Casting A Viking Axe with Lost Wax Casting

Video Tutorial

Vikings always seem to be popular and I enjoy a little historical fun as much as the next person, so I was happy to have a go at casting a Viking Axe at home - short video below...

I wanted to capture the classic style and shape, together with nice sharp lines. I also wanted to experiment a little with engraving, creating a replica of something any Viking chief would have been proud to wield. So I decided to go with Lost Wax Casting.

Starting from a paper design, I cut away a simple block of wax on a bandsaw, further refining the shape and removing the bulk of the material. Within just a couple of minutes I already had something that looked the part. Some casting waxes are firm enough to be carved and sanded, so I refined the shape further with a craft knife blade, literally shaving away thin slices with ease.

For the engraving, I made a very crude engraving tool and simply pushed a design carefully into the wax. With a little more time and practice, I think I could improve upon my first crude attempt, but for a first ever experiment with wax engraving I was quite pleased.

From there it was just a matter of encasing the wax in plaster, melting it away to form a shaped void, melting metal and pouring this into the plaster mould.