KA Heritage Urafors Collared Axe

Urafors forge or Yxfabrik (axe fabrication) produced some of Sweden's finest axes from 1840 to 1960, having been sold several times previously, once in 1870 and then again in 1900. The quality of workmanship and particularly the uniformity of heat treat still makes these axes highly sought-after tools, even after 170 years!

Located in Sweden, and shipped to the KA shop. Cleaned, stripped, and buffed this head shows plenty of high carbon laminated cutting edge left. The poll was refaced during the restoration process as well.

Regarding the design of this axe:

A traditional shape in Scandinavian axe design, the collared axe was originally a function-driven design element. Having forests of birch nearby to utilize as a handle material, the countries of the North Men found a way to work around the relative weakness of that birch wood. The collar helps spread shock and impact forces during use and greatly decreased the stress on the handles and subsequent breakage. Had they lived amongst forests of Hickory or Ash trees, you'd probably have never seen a collared axe design.

Hung on a 22.5" White Ash haft by Emile Bournival