Dark ages weapon: forging the Francesca. For hand forged axes, knives, and hammers, visit: firecreekforge... Support the channel on Patreon: / firecreekforge #blacksmithing #battleaxe #throwingaxe
Pro tip from an amateur that frequents a local axe throwing bar: You want your target to be made from planks whose grain is vertical with you, not horizontal. Fresh untreated pine is preferable, and you should wet your wood before hand. The axe coaches at the local bar, Skal, always watch to see when the axes hit true but don't stick, then ask you to stop and will spray your target down with a few layers of a fine mist of water. Always remember to keep your wrist straight and the axe perpendicular to your arm. You may feel the urge to flick your wrist to give it extra spin, but don't. The torque from the rotation will cause the axe to slip out of the wood. Finally, you do want to have a kind of boxer pose with your dominant side to the back, then take one good step forward on your dominant side, keeping your back straight as well. Don't rotate your body too much either, as that can cause your axe to fly out of alignment. I'd love to see you practice for a week or two, then give us a video of you demonstrating your newfound axe throwing skills with this beautiful Francisca! It would be a good swap up in content and would be good clean fun for you :)
Thanks! I try to use the techniques you mentioned for the most part. In this case the nature of my target (cross grain) disallowed it to stick.. thanks for watching!
I'm not saying that your commentary isn't desired or useful, but your edits are well enough to where you don't actually need to say anything for this to be immensely entertaining. I like. 10/10 would subscribe again
One popular theory, I'm told, is that the Francs would enter battle with two of these. They'd throw one, as you suggested, and then chase it down, killing anyone they encountered on the way with the other. It was apparently a rather effective strategy. Also, the Francs, it is further suggested, were named after the weapon, not the other way around, similar to how the Saxons were named after the seax knives they carried.
There was a good episode on the history channel about this Axe, it also has a relationship to the name of the country / people that made it. the unique balance of the axehead mixed with the curvature of the handles made them capable of rolling when thrown, this was done in more of a lower arc trajectory than higher. With more velocity going forward then down, this allowed them to “bounce” and roll a few extra feet and were shown to have done some damage to the legs of oncoming troops especially when in volleys. The idea was that the guys in front would get their legs cut up and stall the advancing ranks You can see the Norman influence on the axe head, so cool.
I have seen this type of axe head in Europe and in the Northeast. I didn’t know that it was actually named….. could you imagine making one without power tools? Good build! Thanks for posting this video!
francisca axes have a back curved handle not a straight one that aids in throwing, also they have less material around the eye with almost a goose neck before widening into the blade. i like the build but this is more of a hatchet style wood axe rather than a frankish throwing axe. just some thoughts for the next attempt. Lindybiege and thegnthrand on youtube have covered the axe and forged in fire did an episode on them as well. people like skalagrim, metatron, scholagladatoria, shadversity, lindybeige etc on you tube are great sources for historical weapons for future builds.
Very nice axe. I understand that the handle is historically accurate but for me it looks to be a little long for the size of the head. Again that is my personal opinion. Great build.
@@FireCreekForge I’m Blackfoot and Scandinavian your work in my opinion is great, I have no certifications but I was taught in my family made coal forge with a piston Air Force push. So I can really appreciate your old tool recreations. Keep it up brotha
@@FireCreekForge already looking forward to the next video. Which I’ll have to say I’m always learning something new with every video you post. So…learn me something new! I get to learn and enjoy watching at the same time
Idea “would it work?” Mix a hefty amount of 10-95 powder steel or other hard steel with epoxy “not fast setting” and form it in to a blade. Would it sharpen, stay sharp and hold up to use?
