camp axe

[jake pogrebinsky]

Moderate size axe,+/- 1 1/2 lb.
Welded const.,WI bent around the WI filler-piece,with a chunk of 52100 skew-welded to the filler previously.
The shape is the kind that SHOULD've been obtained by forging only(have originally evolved from the forging processes),but,long list of excuses enclosed,et c.,was mostly obtained by grinding.
I usually make my own handles,but just to provide for a future handle-replacement option the drift was made to match a standard store-boughten handle.This one is air-dried hickory,exellent quality wood but the grain orientation is 90 deg.off(with the thickness of existing stock had to choose between the aesthetic-the curve,and the correct technology,too bad,but so it goes).
3 normalising cycles,waste motor oil quench from just above critical,2,2-hr tempering cycles at 375F(peacock/purpl-ish in color,too hard for a general-work axes,but done here for a reason).
Good forging to all.

[dancho]

Great work Jake! Congratulations!


The lines are clear and beautiful. I do not see too much grinding in what you showed.



It resembles to me very much the axe I've seen in Bavaria last year. I do not know who made it

But that was probably done of a whole piece chisseled.

This means your work is more complicated

[jake pogrebinsky]

Thanks,Bogdan,it means a great deal coming from you.
I like that Bavarian axe,the longer beard/closer in probably makes for better balance.I was limited by the weight,as ordered,and overshot it on the original forging(thus one reason for grinding).
This "recipe"is an old(1800's?)Zlatoust production method,suggested by a friend.It seems to be an interesting transition-they were already rolling stock,but not stamping the production out,forging by hand(could it be that they were rolling iron,and "blister"cementating it prior to forging?).
In any case,the shape was achieved by forging.
I've not done a good enough job planning,also didn't make the right top-tool to forge in the notch-crucial step in the process.That became the main reason to grind,in addition to weight reduction.
I'd like to give it another try,this time with a compression eye,and test the balance myself,the logging season coming right up...
I really do believe that for a FORGED axe,the techniques that you've been working on-the comp.eye,the anvil-drawn,cementated edge,and shaping entirely with the hammer are superlative.Saves time.Saves energy.Teaches one a lot more about the hammer control.
The very best of luck at Ivano-Frankivsk,how i wish that i could be there.
Cheers,Jake

[K. Bryan Morgan]

Hello Jake, I love the picture of the axe in the fire. Very artistic there. I really like the shape and look of your work here. Would you mind explaining what a scew-weld is?

I havn't done anything with the wrought you left for me yet. I will do a project with it soon. I really don't want to mess it up though.

[Bentiron1946]

Jake, Nice looking axe. So you going after tree with it, be safe and don't let 'em kick you like they did Frosty. You live a lot further out. :P

[jake pogrebinsky]

Hi,Bryan!I actually stuck that fire picture with you in mind.I'm guessing that you're puzzling out the fire control about now,and wanted to show how the heat in the fire radiates-radially(imagine that...).Seriously,the heat ranges on the axe show how the zones in the fire underneath behave.That fire is small,and banked with green coal(the forge is kinda lined with it).That makes the transition from heat to cold very abrupt.You'll use that difference a lot in forging,upsetting especially comes to mind.Heat-treating is also contingent upon those ranges.(Especially that radiused edge of the axe,that fire worked well in bringing it to heat evenly while leaving the other parts at the black heat and lower).
I never put water on the fire-it spalls parts of my firepot off,startles me with weird noises,and generally annoys.I've no problem controlling the fire with green coal only.But we're all different.
The middle,the burning well of fire can be fed with extra coke a long time,keeping the fire constant.Also is easy to clean for the continuous welding.
The skew-weld is simply a diagonal scarf,just like scarfing lumber or ply,on the bias.
Don't be afraid to burn through that stuff,just go for it,whatever comes of it as product is not important,it's value is in imprinting the certain iron truths and parameters on your nervous system,so that you'll learn what to expect of the material,and eventually forge intuitively,to roll with it,the Zen of forging!
You have the gasser now,as well,so that you have all sorts of fun ahead of you,with the weather warming up!
Take care,and have a blast,Jake

[jake pogrebinsky]

Thanks,Bentiron,i do watch them,like a hawk!And the smaller the tree,the trickier it gets.Though it's been some years since i've used an axe to fell...

[K. Bryan Morgan]

Yes, I am figuring out fire control. I think I have a little bit of a handle on it. The coal I've been getting from Alaksa Feed is real easy to work with. I have found that using green coal is alot easier than I'd been lead to believe. I don't water it. And I have gotten what I consider good results. I do need to put a layer of brick on my forge hearth though to raise it so I can easily pile up green coal around the fire. It's a break drum forge and the lip of the break drum is set into a hole I cut into some floor plate. It works quite well, and I have burned up more than my fair share of mild steel in it.

I understand what you are saying about gaining experiance with the wrought. I will do as you suggest and "go for it". I never thought of forging as a zen experiance but I can see what your saying. To me, zen tells me to do the best I can possibly do. And I always have. I will have a blast and thanks.

[Don A]

Jake,

Very nice work.

