MAD MAX

Thats nice work, I kind of consentrate on tomahawks and can really  appreciate this kind of work.  Mine are pretty plain compared to this, I dont do any forge welding at all, Those are mighty fine!

 

Yes its a hammer that just looks like a little sledge. I also have a cross peen but just use it when the peen is needed, It just doesnot swing as good as the one without a peen.  I am in the process of making a couple of hammers from some large square stock I just got, one a straight one a cross peen. I acually prefer a straight peen for most things that require it, seems easier to me. I also do not supscribe to the thought that you must use a certain kind of hammer, I use what I like and what feels good. I acually like my handles a little longer than most. I strange and I know it!

It will be acually a better choice in my unprofessional opinion, and will heat treat better and get much harder.

I know that Blacksmiths are pretty picky about the hammers they use, particually the main one they use for 90% of their work. My favorite one at tha moment is what is acually called an engineers hammer with no peen at all, I just like the way she feels. Bit my question is what are the opinions on the Swedish pattern hammers?  I have tried French hammers and dislike the ones I have tried. But I am told the swedish pattern is good for control. Dont get me wrong control is not an issue for me, But I was just wondering what people thought of this pattern.

Put some case hardening compound on the poll whn hot and tap it with a light hammer. do this about 3 times and wire brush in between, it shoul give about 1/16 of Hard material that should work pretty well.

I have an iron mountain forge tomahawk drift. It is made of Ductile iron seems to work but its soft. A place called "Track of the wolf" sells handles that work perfectly in hawks made with this drift.

Right in the middle of the state. A lot of the heavy stuff was scraped during the last scraping boom. A scrapyard guy told me over 100 anvils were scraped in just a few years. The goofy thing is Most guys who haul scrap wont sell you any thing off their trailer or truck even if you offer them more than they would get for the whole load!!!!!!!!!!

I meant to say............ I have made VERY few hawks just to clarify that I am not super experienced!!

 

Mighty fine!!!!

​Charles, You are more than correct about the amount of work and the rod cost. But you have to consider that Blacksmith stuff where I live if a lot harder to come by than it is in any place east of the rockies. I also have real stubborn streak that makes me do some dumb things. Heavy scrap where I live is even tough to get, its just a different world here so I guess it makes  for different ideas that seem silly to folks from other places.

It is an on going problem with hawks, It takes skill to make the "perfect" Most hand forged hawks will not be perfect. What seems to help me most is during the forging process I only hit the piece three times on one side before I turn it over and then three hits on the other side. I also drop my drift in and get it tight when the hawk is near done and hold it up and check the straightness. but its still a tough thing to do. Practice, Practice, Practice is the key. But you are doing good work from what I can see in the picture.

You did a fine job on those!!!  You know I would have ground off the The rasp part until I saw how these look.  The Rasp nubbins give them a kind of Medievil look and I like it!!

​Pretty good for a first try, You got guts in my book. I dislike RR spikes for hawks as there is not enough steel to work with in my book. I have made a few from RR spikes but I threw them all in the scrap pile and I have made a few hawks. I just like more steel to work with. Good job!!!

Certainly better than what it was. Pretty ingenious use of what you had to work with.

​Yes, we all gotta start somewhere. However the better set up you can have the less headaches you will have. So here is what I personally would do with what you have. I would cut the RR track in half making Two 1ft pieces, I would then butt the thick part of the rails together and weld them that way. Then I would stand this on end and weld it to the heaviest piece of  Steel I could get Then mount the whole thing to a stout piece of wood/tree/chopping block ect.  this would give you a little bigger surface to work on and I believe have some fair action.  I would  weld a real heavy piece of square tubing to  what was the bottom part of the Rail farthest away from what you will use as the front.

Now if you wanted a horn try and find a Tooth from an Excavator Bucket and weld that to the opposite end from where the Hardy hole is. This would make,  I believe a usable Anvil until you can get something better, then you can use it for other things when you get an anvil.

​I am far from young, I am a little stronger than average I guess, I was a powerlifter when I was young and still do an extremely physically demanding job for a living. I don't use it often though just when its called for.

