Forged Hunting Axe (Hatchet)

A small one-handed axe forged from a 7/8 × 2-inch bar of good tool steel, best made by two people; a 6¾-inch bar gives two heads. The eye, about 9/16 × 1½ inches, is punched at a yellow heat with an eye punch and opened with drifts, the blade drawn out to a 3-inch edge and the head cut to length. The axe is annealed in lime or ashes, ground and buffed, then hardened from the hardening heat in tepid water and tempered by two hot iron bars laid on either side at the centre: dark purple for the blade, blue for the head.