Lysdexik Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 What type of steel for axe/hatchet heads, If I don't have a project for this weekend I could end up - SHOPPING - I get the shivers just saying it. Paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 I have used mild steel, wrapped around a drift, with a forge welded high carbon bit also I have made an axe head from a large piece of leaf spring, punched and forged into a axe shape..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pope686 Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 I did an axe with two RR spikes works great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt87 Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Assuming you want a wood-cutting axe ideally you will want a steel which can hold a razor edge but tough enough not to deform. Many will suffice -- 1095, O1, D2, 1045 etc. so long as they are correctly heat-treated. Firewelding a tool steel bit to a mild, medium carbon or soft iron body is an ancient way of reducing carbon steel use and reducing the importance of the correct heat treatment, but is unnecessary. Of course even mild steel will hold a better edge than a bronze axe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 Actually the hardness of early low carbon wrought irons wasn't any better than that of a hammered bronze edge. It's real virture lay in that you can make iron almost anywhere and it was a lot harder to find tin for bronze. Of course as soon as they figured out increasing the carbon content and proper heat treat then the vicker's hardness of a steel edge could be a couple of times that of a bronze one! A classic material for axes would be 1070 not quite as brittle as higher carbon steels but quite enough carbon to harden nicely. Axes are often sharpened in the field with a file and so you want them to be a bit softer than a knife that takes a stone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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