Thank you for the link. My brother will check out Gransfors on his visit to Sweden.
An ax like your photo appeared on Antiques Roadshow last week and the appraiser said it was made around 1650, used in the kitchen, and used with a hammer since it has a blunt head, probably to butcher meat.
I am enviously that your brother may visit Gransfors. It would be wonderful to take one of their courses. If you like hand tools, I'm pretty sure his books are out of print now, but Eric Sloane's books on *Reverence for Wood* and *A Museum of Early American Tools* are super.
Sloane, donated his incredible tool collection for a museum, preserved by Stanley Tools, in Kent, Connecticut. This little museum is worth a trip from anywhere.
http://www.ericsloane.com/museum.htm
http://www.alibris.com/search/books/author/Eric-Sloane
I love the fact that each Gransfors smith signs his work; you can use a chart provided to find his full name. The handles are so amazing ...they feel as if there are custom made for you.