So, any problem in welding the wrought to the 52100?

And also, when forging tomahawks, I normally make the insert (hi-carb) wedge shaped, tapered toward the eye, so that I can try to close the weld before it gets to the eye. Yours looks like you might leave the insert thick enough to go all the way back to the eye. Yes?

I'm thinking that this might be a way to beat some of the weld seperation when using one of the tear-drop drifts on the tomahawks.

Again, very nice.

Don

[jake pogrebinsky]

Hi,Don.The 521000 and WI like each other,no problem at all(even a little surprising,given all that Cr).
This method is quite different,and you understood it correctly-the middle piece goes all the way to the eye,becoming the front side of it.The drift bears directly against it(had to grind a small flat on the front of it to facilitate that),thus turning it's WEDGING moment into the SHEER;where,to separate,the parts of the laminate would have to slide past each other.
All this in THEORY,however,in practice all sorts of things try to go and make trouble,with this,as well as other methods.
Mr.Stokes,in those exercises for the rural smiths in Zimbabwe,describes this very way of putting an axe-head together.It reads very fine,and only at the forge some issues surface.
The weld where the mid-piece ends abruptly is tough to do-the side-pieces try to sag/bulge into the eye right past the end of the short chunk.(I missed with a hammer once or twice,and had to file some where the sides were "set"over the end of the middle chunk).I believe that it would be prudent to use the drift early and often,in this method.
Often,the torture of the weld-seam is a good thing,as it tests the weld,telling you of it's soundness.
In this way,the notch separating the eye from the blade is a good thing;it also is in the direction that applies the sheering moment to the laminate parts,and they SHOULD take it.
I've never made tomahawks,and only seen those tear-drop shaped drifts in photos.The principal issue seems the same:The drift needs to BEAR on the seam,vs.wedging it apart.For that,in some axe construction(2-piece,or one strap),that area was prepped,fullered prior to bending,to make the two shoulders that together form the bearing surface.
In any case,this way does change some things,creating difficulties of it's own elsewhere.The very best of luck,wish you success with your hawks.

[Don A]

Ya see, that's why I come here...

Thanks Jake.

[brian.pierson]

Jake,

Great looking axe. Thanks for sharing. What were the sizes of the three pieces that you made it from?

Thanks again,

Brian

[Double Y]

Very nice work. Thanks for putting up the pictures.

[jake pogrebinsky]

Thanks,guys,for looking and your comments.

Brian,don't remember exactly,didn't measure...The WI is what the 1 1/2"rnd flattens out to,so a couple inches wide?The 52100 was 3/4" rnd,from Admiral.For scale,the eye is standard.

[Chad J]

That is a cool Design Jake, Great job. Chad

[brian.pierson]

Thanks,guys,for looking and your comments.

Brian,don't remember exactly,didn't measure...The WI is what the 1 1/2"rnd flattens out to,so a couple inches wide?The 52100 was 3/4" rnd,from Admiral.For scale,the eye is standard.

thanks for the reply Jake. Do you remember how long (roughly) of WI rod you started with? I think I can calculate the the rest. I have some WI wheel tire that I have been wanting to make an axe out of and your project is inspiring me to get it done with the spring thaw.

Brian

[jake pogrebinsky]

Darn,Brian...I'd say that the outer piece was 10" of a strap 2" x 1/2".

The trouble with this,as with most axe types,is that it takes the building-up of the right tooling,along with the rest of it.

For an example,this axe is nearly poll-less,but,the thickness of steel around the eye should vary some,at least.Therefore,do you pre-shape that(changing the lengh of stock)?
Or will you work it out after the weld,on the drift?In which case,your drift has better have ALL sorts of lengh and taper,or you must use more than one.But more importantly it really changes the lengh of the starting stock.

If you could have a look at that Zimbabwe instructional material by Stokes that would be helpful(i've lost my old computer and all contained therein).

If you read between the lines here,what i'm trying to confess is being an a$$ and a hypocrite-paying lip-service to the rational and measurable,and failing to measure even my own experiments...Were i apprenticed to someone like Grant Sarver,i'd be whipped every day.After quite a few axes my ideas of the dimentions are all in the intuitive,the reptilian brain...I'm sorry,one can do much better.Find an axe that you like,and weigh it,translating that into the inches cubed.Or,Archimedise it in a graduated beaker.I keep meaning to...

[brian.pierson]

Jake,

Never meant to put you on the spot so here you go. Links to Stokes on line.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/ah637e/ah637e00.htm basic
http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/ah635e/ah635e00.htm intermediate

On Google
http://books.google.com/books?id=Y9lBNN3u1xQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_slider_thumb#v=onepage&q=&f=false basic
http://books.google.com/books?id=uJvu_qnUKFsC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_slider_thumb#v=onepage&q=&f=false Intermediate
http://books.google.com/books?id=6kQMg6TcgVwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_slider_thumb#v=onepage&q=&f=false Advanced

I post these often when questions are asked. I was just asking for real-world estimates also. Sometimes experience is just the best teacher. I will have to experiment some myself. I will let you know what I come up with.

