My first Tomahawk.

[Glenn]

Any chance of a Blueprint of the hawk from the RR Spike?

[sandpile]

MCRAIG-- You just keep pudling along. Looks to me like you have a working pard. MIKE is not going to let you go far wrong. You can get the flap-wheels in finer grit for the 4".

Just keep on keeping on and you will be there before you know it.

I would quench the tie-rod in oil first,(could be 5160 or 9260 if from a newer model) then if it does not harden to suit you, try hot water. Draw(temper) it pretty hard. I would not want the blade any harder than a middle 50s or so.
A little longer grind on th edge. not quite so abrupt an angle.

Looks Great to me.

Good luck.

chuck

[Nolano]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow_grind

Thats something I found when I was unsure of what they meant by a hollow grind. an axe grind and a concvex grind are the same thing, in case you didnt realize. Also, mike is indeed a neat guy. It was nice to meet him a few weeks back. sometime I hope to go visit his shop, if I get the chance. Say hi for me, if you would.

[mcraigl]

Glenn,
Do you think this is enough, and good enough pix for a blue print? (I pretty much posted all the pix I took in this post) If so, I'd be more than willing to write it up, though I hardly feel qualified to tell anyone here how to do something... If you think we need more "action" shots maybe I'll have to bribe Mike-hr into letting me invade his shop again in a couple of weeks when I get back from vacation. He needs more practice taking photos anyway so it probably wouldn't be that tough to talk him into (along with the requisit liquid refreshment :-) Not sure I'd want to subject myself to all that polishing again though, that was more work than I thought it would be...

Chuck, thanks for the encouragement and advice. I really appreciate how freely the old salts give good advice here, especially since I'm so new to the forum. To that end, if I ever come across as a snot nosed, know it all kid I'd appreciate it if someone let me know (or you could let Mike-hr know and he'd straighten me out!) Mike-hr is definately first class, and you're right he won't let me go too far wrong. He showed me the "junk yard heat treating" when we were making the butcher hardie. We quenched in veg. oil first, then moved to water. Also used a small piece of cutoff to perfect our tempering temp. Pretty interesting stuff.

Thanks again for all the comments folks. I'm actually really happy with how this 'hawk turned out. Most of my first time projects really look like they were my first time, and I couldn't really be happier with how this one turned out. Almost don't want to make another one 'cause it might not turn out as nice :-)
McRaigl

[Glenn]

The beauty of the blueprints is that there is no competition, a blueprint is showing how YOU do things YOUR way. Put ten different ways to do the same project together and a viewer can try all ten ways and one will work best for them. For instance, how many ways are there to make tongs? A blueprint on each would be a wonderful resource.

If you get Mike to assist you with this, I would like you to take careful notes from the time you arrive, to the time you leave, and write down any "other" tricks, ideas, or knowledge you gain from visiting his shop and watching him work with metal. Try to keep it less than a doctorial thesis. <grin>

[mcraigl]

Originally Posted by Glenn

If you get Mike to assist you with this, I would like you to take careful notes from the time you arrive, to the time you leave, and write down any "other" tricks, ideas, or knowledge you gain from visiting his shop and watching him work with metal. Try to keep it less than a doctorial thesis. <grin>

Glenn, how well do you know Mike? If you know him well, then you already knew that what you just asked of me is paradoxical. Or maybe an oxymoron. IF I took careful, detailed notes from the time I arrived at say around 6pm til the time I usually leave say around 12am, the document would be at least twice as long as my actual master's thesis was, and would certainly be approaching the length of several doctoral dissertations I've reviewed. Unfortuneately being so new to the BS'ing scene I probably don't recognize all the really cool methods/tools/techniques that he has or uses that would be of interest to you. I'm generally fascinated from the time I arrive to the time I leave by just about everything BS and general fabrication related. But having said all that, I'll see what I can do...

ML

[mcraigl]

Rich,
Come on man...... Now you're killing me... Not going to tell me what happens??? Xxxx, I guess I'll have to wait a couple of weeks to find out on my own. I am going to look into those scotch brite pad type discs. I really didn't want to remove any more material than absolutely necessary so was avoiding the more aggresive abrasives. Sounds like it might be just the ticket, along with an air die grinder so I have variable speed vs. the rotozip (aka electric die grinder) which just has a speed of about 25,000.

[sandpile]

Mcraigl-- I know what you mean. I am that way everytime I go to JIM KEITH'S shop in TUCUMCARI N.M. He assumes a lot. He assumes I know of what he is speaking.Grin.

I have learned a bunch from him, but am just now getting to where most of what he says soaks in. Until I had been at this b.s.ing for a couple of years, a lot of what he was showing and telling me was NOT comprehended. I wish I could go back through some of the earlier sessions.

That is how you learn. Pick up a little at a time till finally a light comes on.

Chuck

[mcraigl]

Chuck, you know it's like a lot of other arts. When you don't know nothin', you don't notice nothin'. Something I used to hear from a couple of Scandinavian master carpenters I labored for in my youth. Now that I know just a little bit more than nothin' I really get more and more out of "lessons" or just watching an experienced smith work. At first all you notice is a guy hitting a piece of iron with a hammer. Then you notice what color it was when it came out and went back into the forge. Next time you notice his stance with the anvil (sometimes I swear he's makin' love to that thing :-). Another time you notice the angle of the hammer in relation to the hot steel in relation to the anvil face. I've got a list of mental notes of "moves" that I want to watch some guys make. For instance, simply drawing a point for a steak turner. At the hammer in, I watched a couple of guys do the whole thing in one or "maybe" two heats. I can burn up a good three, four, even five heats to pull a satisfactory tapered point on a piece of 3/8 or 1/2 square. 'Course Mike does it for a living so is generally pretty happy to instruct by the time I get there as he's already put in a 10+hr day at the forge or out in the sun. Though he did make me a slot chisel and two hammer eye drifts while I was forging the head for the tomahawk (dang it I didn't get to watch). Anyway, gotta get ready to go on vacation now. Sorry for my long posts, not to mention some of the worlds longest paragraphs (I didn't major in english:-). It's a blessing and a curse to be able to type 60 words per minute.

[Hillbillysmith]

Mcraigl, yes please make a blueprint on that 'hawk. you don't know how many RR spikes that I've ruined trying to make one of those. Don't worry about thinking that "you're not qualified to be telling anyone here what to do". You are perfectly qualified like Glenn said, it's just YOU'RE way of making a RR spike 'hawk. Just because you do it that way doesn't mean the next person has to.