaway. I can't figured out how to get back to you. Is this okay?

Greetings from Ireland. I got a message saying that I was the winner, is it genuine

Wooooo!!!!

Obligatory comment.

When you skip that hammer on that anvil it makes me jealous that thing is legit

Worst part you know it 😜

It’s getting real hard to get borax now almost impossible I think it’s banned for some reason

Warming the wood makes it easier to bend and stay at your desired shape. Bow makers do this very effective with great results. Next time😊

Very nice axe!

I just watching these videos stunning axe and amazing work thanks for sharing 👌

Man that would be so useful for when I cut my boards to make them flat

If you would have soaked the handle in water, first, you probably would have gotten more bend out of it…not sure how well the dry bending will work or last

Your videos are really encouraging me to pursue blacksmithing. Thank you!

Excellent work, as always, Nils! Your videos are a huge source of inspiration for me in my blacksmithing journey! Thanks for all you do!

Very educational. Thanks for taking us on your crafting journey, Nils. You will keep this skill alive!

Awesome stuff thanks for posting Nils, haven’t watched a side weld before so this will be a fun one to try.

Very nice

True craftsman 🔨 🪓

Love these videos, but I'm convinced you're just making up new ways to make these things. Thanks for making them though!

Nice video! I just discovered your channel and now I can't stop watching your videos and wanting to start blacksmithing myself hahah. Keep up with the good content!

I have a question, should or do all blacksmiths put their mark on items?

What a nice axe!

The side axe is a fascinating tool that specialising in producing a flat surface on when hewing wood into planks. As always, love your videos Nils

Nice one, all the more for a first one ! The winner would nonetheless better be left-handed 😉
For what it's worth : I made one during a course and the eye is actually off axis of the edge, avoiding to bend the handle 🔨

I have just found your channel. I am so looking forward to looking at all the axes that you have made. It is remarkable how difficult it is for you to make them and how interesting you make it look, thank you so very much.

This is SOOOO SICKKK

Hello my friend, can I replace the borax powder with another substance as it is not available in my country?

Nice bit on the side.

What I like about your channel is you don't use modern equipment.

You can stick the handle in water for 48 hours and it BENDS the handle easier

Just found out your channel because of your viking axe video, and I'm completely hooked. Watching an expert at his craft work is simply hypnotizing. Keep the videos coming!

Beautiful work as always!!!

Absolutely beautiful work!

@dolfinnian congratulations

Nicely done sir. Now i know where to get great axes! To bend handles steam in length of drain pipe! Great video!

Very nice! If you ever do another handle soak the handle in water up to where you want it to bend for a couple days. Then set it up to bend and leave it to dry under pressure. You can use heated water to speed it up also

Nils! You are such an amazing smith, and a true inspiration! Love your videos!

You could try steaming the handle before bending it. Some woods respond better to the technique, and I haven't tried to steam bend hickory, but some other hardwoods like oak and ash responds really well to it.

You want to seal the wood in a container like a pipe plugged with rags in both ends, or just roll it up in some plastic sheath that can take the heat. Boil water in an old tea pot with a hose attached to the spout, and lead it into the container. The more insulated you can get the setup, the better it works. A rule of thumb is to steam the wood one hour per inch thickness of the raw material. Harder woods takes a little more time. If you cook it for too long, the wood gets sloppy like over-cooked pasta. You want some resistance left in it while you bend it.

When the wood is cooked, quickly remove it from it's package (wear gloves, the steam is really hot!) Press it into a fixture or clamp it in place and let it cool off. You can bend it 5-10% more than your desired bend, because it will spring back somewhat. Act swiftly and deliberatly, but not so fast that you unintentionally break the wood. Listen for cracking noises.

Once the wood hs cooled to ambient temperature, you can remove it from it's fixture, pressing it for longer will not do much difference.

Steam bending takes a bit of practice before you find the right combination of time and pressure for the wood you use, but it is easier than it looks.

Great video! "That did not work at all". LOL Love to see that. :) That's been MY thought lots of times. Nice to see creators working through the "whoops" times too.

Very nice job on the axe, enjoyed.

I like very much that you did your wedges the right way
Side axes are an unusual one they go against your need to make axes in particular symetrical, I had to spend time thinking swinging chisel before the oddities of side axes made more sense
Very nice work Nils
Thankyou for sharing