pete46 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 T you have a good eye & imagination both will take you far. where are you located,and who is your mentor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 If you go to college at New Mexico Tech the Fine Arts Metals courses have a blacksmithing option (that I teach) and you could probably wrangle forge time at my shop 5 miles from campus. Shoot one student even has progressed until he has a key to my shop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akad Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I agree with many of the previous posts: The tang would most likely break free of the handle in use. Most axes are held together via the eye wrapped around the handle, most likely with a wedge to spread the wood for a secure fit. With that noted, if you were set with the design, maybe a slightly longer tang, or have metal strips (welded to the head) coming down both sides a little further then put yout bolts through. I've seen some halberds/polearms using the latter mentioned design in an encyclopedia of ancient weapons, so that would fit the "bill." (<- my pathetic attempt at making a polearms pun, sorry) Also, for an axe to be most effective, a majority of the weight should be forward, towards the head. At least, that's been my experience in the past 5 years chopping firewood. This means a pommel would not be necessary. That's my critique as a tool/weapon. Now, as a decorative piece, I love that design. It would look pretty awesome hanging on a wall... above a mantle, on a cold winter night, and the firelight dances off of the glinting steel. Then you hear the perpetual moans of the undead growing closer and closer, and then you hold your dearest weapon close to you. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Now there are a variety of tanged axes used in Africa---the UN books on blacksmithing discuss how to make them. European axes tend to have eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 toborah what joshua said is true - i have amassed tools and materials over years, before i even had anywhere to put them - its the way forward of your on a budget. you will find a lot of support and info on here - its a fab place to learn this stuff :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Back when I started Highschool my parents started giving me tools for birthdays and Christmas so by the time I went to college I had a basic set to work on my car and my living quarters---funny I was the only person in my dorm with an electric drill---and was razzed about it. But by the end of the year I think I had had everybody in the dorm borrow it at least once! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiapan Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 I agree with the SCA fighter that all parts of a weapon can be useful, in fact the hilt of a two handed sword was often used against armor because it was hard to cut through plate, and thats simpler then a thrust. however I am going to have to disagree that a sword it easier to wield then an axe. Axes were a favored weapon for a very long time. Particularly in Europe and are very useful in combat. Plus simply saying sword doesnt begin to cover what the word describes. there is a big difference between a gladius and a Katana and how they were used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobarah Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 T you have a good eye & imagination both will take you far. where are you located,and who is your mentor? In all honesty I love drawing more than I love blacksmithing but I still sculpt and mess around with other art forms. As long as I'm creating something with my hands I'm always happy. I've even been accepted to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, you can guess how excited I am for that. I don't really have a mentor, I just have a good buddy of mine that owns a forge and I like what he does. Smithing peeked my interest and I found this forum. And seeing how well this post did I might come up with a few more weapon blueprints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tobarah Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 Ah! I forgot to mention, I recently looked through my grandpas stuff and has a ton of scrap metal and tools. They may be a bit dated(Nothing a little WD40 won't fix) but there is a bunch of different hammers, files, grinders, metal brushes and forceps. It's Christmas all over again! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 I made a virtual axe of the design initially posted and made several computer simulations of it in combat use against virtual Zombies...in every run it was good for the first few, but if you didn't have the speed of Flash then you needed an automatic firearm of some sort to keep the hordes at bay or be able to run like the Greeks of old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 I commonly use tools that date to within 30 years of the year 1800. (postvise dated to pre-1800, anvil dated 1828, hammer that's 200 years old...) How old is your grandpa??? If you design stuff to be made you *NEED* to know how things are made. If you design stuff to be used you *NEED* to know how they are used. Otherwise it's just "vaporware". Why do art students study human anatomy---they need to know how the body works---and why. I have seen many "fantasy weapons" that the design made them more dangerous to the user than the foe. Such items don't impress me save with the effort wasted. (slick handles, spiky guards and pommels, stress concentrators, massively overweight, etc) I would like to suggest you ILL "HEROIC ARMOR OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE - FILIPPO NEGROLI AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES" Stuart W. and Jose-A. Godoy Pyhrr ISBN: 9780870998720 from your local public library---you do know about ILL right? If you read the book you will note that they mention although this is fantastical parade armor----*it's* armor! Properly made of good alloys that just happens to be repousse'd in unbelievable detail. I'd love to see your work on book covers in the future and be struck by the fact that "That would *work*!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom Noblitt y Gonzalez Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 NEGROLI ... the first book you send him too is the NEGROLI book with pictures of armour that has made it into the smithsonian.... cool cool. I belive that one of my week points is the inability to draw and sketch well. Though I like chase, repose, inlay and other technics the ability to look at the blank area: sheath, blade area, handle, armour plate, etc. and see what would look good there is something I can't do. Simple line drawings are difficult for me, putting a tree, cloud, dragon or skull I can't do unless I have an original I can trace or trancfer. If you like the different arts and enjoy imagioning the stuff please keep it up if nothing else it gives people like me something to look at and start off with, then tweak to my own plans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Thom; I want him to see that fantasy that *works* can be cool (and was done historically) Now about those Mughals.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samw1 Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 Hiya, I get the feeling your a fantasy wepon enthusiast such as I. I like your idea and I hope you are doing this for display purpose only. If im correct you can use a good spring steel and make it thin but strong enough for a stroke to a log or what ever. Check with the masters of metal here on IFI with that. If you wanting a lengthy head may i suggest a lengthy handle of maybe four feet to give it a wider arch making it a light battle axe. I very much respect and apriciate your wanting to make it authentic and fully agree because that is my style also. I do have to suggest some serious training behind the hammer first before you attempt such a feat, but by making it a thiner axe head im thinking half inch spring tappering to how ever you want it. Best of luck and im looking forward to finished photos. Sam Wendt Iron Rose Forge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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