It is not an overstatement to say that Ricardo Mediavilla is one of the last blacksmiths in the region who knows how to make a traditional Basque axe. I asked him to make one and to allow me to watch him do the work.
I gleaned the three steel fragments that were left over in the process of shaping and thinning the edge of the axe in order to replicate them in a foundry, but with the weight and mass of the opposite element: the replica of the head of the axe, that originally weighed almost two kg, weighed thirty-something grams, equivalent to the smallest leftover. The replica of the latter ended up weighing two kg. The same happened to the intermediate fragments.
4 forged steel elements
and 4 cast steel.
Variable dimensions
Produced by CarrerasMugica
Forge work: Ricardo Mediavilla
Foundry: Alfa Arte