I ordered this Hultafors Arvika 4.5lb polished steel axe from a fantastic online retailer: Kent of Inglewood in Calgary, Alberta. The Arvika was hand forged at Hults Bruks AB, in Sweden.

These axes are just beautiful. I have a a Fiskars that I carry on the bike and a large Fiskars splitting axe which are both great every day beat around the ATV box, utility tools. I really wanted something gorgeous, unique and from an axe manufacturer with heritage.

Out of the box the Arvika is not fully sharpened and the head is coated in a clear varnish to prevent rust. My first step was to strip the coating with a chemical stripper in preparation for the next step.

I wanted a unique, fairly durable, dark finish so I used Gun Blueing which chemically turns raw steel bluish-black, commonly used on gun barrels. I started with a Birchwood Casey gel style product following the directions on the bottle.

After the last application was applied I treated the entire axe head with Break Free CLP gun oil for maximum protection against rust.

The handle of the Arvika came with a linseed oil finish which is nice but I wanted something a little darker. Based on recommendation from Buckin' Billy Ray I used Watco Dark Walnut Danish Oil to provide a beautiful finished look to my project.

All in all I'm really happy with how this turned out. This will be an occasional use axe that will be kept in top notch condition and not something that will be beat around the back of the bike. It's a fantastic tool and a piece of art all at the same time.