A razor sharp axe that will do anything from felling small trees to splitting firewood, where it really excels is as a carving axe.
For many years there has not been a good carving axe available that came sharp and ready to use for less than £100. This axe changes things. The axe heads are drop forged abroad then ground by Brian Alcock, the last professional grinder in Sheffield, before being honed to a fine edge in our own workshop in Sheffield. We have the hickory axe handles made in the UK to our design. They have a knurled finish for grip and are treated with linseed oil. They also make a great axe for kindling splitting, bushcraft or camp use.
The weight of the head is 550g and the total weight around 720g (1lb 9oz), handle length is 12.5″ (31cm). This is a good mid-weight carving axe that most people will use easily without getting tired, yet still heavy enough to remove wood quickly.
A sharp axe will only stay sharp if the edge is protected, we offer a great leather sheath for the job.
Here is a short film we made of Brian grinding the axes
The carving axes come sharp and ready to use but eventually you will need to sharpen it yourself. This video shows the method we use.
This video shows the axe compared to two commonly used axes by Gransfors Bruks and also shows it in use carving a spoon blank. NB we have slightly changed the handle design since this film was made. The axes have proved extremely popular with many folk preferring them to much more expensive axes, have a look at some of the comments below.
Due to the nature of the natural materials we use, handle colours & patterns will vary, as will sheath colours & textures. Sheath not included – buy the axe from this page to get the sheath at a discounted price.
Dave
I have owned a robin woods carving axe for few years now , own several high quality axe, such as hultfors . Robins axe equals the quality at a lower cost, the edge is second to non and is , with a level of skill, easy to resharpen .. my favourite axe . Highly recommended. I also love the simplistic and authentic look, the feel of the axe , balance and weight is perfect.
Christopher Brown
Sharp. Maintains its edge, and is the right amount of work to resharpen for a tool that will retain such a fine razor edge. It’s taken a beating for the past two years and I love every single cm and gram!!
Miguel Mellado
Thank you very much for the axe, it is functionally excellent and also beautiful. Your work has reached Perú. And consider that although 49 pounds is not the same for me as it is for you (our salaries are much less) apart from the cost of postage, I would gladly buy it again. Good work !
“Woody”
I have a Robin axe which I use for carving. It is perfectly weighted and balanced for this use. Although very sharp when I bought it, I have honed and polished the edge until it is sharp enough to shave with! Even in green oak, the blade keeps its edge for a good while and can soon be restored with just a little work. The leather edge guard is essential to protect both the edge and fingers when the axe is not in use. A sound investment in an excellent piece of kit. Thank you
Alan Guest
I’m very new to wood/spoon carving. An experienced spoon carver I met recently advised me that if I wanted to get into “spoons”, the best tools to get are by Robin Wood. He said I should get a wood carving knife and a compound curve spoon knife to start and, ideally, a good carving axe. So, I bought all 3 from Robin. Now Robin has a video on YouTube showing how to sharpen an axe and he demonstrates using his own brand carving axe. He opens by using the axe to cut a clean slice through a thin sheet of paper he’s holding. No way I thought can any axe do that! So I thought I’d test it. When my axe arrived I took it straight from the box and tried to cut a slice through an A4 sheet of paper. WOW!!! Not only did the axe cut a slice through the paper, it was a completely clean cut and better than some scissors I have. This axe is clearly very high quality and seriously sharp! I also bought a leather sheath with the axe – which is certainly needed, not only to protect the blade, but also for safety reasons! An axe of this quality for this price is incredible. Thanks Robin for producing very high quality and affordable tools and for providing your expertise/tips & hints for novices like me. I’ll keep watching!
S Breen
I bought the Robin Hood Axe with Sheath for my husband. It is so so beautiful, delivered super quickly and efficiently with a lovely description of the company and their legacy . I couldn’t be happier , he will love it . It really is a thing of beauty. Would highly recommend.
Simon Chadwick
A beautiful tool, a beautiful object. I couldn’t be more pleased with this.
Josh Laverty
Absolutely incredible. The first dedicated carving axe I’ve owned.
I never realised how effective an axe could be for carving, until I used this. It’s razor sharp and removes wood like nothing I’ve ever seen.
Its so sharp that you can choke up on the head and use it like an knife, for detail work.
I’m blown away by how high quality this axe is. I was a bit dubious about how good a carving axe could be at this price point. How wrong I was.
Seriously good small carving axe.
Massive respect to wood tools for making quality tools affordable to all people. I really appreciate it. I don’t have a ton of money for tools. You’ve made it possible for me to own a quality axe. Thankyou.
Tim Muir
I do a lot of greenwood bowl and spoon carving, and this carving axe performs wonderfully during initial shaping. From the moment I picked it up, it was clear that it was designed by someone who uses these tools. Everything from the weight of the head to the length, shape, and finish of the handle is optimized for control and fatigue-free swinging. It is the best-performing tool that I own.
Tony Cook
I bought this axe to use for hedge laying after borrowing one. It’s perfectly balanced and seems to hold an edge very well despite regular use. I’d recommend this axe.
Jeffrey Prokash
I am a faculty member at an art school. I bought an axe for my students to explore some wood carving. The axe came with a loose handle. I shared the problem with company asking if there was any solution to the problem aside from replacing the handle on the brand new axe and they never responded. It’s too loose for my students to safely use and was just a waste of my money. I would not recommend this product and I won’t buy anything from them again. Disappointed.
JoJo Wood
Hi Jeff, really sorry to hear about the issue with your axe. We received your message on the 29th November and I replied to it on the same day – could you check your spam box to see if my email has ended up in there? We would really like to get this sorted out for you.