I have a six pound hammer that I put a short handle in, Like one used for a 2 or 3 pound hammer. I have been told that its too big for one hand operation. I have no trouble swinging it and can control it just fine. Now it not my no 1 used hammer by any means, but I work alone and some times have a need for it and one handed seems to work well for when I need the extra mass. It says 6lb right on the under side but my bakers scale weighs it at 5lb 10oz.  My main hammer is 2lb 5oz. Just wondering if anybody else used a heavy hammer one handed like this?

just thought I would put in for everyone what I do for my hammer handles. I have never liked hammers with polyurethane or other similar finishes. I also don't like the configuration of most handles as they come new. so when I put in a new handle the first thing I do is to shave it down a little thinner  starting about 2 in below the head and then shave it to fit my hand. And while I am at it ALL of the finish comes off. Then once I have it shaped to my liking I will dip the entire handle in old motor oil and let a fair portion of the oil run off, then I set it on the bench head down and heat it with a propane torch, moving the torch up and down fairly fast until most of the oil is almost gone.

I have found that using a handle that has been treated this way is easy on the hand and if thinned out in the "neck" area seems to have a slight "whip'.

I thought I would post what I do for file handles. I do a lot of filing, so I therefore have LOTS of files. A file without a handle kinda sucks to use much. So Here is what I do. I go to my local re-store and buy several screwdrivers for 25 cents each. I don't care if they are broke or basically no good as a tool. I put them in a vice with the handle sticking up and a file standing with the tang sticking straight up. I made a wood block with a slot just for this. I then heat the steel of the screwdriver with a propane torch until the heat transfers up to where the handle is stuck on. I get it pretty hot so that the handle slides off pretty easy, then I pull the handle off and jam it on the file tang and smack it with a 10 ounce hammer.

When the plastic cools it is usually stuck to the file tang pretty good. I have found that the handles that are kind of "rubbery" work the best for this. This is a cheap and easy way to get file handles that work real good.

when I was looking for an anvil I called about several that turned out to be way out of the price range I was looking in because they were  "antiques" I was told. I got the "its an antique" speech a lot. well I got curious about that and contacted several real antique dealers,I mean the kind of guys who make their living with antiques.

They all told me that no anvil was even close to true "antique" status unless it could be verified that it was a MINIMUM of 200 years old and preferably older with some serious history behind it. So a Hay Budden made in 1900 don't qualify!!!

I am new to this site, but been working metal for about 5 years or so. I just thought I would give the guys wanting to start a little encouragement. when I started I had a woodstove for a forge,a 12 inch ductile iron pipe plug as an anvil and channel locks as tongs. I actually forged some very nice things with this as a set up. But I did a lot of filing. Where I live Blacksmithing tools are very hard to come by. Anvils are almost impossible to find, Most other things are nearly as bad, despite this I never gave up. I got lucky and someone gave me a Buffalo forge that was froze up but a week in oil and it turns great I reworked the pan and it works pretty well now.

I got a new NC Cavalry anvil in trade for some work That made a huge difference. I got a bunch of tongs given to me that were pretty floppy and worn but I reforged them and tightened them up so they work pretty good now.

Someone gave me a bench vice that weighs about 50 pounds and it too was froze up, a little work got it loosened up though.

I acquired a bunch of punches and chiseles  and some hammer heads at a yard sale.  I have not been taught by anybody, I learned everything all by myself, I have done no forge welding yet as I use charcoal and my forgepot is not deep enough do get welding heat with charcoal.

So my word is don't give up, you can get what you need if you just keep at it!!!!

fold and forge weld?

I am looking for somewhere to aquire some 5160 in 3/4 thick 1 1/2 wide bars. I am making a run of Tomahawks and have been using mobile home leaf springs as stock. I can find 5160 but not in this thickness. I use mostly all scrap for what I do but in this thickness even scrap is tough to get. These springs work super good and I am only guessing that they are 5160 but I thought it would work well. Finding ANY high carbon steels in this thickness seems tough.

Hello everyone, I am new to your forum. I have been smithing in one way or another for about 5 years now. But I didn't get a lot done because of what I had for an anvil. Some of you will think I am completely nuts for even attempting to hammer on what I was using. It was a 12 inch ductile Iron pipe plug that weighs about 60 pounds, It has a lot of surface but is as dead as a spongy piece of wood. Despite this I managed some pretty nice projects with it.

At the end of a forgeing day I would be so tired I could hardly move! Well last month I did a tree job for someone and for part payment they bought me a brand new NC Cavalry anvil at 112 pounds. I was so amazed at the difference it was mind blowing!!  I know, I know its a bit more farrier designed but I gota say that I love the xxxx thing!! I mean try forging on something that your hammer lands on like one of those dead blow hammers and this thing will make you jump for joy.