Private Entrance Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 This is the first warhammer I've attempted to make. It started out as a test of a slitter I had made, and when I realized that worked, I figured I should and try and do something productive with the spike I had just slit. From the side, it doesn't look too bad, imho, but from the top down you can see the flaws that result from a) not making sure the slit you are creating is centered correctly and 2] not having a proper drift to open up the hole for the handle. I tried using the horn from my anvil and I think that might have exaggerated the problem some. While I wasn't super excited about how it looked, I wanted to get a feel for the weight and balance of it, so I handled the head with a length of dowling I had lying around. You can see how the crappy wood split when I drove a wedge into it (@ about 6:00 in the second pic). Suprisingly, it feels pretty good in the hand and has pretty good balance. Definitely something I'm going to work at improving, and I really liked making it. Next one I hope to be worth a decent handle, if nothing else. :?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robakyo Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Intriguing! Hilarious, and yet Cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Practice at anything can only make you better. If your slit/drift starts to favor one side more than the other, you can heat the heavier side so that it will give more than the thinner side. This still will result in an off center hole but you can make the material the same thickness all around which may help with the aesthetics. For a practice session you did well. Don't complain about the dowel cracking. We can never expect more from something than what it was designed to be. Good job and keep practicing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Have you thought of practicing by making a set of handled tooling? Say a series of punches of different diameters. Also start scrounging hammer/sledge/shovel/industrial mop handles as they are much stronger wood than dowel and can be re-shaped for handles---getting a good used farrier's rasp can really speed up reshaping them too. A broken long handle can often be cut back to sound wood and reused for smaller items. Now don't everyone faint when I say this; but a RR spike is fairly close to the size of a horseman's hammer type of warhammer---much faster and lighter than people assume they were and once you get better you can forge weld a higher carbon cap on both ends for the impact surfaces... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 Thanks to everyone for your comments! Thomas, I've been keeping an eye for stuff I can turn into punches. Haven't had much luck yet, but I'm planning a trip to the scrapyard with that on my list of things to do. I have a couple of broken (hammer) handles that I'm saving for a worthy project - I didn't think this particular item warranted it. Didn't think of mop, etc, handles. I have a couple of them lying around that I will dedicate to the cause. As to the horseman's hammer, that's exactly what I was thinking of when I handled it - pretty light and quick, good for one hand, and not going to throw you off balance when you swing it around. Glad I was on the right track in my line of thought. Forge welding caps would be a good idea down the road... have to get that skill squared away at some point. :) Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 You might keep your eye open for a rock breaker bar AKA spud bar cheap at a fleamarket---or find a place that rents equipment and ask if they have a broken or bent up one to sell to you cheap. Usually a good medium carbon steel---better than a RR spike and usually about 5-6' long with the chisel end being at least 1" sq, the top end is often round and slightly smaller in diameter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 Ooooooo.... brilliant idea. Add it to the list. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 I came into blacksmithing though bladesmithing so unfortunately my high carbon scrap pile is larger than my low carbon scrap---I end up buying new mild stock; but have a gracious plenty of HC to hand. One of the first things I do when I get home from the scrapyard is to spark test my finds. I also find a lot of HC rock drill shafts from the 100+ year old mines out here. I try to get the ones without a central hole as besides the whole hole issue there has been incidents where an old rod was used for explosives tamping and the hole has been filled with stuff that did not like a forge fire! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwisatz Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Take it with you when you go to the scrapyard and snap a few pictures of what your new toy will do to a car door! You may be a lot less concerned with how it looks if you know its completely functional. I may just try a project like this myself. Thanks for the inspiration! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 That's a good idea, Kwisatz. I can tuck it in the bottom of my toolbox when I go. Probably be the week after Memorial day. Might be Memorial Day itself, if the yard is open and my son's soccer tourney ends soon enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Get the staff to try it out too. If one of the fellows gets interested in what you are making you can really luck out with the "I thought you might like this so I tossed it over behind the shed" finds... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 On your split, it looks like the wooden wedge is too small. It should be the same or wider than the eye, and the eye will split the end off. Even if this was a good handle, if the wooden wedge was too small it would still split. I know because I have split several good handles! At least they remain tight and functional for a useful time, but nowhere near as long as doing it right. Aside from some inconsistencies that might be the background merging with the subject matter in the image, it looks pretty nice. I recommend a solid, contrasting color background if possible for pictures. A towel, rag, or drop cloth work well for tools. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 Phil, I had second thoughts about the wedge when was putting it in, but that was the first one I found when I was doing the prototype handle, and since this was a 'I wonder what would happen' project pretty much from start to end, I figured I could live with it. I've got another spike laid out for the next hammer, and have shaped the hammerhead side, and actually measured where the slit is going to go, so I'm expecting much prettier results on the next one. I also found an old sledge handle that I am probably going to use as handle stock. And thanks for the reminder about the background for photos. I had a 'duh' moment when I thought about it the day after I posted it. :) Thomas, thanks for the reminder about getting other people interested in what you are doing and the help that can be. Most of the people I know (wife, kids, neighbors) think I'm nuts. Another big chunk think it's kinda cool, but aren't that interested, but every now and again I find someone that is curious and kind of excited, and they are the ones that turn up with the occasional chunk of scrap or an old hammer or something. Hopefully i can find one of those guys at the scrap yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robakyo Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 Something that I wanted to ask you originally in my first post was, what did you pattern your slitter on? Was it based on the excellent info by Brian Brazeal? Sorry if I misspelled that. He provided valuable info and tons of picks on the various Slitters, Punches, and Drifts that he makes and uses. I would have gotten back to you sooner with this question, but I must've fainted when I read Thomas's comment about RR spikes. ; ) Also, I look forward to seeing the newer, more refined Warhammer you are contemplating, when finished. I'm also sure that, depending on where you live, most of the folks on this forum are considered eccentric in the eyes of their neighbors. Or worse. Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 I saw a picture of one somewhere, either here, or Anvilfire, or in Complete Modern Blacksmith and remembered it when I was trying my hand at making a chisel out of a big u-bolt I had been given. I had extra bolt left over, so took a crack at making a slitter. Then I decided to see if it worked (actually if I remembered correctly and shaped it close to correctly) and the rest is what I explained earlier. I had thought the square chisel shape would do better for slitting, but was very surprised that the actual slitter-shaped tool did its job so well. Seemed counter-intuitive to me at the time, but after using it, it made a lot of sense once I saw it working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted May 24, 2012 Share Posted May 24, 2012 I saw a picture of one somewhere, either here, or Anvilfire, or in Complete Modern Blacksmith and remembered it when I was trying my hand at making a chisel out of a big u-bolt I had been given. I had extra bolt left over, so took a crack at making a slitter. Then I decided to see if it worked (actually if I remembered correctly and shaped it close to correctly) and the rest is what I explained earlier. I had thought the square chisel shape would do better for slitting, but was very surprised that the actual slitter-shaped tool did its job so well. Seemed counter-intuitive to me at the time, but after using it, it made a lot of sense once I saw it working. You need to post a couple pictures of the tool you used now. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Private Entrance Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 This was taken at the end of the session I finished the chisel & slitter, and put the start on the warhammer head. The slitter I ended up using is 2nd from the left, the chisel in the middle. The head itself is on the left, before I drew out the spike and tried getting the shape of the hole right. The other two items are a RR spike that was in progress at the time, and a trailer hitch ball that I turned into a hardy tool. That was a pretty good day, IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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