Brian

[jake pogrebinsky]

Thanks for the links,Brian!And no,you're absolutely right-i should have some dimentional ideas,even if very general.
Part of the trouble is that this particular stock,the anchor chain,is fairly irregular in the transition link-stock.It does not necessarily gets squared before some uses,making it tough to quantify.
The very best of luck with test-driving this pattern,it has great potential.That Bavarian model looks very good to me,i'd shoot for those proportions.

Thanks again,and good forging!

[bigfootnampa]

Jake that is a very beautiful axe! I particularly love the handle! That type axe is unlikely to be subjected to abusive use and that handle should last many years. It's owner will be very proud! Such a tool/sculpture creates a little thrill of joy every time one holds it or even looks at it!

[jake pogrebinsky]

Thanks,Bigfootnampa,it's kind of you to say all that.The handles,in particular,are a conundrum to me.Well,it all is-creating the sculptural,while being a severest tool abuser myself.
Around here handles come and go like leaves on trees...Limbing is very rough on them,so is ice.Splitting wood at -20 and lower is very destructive,et c.

Recently i've chanced to see one man's axes that had a steel piece extending from the front of an eye down the handle about 8-10",as a guard.Some were welded to the head,and others extended inside the eye hooking over the top.All were then fastened into the haft.Made me wonder if i shouldn't try something of a sort,one of these days.
(I'm undecided weather a steel chunk would be likely to cause more damage,when struck,or it'll distribute the shock along the handle sufficiently to actually do the intended job).

[bigfootnampa]

I know about hard working handles. Back in younger days I and a partner used to cut split and deliver 2 1/2 cords of madrone daily during our slow business times. We wrapped our maul handles with mechanics tie wire (below the heads) and then smoothed the wraps over with duct tape. That is really ugly but it does work! Today I'd be inclined to do something craftier and prettier... like maybe wrapping with rawhide like the ropers do on their saddlehorns. The wrap helps but accurate aim is most effective. We split plenty so we got pretty skillful. I doubt whether just a guard strip could be as useful as the wrap was. The wrap seemed to absorb and distribute some shock but also enclosed the fibers of the wood giving no easy path for deformation. I was somewhat surprised at the degree of effectiveness it provided. Still we did break a handle once in a while... a really bad strike was not always forgiven. Rawhide is real expensive from the leather stores here but I bet caribou rawhide is plentiful where you are! Paracord or fishnet twine would likely work well too. If you use rawhide you should probably varnish it like snowshoe laces for water resistance. Axes are designed for cutting and only real useful for splitting when you are just making kindling. If you have one a good maul is far better for general splitting work. We split over 90 percent of our madrone with a six pound maul. We kept a monster 12 pounder for some gnarly pieces but truthfully if the wood was not pretty straight grained we mostly abandoned it... you gotta move fast to get 2 1/2 cords out and delivered in the same day. It was fun though... deer used to come around to watch the spectacle, curious they were!

[jake pogrebinsky]

Wow...Madrone firewood!You temperate-zone folks are something else,what wealth!

But as to the rest,i can relate entirely.Bailing wire&duct tape hold this entire state together,without them life here would grind to a halt.That's what i used to use,too,on the maul handles,with no good result,however.The duct tape cracks and blows away in the cold,and i think that the wire wraps,being all separate,each embed into the wood,damaging the grain,instead of spreading the impact...

Rawhide is a good idea,it'll probably work(provided that one kept everything dry,for the rot underneath,and to keep it from loosening(the lashing on snowshoes gets pretty soggy some spring days).Also the rodentae like the stuff lots.

Imported cowhide is fairly cheap,also there's tons of moosehide around.Caribou is pretty thin,but will do,i suppose.Technically speaking,any deer-family rawhide is undesirable in any tensile application,it'll keep on stretching in perpetuum.But a tight,frozen rawhide sleeve will probably come close to the strengh of steel,but even more viscous,i'd guess.

One may have to provide a place for the wrap like that in the geometry of the haft,so it doesn't slide down(like the store-bought rubber bumpers).Then maybe one can do a hemp rope wrap,covered in rawhide,like the sword-grip of yore!

As to splitting wood,yes,the maul is the correct tool in most situations.An 8# axe-eye nas been my main survival tool for decades now.However,(almost)the same ratio applies here as in forging-a moderate sledge blow vs a high-velocity blow with a small hammer.
It takes more strategy and precise aim,that brain vs brawn deal,that we,theoretically,should moult into as we age(minus a certain % that gets chalked up to the natural selection,winterkill,et c).
For a number of years i've been a functioning cripple,(according to friends i resemble a stepped-on beetle in my movements).I'm beginning to switch over to a nasty old 3# double-bit for splitting,WHEN it works,it sure is easier.It'd help to switch to a side-load stove/shorter lenghs,now i split wood over 2' long,and right now am probably on my 12-14th cord,for the season...
But yeah,i hear you,it's all very germaine,and worth putting some thought into.

[cesare]

Great axe Jake. Did you have any problems welding behind the steel edge? I sometimes have difficulty with a hole forming behind the tool steel bit. I'm thinking of using a spring fuller to close the hole.