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I Forge Iron

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Posted

I was just wondering if anyone had some pictures that I could show my friend of some hatchets/axes he wants to but one that I can make???? I was drawing up some ideas and he did not like any of them!:(....ANY IDEASS!!

Posted

I make a nice light camping hatchet by taking a high quality farrier's rasp and bending it around a piece of pipe to leave an eye and then forge welding the sides together. Then dressing the eye---I usually use a hammer handle drift as hammer handles are easy and cheap to buy compared to a hawk handle...

With a high quality rasp you don't even need to weld in a bit!

You can make some nice hawks using a ball peen hammer head as the starting piece---drift out the eye using a bull pin and then do a final drift using a hawk handle drift., the ball of it can be forged into a spike, made into a pipe bowl, cut off, made into a hammer head for dressing nails deeper, etc

On Ideas: have him draw up a dozen, then pick a couple you think are close to what you can do and modify those to match you skills, tools and materials.

Can you tell us if he wants a war ax, a hsitorical european woodworking axe, an american felling axe, etc---turn up the brightness we're having trouble reading your and his mind!

Posted

It would be a big help to know exactly what skills you have at this point as well. I do most of my ax heads by the slit and drift method as my little forge is a bit hard to get a decent weld in.
Finnr

Posted

I made a throwing hawk from a RR spike a few days ago, turned out pretty well except I got the drift a little off center. It would have been functional, it just didn't look "right", my oldest boy claimed it. I will probably do another one in the next few days just for giggles.

Thanks
Steve

Posted

John, be sure to check out this sites Gallery and then my next suggestion would be to utilize Google Image Search Google Image Search You'd be surprised what you come up with. First hit for me was a friend's site Tomahawks/Axes (excellent knifemaker)

Rasp axes have a really nice look to them, and it's a cheap source for the steel stock. Not sure where you are in NJ but as you have been looking for a variety of supplies I wanted to ask if you hit any of the larger fleamarkets? Columbus, Cowtown, Berlin, Englishtown, Talconi-Palmyra are a few that come to mind. If you want a bunch of old files and rasps, you could pick up a box of pre-rusted ones for $5 (then just clean them in the fire).

-MJ

Posted

Iron
I have gotten a lot of use out of the book Indian Trade Relics by Lar Hothem. It has several pages of tomahawks and trade axes. Not to mention many other smith made trade items like flint strikers,arrow heads etc.
A.S.T.

Posted
I made a throwing hawk from a RR spike a few days ago, turned out pretty well except I got the drift a little off center. It would have been functional, it just didn't look "right", my oldest boy claimed it. I will probably do another one in the next few days just for giggles.

Thanks
Steve



I was going to suggest this one too, i am trying one or two of them tonight myself.
Posted

As much as I hate spike blades I believe I will end up making a bunch real soon---picked up a bunch of miniature mine rail spikes and will make some miniature letter openers...

Posted

Depends if it turns out any good. Once I get my delivery of stock and start making more stuff, I'll be giving away a fair amount of my products to friends and the archaeology dept. at my uni.

  • 1 year later...

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