Ballast a danaxe for Herja - 2nd method

Since 2021, the ruleset for daneaxes has changed. The rubber blunt and the weights must weigh more than 800g, excluding the weight of the shaft.

A regular daneaxe head blunt only weighs 100g, so you need to compensate 700g.

Warning ! It is forbidden to place the weights on the bottom part of the shaft opposing the head, the weights must be as close as possible from the blunt.

There are several ways to add the missing weight to the daneaxe. For now, we propose only one, but if you find more, do not hesitate to send it to us so that we can add them here!

The only restriction, although not small, on the method is that it has to be secured for you and the other participants. There must be no strong edges, nothing sharp, pointy, or anything dangerous.

Wrap the sheet of lead tightly around the handle (the sheet is flexible, it will take the shape of the wood very well) and check that the eye of the ax fits well before tapping everything firmly.

Once the ballast is in place, wrap everything tightly in tape to hold everything securely.

Take a square of leather 1.5-2mm thick, cut the "corners" to form a pattern similar to a pattée cross, wet it well, place it on the head of the handle and drive the ax head in force. Once dry, the leather will regain some of its volume and become hard enough to properly fix the whole thing.

Cut a piece of leather to the right size to hide all of the tape. Take a length of sewing thread 6 times the size of the rectangle's length. leather and thread with a needle at each end. Drill the holes in the leather 5mm from the edges, a fork can help to have very regular holes and a nail can be used to enlarge the hole if you do not have the specialized equipment (not too large so as not to tear the leather). Once the holes are done all the way, start sewing, for my part I chose cross stitches but everyone has their favorite finish, however I do not recommend simple crossed type lacing (with a part of the thread that goes from the highest hole to the lowest hole directly on one side) because when tightening, the leather risks tightening badly and causing wrinkles. To end by a double hidden knot and cut the thread flush giving a lighter blow to solidify the ends. For my part, I finally added a wire brace of leather on the ax head to hide the last traces of tape in the gaps between the nylon and the leather.

Finally, finish with a small passage of oil on the leather and the handle, a sunflower-type cooking oil will do the job very well and will darken the leather a little. It is also necessary to remember to tighten the leather well to allow the hand to slide easily over the entire length of the handle without too much inconvenience.