Gransfors Bruks AxeIf you’re looking for an American hand forged axe you’ll probably pay high prices for a custom-made tool, but if you’re in Sweden just stop in at Gransfors Bruks between Gnarp and Bergsjö, about 350 km north of Stockholm. The Gransfors Bruks company began hand forging axes over a hundred years ago, and a small cadre of professional smiths at Gransfors Bruks still does, one axe at a time.

Company History

The Gransfors Axe Forge began operation in Sweden in 1902, supplying axes to individual craftsmen and to professional loggers. When forestry companies became the major customer, axe manufacturers like Gransfors Bruks competed for contracts by supplying tools of consistent quality and appearance. Any sign of hand craftsmanship had to be smoothed out and painted over. In the 1960’s when chainsaws became the industry standard, many axe companies closed for good. Gransfors Bruks survived by making axes fast and cheap and cutting costs, including wages.

In the 1980’s Gransfors Bruks changed, stepping back to older methods and environmentally sound processes and paying their smiths an hourly wage instead of commissions by the piece. Gransfors cut out the paint and the polish, depending on their employees to do good work and be proud of it. The quality of the axes returned to turn-of-the-century standards and production costs dropped, making Gransfors Bruks hand forged axes once again available to the homeowner, farmer and craftsman at a reasonable price.

Products

Gransfors Bruks manufactures many styles of axes, hatchets and splitting tools. Whether you’re a hunter, camper, or log home builder you’ll find the specialty axes you need at Gransfors Bruks. This company also produces a full array of completely functional replica axes in traditional patterns from Northern Europe — bearded axes, broad axes, trade tomahawks, and more, in the styles preferred by frontiersmen of old America, or by Viking raiders. Every hand-forged axe receives a maker’s mark when finished, sporting the initials of the smith who brought the axe through forge and anvil to you.

See all of our Gransfors Bruks reviews below


Gransfors Bruks

Carpenter’s Axe by Gransfors Bruks | Wood Carving Construction Square Blade

Timber framers know this tool. If you’ve tried an axe for chopping joints for log buildings or post-and-beam construction and it...
JT Hats
1 min read

Outdoor Camp Axe by Gransfors Bruks | Camping Ax w/ Flat Poll Hammer & Sheath

Although the Gransfors Bruks Outdoor Axe is a little smaller than the award-winning Hunter’s Axe, it’s certainly made well enough to...
JT Hats
1 min read

Gransfors Bruks Splitting Wood Axe, Large | Camp Chopping Ax, Handmade Forged

Many people do enjoy splitting wood for the campfire or the wood stove, and the Gransfors Bruks Large Splitting Axe makes...
JT Hats
57 sec read

Gransfors Bruks Splitting Maul Axe | Sledgehammer & Firewood Chopping Ax w/ Hickory Wood Handle

Park the noisy gas-powered hydraulic log splitter in the barn, and get out the Gransfors Bruks splitting maul instead. Splitting wood...
JT Hats
1 min read

Gransfors Bruks Axe Book | Crafting Tools Instruction Manual and Help

The Axe Book, produced by Gransfors Bruks, gives new axe owners a leg up on the old craft of axemanship as...
JT Hats
1 min read

Wood Carving Axe Tool by Gransfors Bruks | Curved Handle, Swedish Design

When craftsmen of today try to recreate the work of previous generations, there’s a good chance they’ll just end up wondering...
JT Hats
1 min read

Gransfors Bruks Small Hatchet w/ Hickory Handle | Mini Wood Axe Tomahawk

The Mini Hatchet from Gransfors Bruks qualifies as the sporting blade you didn’t know you need. Carrying the belt axe or...
JT Hats
1 min read