BTKS

I stumbled across this topic and I'm so glad I did!!! The show and the craftsmanship in the Viking Sword was amazing!!!!!! I applaude your skills and craftsmanship, that 2 pound chunk of steel represents your skill set quite well. I am simply impressed. Thank you for taking on this monumental challenge and coming out the victor.

Looking good. I like the shape and proportions of the pieces. The whole set and hanger seem to fit each other. I'm just not a huge fan of glossy finish on smithed items. I'm sure the shine will wear off, but if it's what you like then like it and keep it that way. I hope to get a weather vane posted soon and everyone can have a crack at my work.

Thanks guys. I did a couple test runs then screwed up the courage to finish my project. All seemed to go well. A file would not cut after hardening and it would after tempering. It would cut but not nearly as easy as before hardening. It held and edge after a few strikes on dry hardwood. I'm going to post in process and finished pics soon. The home page says there are problems as of now with pics. Again, Thanks to all for the help.

Thanks guys, I'll figure out what stickies are and head into the above mentioned forum areas. Hopefully I won't burn up or crack anything between my ears in the process.

If you go to North Carolina PBS you can watch several years worth of Woodwright Shop with Roy Underhill. He goes into riving and shaping billets of wood on a regular basis. I just rived out some staves for a hawk handle from black locust a few days ago. I agree with make it longer and fatter than needed. I would add a pic of a flame hardened hadle but I can't seem to get the pic loader to work. A draw knife and a spoke shave will do wonders. The last two handles I made only got a touch up sanding just to blend in the burn marks and highlight the grain. Best of luck, hope this helps. BTKS

I'm trying to harden and temper a tomahawk made from a ball peen hammer head. I have no idea when or from what the head was made from. I assume tool steel, definetely carbon steel. It was heavily rusted when I rescued it. I don't have an original picture but I have a couple after the first session. I annealed it and want to get it back to at least it's original hardness. I'm not sure what temp or how long to oven temper it. I'm considering a coal forge tempering and quench. Do you quench when you bring a piece out of the oven when tempering? I've been reading a little on this but I have not found a lot on oven tempering. Thanks in advance for any advice. This is the first piece I'm really trying to get the hardness and toughness right. The guy I'm making the hawk for says it's for display but I think it might get used, especially by his three boys. Here are some in process pics. I thought I would add some pics but for some reason I cannot upload them. I tried both loaders but no luck. Thanks, BTKS

Thomas: I understand and the point of mild vs carbon is an excellent point. I have learned that hard lesson on leaf spring. I let my attention drift and I had a froe with a burned off edge in just a few seconds!!! Just before that, same froe, I hammered too cold and broke off the eye. That was about a year and a half ago and I've been somewhat reluctant to jump back into carbon spring steel. I do have a piece laid out to make another froe. It's the project right after the on going project. Now I have a pair of drifts I like and shouldn't have so much beating to do. Hope I can stay in the heat range this time! Thanks for the input, I learn a lot at this site. That wouldn't be possible if you guys didn't speak your minds and impart your experience to us beginners. I sincerely appreciate it. BTKS

Thanks for the comments and I must agree you are both quite correct. I appreciate the constructive criticism. I obviously need to do more research about type and quality of iron / steel available during specific time periods. I like the byline "pursue perfection; settle for excellence". I did make some modifications in the shape of the handle by fairing the curves and adding some roll to the front scroll. I re heat treated the blade. Much harder treatment the second time. I like the shape and opening in the second try on the handle. Thomas: I agree, the steel should have been a good alloy but a practice session turned into a project. Since it is a surprise to be a decoration on a reenactment costume it will hold enough edge to be looked at. It does a fair job of cutting cloth and leaves a pretty clean line cutting paper. I would add an updated photo but I can't seem to add it to this post.

A buddy was talking about a patch knife for his flint lock musket. First he had to explain what it was then I got the picture. He was going to make his own and he may have but it gave me an excuse to try a couple of techniques I've been wanting to mess with. He doesn't know he's getting it or even that I'm trying to make one. Anyway, the entire knife is from a piece of 1/2in rebar. Not good knife material but it is supposed to be decorative and only a little functional. It will cut off the excess cloth of the wadding when loading the ball. The recipient is left handed so I made the blade orientation for a lefty. The blade is only tapered on one side, like an old straight razor. The flat or bottom side will lay on the muzzle and create a scissor like cut between the steel of the barrel and the blade. When held in the left hand, the taper is correct for cutting. The twisted handle doubles as a flint striker. It may be too soft to work well but it's mainly for looks. I hardened the entire knife as hard as I could with a water quench. I don't think I need to temper any because it is still fairly easy to file and sharpen. I figure it's better than a prison shank and maybe as good as most frontier steel but nothing like a good 1095 blank, etc. Thanks for looking. BTKS Oh yea, the finish is left somewhat rough for period appearance and the finish is straight bee's wax applied while black hot. The wax is from my own bees too. A real homemade project.

Thanks for the articles, they are perfect timing for an ongoing project.

Awesome looking forge. I need to borrow, steal, some design ideas. My little starter forge just isn't cutting the mustard. I think I really want something with a pot in it instead of a flat bottom. This is a keeper, good work!

Wow, am I behind the curve. I just got my own forge up and going. I've been tapping on steel off and on for a couple years but not enough to count for experience. One of my first real projects will be a tomahawk a buddy wants for a display. I'm not worried about the steel hardness in this case. I was going to try to use an old ball peen hammer but it sounds like it's a little dicier than I expected. Thanks for the heads up. If I screw it up it can always count as a lesson learned. Welcome to I Forge Iron.

In my incredibly limited experience, I've really liked straight bees wax. I'll give this oil / wax / turpentine mix a try. I can see how it would coat easier and more evenly. I have a twisted handle fire poker that still has bits of wax in the double twist.

Salvaged these hammer heads from a rust pile. The guy was litteraly and intentionally rusting piles of old metal and tools. According to him, they won't sell if they are not rusty! Several antique tools were completely ruined! Muratic acid and some wire brush time saved the heads. Some grinding brought the striking faces back okay. I still need to reshape the three pound cross peen. I have several more handles to make. Some even larger ball peen heads, I would guess up to 21/2 pounds. I made the handles from ash and treated with Linseed oil and of course rust and metal shavings.

I preheated with a large propane burner. All seemed to go well. I used 7018 and burned it in fairly hot. An old codger showed me a little trick. He put a copper plate between the jaws so I would have a nice straight line without having to grind too much inside the opening. That old codger was dear ol dad! Amazing what you can learn from them!!! Frank: I looked all over the vise and couldn't find any other symbols. Thanks for the info. Here's some after shots.