My first Tomahawk.

[mcraigl]

Mike-hr asked me to post pix of my first hawk to the existing thread, but that one has gotten a little long so I thought I'd start a new one. Anyway, I made this out of a new RR spike. I upset it to 3.5" long, then started the eye with a slot punch, finished with drifts, then I forged the blade section on Mike's power hammer with the incline dies in it. I polished it with little flapper wheels of assorted grits in my roto-zip (don't have a pneumatic die grinder yet) and with the dremel tool. then I buffed/polished. the handle is make from a broken shovel handle. I'm pretty happy with it. In fact several folks have asked me if it's a throwin' 'hawk and I've told 'em heck no. It's sort of like a brand new truck, I'm afraid to drive it through the brush until it's got it's first scratches... Some of you guys do amazing work and I'd appreciate any pointers on polishing irregular surfaces. I burned up an easy $25 worth of flapper wheels (don't think their designed for roto-zip rpm's even though they say they are). Also the buffing compound / felt thing is very very time consuming... Also, any good ideas for finishing that will help delay the onset of rust? Any other comments suggestions are also appreciated...

Thanks,
McRaigl

[Nolano]

Wow.... Thats beautiful.... Great work.
A note, though. As JPH points out in his book, a mirror finish should be avoided on anything that will see use.

[oakwoodforge]

Nice Work McRaigl. Must be really nice to have access expert instruction like Mike-HR close by not to mention access to a power hammer
As far as tips on polishing go, those mini flap discs for the Dremmel or Roto zip are expensive compared to the flapdiscs for a 4" angle grinder, not to mention the 4" grinder has way more motor to get the job done faster. I'm guessing you dont have a one of those yet, I'd suggest buying a good one like a Milwaukee or Dewalt, not the $19.00 H.F. Chinese model , but even the H.F. one should last a good while if your not running it 4-6 hrs a day 5 days a week. Or like you said the pneumatic Die grinder might be a good option, if you already have the air compressor. I use lots of those 3M Rollock Discs, ( looks kinda like a scotch brite pad ) for odd shaped surfaces, so your on the right track there. Just use something to knock the scale off like an overnight soak in some vinegar. Forge scale eats abrasives faster than hardend steel some times.
Personally anything past about 400 grit is HARD WORK ! IMHO, I usually don't use a buffer on my blades so a hand rubbed 600 grit finish is sort of my standard, either that or a 1000 grit waterstone finish with a light vinegar etch. I just don't have the patience for mirror polishing To keep rust away I use camellia oil or marvel mystery oil.

Hope this Helps ,

Jens

[Tyler Murch]

Wow, that's a nice one. Looks like you did a good job of upsetting it. Theres plenty of material around the eye- you could have even brought down some eye lugs. Don't forget- it's best to have a convex grind on choppers.

[Rich Hale]

Mike Hr had mentioned to me that you were doing some really nice work,,,this piece is even better that that... Keep up the good work,,,
Almost every knife that is not damascus that leaves my shop is mirror polished and alot of them are used in the field. If youi would like to try a little experiment grind some high carbon steel to about a 120 grit finish. doesn't even have to be knife shaped. Then mirror polish the other side,,,If you live in a humid area just keep and eye on the piece now and then and watch for rust..if you live live an arid area like I do mist a little water on both sides now and then and watch and see....

[mcraigl]

Nolan, yea I'm with you on "polishing something that will be used". It started off with an overnight bath in vinegar and when I wire brushed the remaining scale off, there were virtually NO HAMMER MARKS. Gotta be a first on any of my projects. The only hammer mark is on the bottom of the eye I had a double strike with the slot punch. Anyway, so I figured what the heck and started in on the flat sides of the blade with my 1" belt sander and 220 grit. Once I saw that it "wanted to be polished", I figured what the heck and went for it. It's my first one, and will probably mostly be a conversation / study piece for a while.

Jens, I've actually got a couple of angle grinders but all the flapper wheels I've got are 60 grit and I was a little afraid of putting scratches in that would require even more effort to get out. I forgot to mention in the original post that I was a retard and pretty much completely polished it BEFORE I heat treated so I got to go through the whole process TWICE! I've seen those scotch brite looking pads, guess I'll buy one just to see how they work. Everything a guy can add to his arsenal to make things go easier... You're right about Mike-HR. He's as good as they come, and a very patient willing teacher. He's created a monster, and I think he's starting to realize how big of a pain in the butt I really am! All these questions and stuff.... I was really intimidated by his power hammer the first time or two I used it, but when we made that butcher hardie that we presented on the tue. night blue prints I fell in love. That axle shaft is really tuff stuff and by hand hammer I'm pretty sure I'd have made a career out of that one tool! So camilla and marvel mystery are food safe? Not that I'll be cutting up my steak with this thing (though you easily could), but I've got a couple of nagging knife ideas right now that I'm going to try when I get back from vacation if I can talk Mike-hr out of some more spud-chain....

Tyler,
what do you mean about a "convex grind on choppers"? I've never had any "official" instruction in blades. In fact, I think I really would like to buy one of JPH's books, and/or some other bladesmithing books since I've read everything else my wife already bought me. In college I competed in lumberjack competitions and pretty much ground this 'hawk just as I ground our heavy hit and speed axe's. Except mayber creating a little bit larger "margin" on the edge than on a comp axe. Actually I guess I'd say it's ground exactly as our throwing axes were ground. As ground now it's pretty much a "flat", neither concave or convex. Does the convex work better? Or safer? Or? I could probably be convince of either of those now that I think about it.

Thanks to all for the comments. Next one is going to be made from the tie rod off a 1-ton pickup I think...

Here's some pix of the creation process so you can see the upset and eye creation steps.

[oakwoodforge]

Mcraigl, I use marvel Mystery oil on the wood choppers, Camellia oil on the Steak choppers. BTW Nice Progress Pics , thats a nice touch

Jens

[mcraigl]

Thanks Jens. Yea, and look at the beautiful Pedinghaus.... Wish I had one of those in my shop!!! So where does a guy get camilla oil? Never heard of it before, though I've been using marvel for a variety of things forever.

[oakwoodforge]

http://www.japanwoodworker.com/produ...&dept_id=13153

I've used this stuff for years on my chisels, wood planes and kitchen knives I love it.

Jens

[Tyler Murch]

mcraigl,
The convex grind holds an edge longer. You do more cutting to get a job done with an axe than with a knife. The convex grind also is stronger. It protects from chipping. It also keeps the axe from being stuck in the wood. As you probably know because you were a competitive lumberjack- to keep the axe from being stuck in the wood it should have a convex grind, then a slight thickening of the blade behind the bit, and then a slimming of the blade behind that. This makes it so that only a small portion of the axe blade is touching the wood while it is lodged in- making it easier to get it unstuck. Understand?