Next to the forging hammers, in ovens that are hotter than 1,200°C, steel bars are heated. When the right temperature is reached, which the smith can see on the red-yellowish color of the steel, a glowing piece is cut off and the treatment in the forging hammers begins. The smith cleverly handles the hot steel, and slowly the square piece is transformed into an axe head. The smith finishes his work by branding in the Gränsfors Bruks’ “label and crown” and his own initials, scrutinizing the axe head and hanging it up to cool.