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Helko Werk has been forging axes in Germany since 1844, when August Helsper opened a water-powered tool factory in Cronenberg, now part of Wuppertal. One of the oldest axe makers still operating in Europe, Helko drop-forges its heads from C50 carbon steel, hangs them on Grade A American hickory and fits every axe and hatchet with a vegetable-tanned leather sheath. Its Traditional, Classic and Vario lines run from packable hatchets to heavy splitting axes.

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Learn More About Helko Werk

Helko Werk brand information

Where are Helko Werk axes made?

Helko's story starts in 1844 in Cronenberg, in the Bergisches Land, a region that was the historic centre of German tool making. August Helsper built his forge in a small forest valley, where a waterwheel in the creek drove the forge hammers and grinding wheels. By the 1930s the Helsper Tool Factory was exporting axes to Africa, Asia and the Americas, and a partnership with the Kotthaus family gave the company its present name, Helko, from Helsper and Kotthaus. Since 2025, Helko Werk axes have been made in Waghäusel, Baden-Württemberg, by Josef Schmitt Werkzeug GmbH, a fourth-generation family forge founded in 1919 and the maker of Adler axes. Heads and handles are still produced in-house, and every Helko tool is designed, forged and inspected in Germany.

Helko Werk brand information

How is a Helko axe made?

Each head begins as a billet of C50 carbon steel. A smith preforms the glowing steel under a forging hammer, then brings it to its final shape in a die; every blow compacts the steel and refines its grain. The cutting edge is then hardened and tempered to roughly 51 to 56 HRC, while the eye is left softer so it resists cracking. Depending on the series, heads are lightly sandblasted or polished to a mirror finish, then sharpened by hand and treated with a rust inhibitor. Handles are milled from Grade A hickory that Helko buys as logs from the United States, saws into blanks, air-dries for months and then kiln-dries to 12 to 14 percent moisture so the head stays tight. Each blank is checked for grain direction before it is milled, sanded and finished with linseed oil. The sheath is vegetable-tanned cowhide with an extra welt of leather along the edge, nickel-plated rivets and an adjustable strap.

Helko Werk brand information

What Helko Werk tools does Big Bear Tools carry?

Big Bear Tools stocks all three Helko Werk lines. From the Traditional line, with its German regional patterns and lightly sandblasted forge finish, we carry the Rheinland Hatchet and Pack Axe, the compact Wölfling Hatchet, the Bavarian, Black Forest and Hessen Woodworker axes, the Berlin Double Bit, and the Heidelberg Mini Splitter, Palatine Spaltaxt and Saxon Splitter for firewood. The Classic line, with heads polished to a high gloss that reduces friction and resists rust, includes the Pathfinder Hatchet, Journeyman Pack Axe, Scout, Forester and Expedition axes, Odyssey Double Bit, Nordic Splitter and Tasmania Competition Axe. The Vario 2000 line is Helko's patented modular system: heads bolt to the handle through a steel overstrike guard, so parts can be swapped with an Allen key. We carry the Universal Hatchet, Universal Axe, Heavy Universal Axe, Medium Splitting Axe and Heavy Log Splitter. We also stock replacement hickory handles for most models, Helko's German-made sharpening stone, files and steel splitting wedge, a leather handle collar, and waxed canvas and wool gear including the axe carry bag, log carrier, cowboy bedroll and Swiss Army Mountaineer blanket and poncho.