Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Recommended Posts

I'm sure it could be done. Folks manage to forge weld stainless steel and titanium, after all. Do you have a power hammer? How much forge welding have you done? Do you enjoy pain?

A10 looks very different from what I would normally consider a good candidate for an axe steel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rather high carbon, good bit of manganese, nickel, silicon, dash of copper (apparently optional), limited phosphorus and sulfur...

http://www.efunda.com/materials/alloys/tool_steels/show_tool.cfm?ID=AISI_A10&prop=all&Page_Title=AISI%20A10
http://www.windsorsteel.com/grades/A-10.htm


No reason it won't hand work, it is air hardening, and has 1.35% carbon which will cause brittle tendencies. I would not buy this for use as an axe, but would consider it if it was free, and then more likely as a bit, or for a knife, or tooling. It seems recommended for punches and dies.

Axes are rather serious stock size to work by hand without a striker or mechanical assistant, and choosing a material that resists work will just make it harder.

Phil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sure it can be, but . . . look at a tempering chart. It's still RC50 at 1000 degrees, probably thanks to the moly content. I expect it'd be a pain to deal with, doubly so once he realized that the end result wasn't worth it. If he wants to beat himself up making an axe, L6 would be a better choice. At least he'd get a good axe out of the deal.

I wouldn't turn up my nose at free A10. I just wouldn't try to forge weld it into an axe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...