My Work for the last few nights.

[scottyp74]

I have made a hammer and small ax drift, set of hot punches and chissels, and have started turning an old 16oz ball pein hammer head into a small bushcraft or shop hatchet for splitting small wood and what not. Tell me what you, any tips tricks or knowledge, or anything that could make me a better blacksmith. I have only been at this for about 3 weeks now.

[TwistedCustoms]

From the first photo it looks like you may have tempered your drift? If so you would be better off bringing it up to forging temp and slow cooling it. You don't want those tools hard. When you insert the drift in the eye and hammer down the cheeks you don't want the drift snapping. My hammer punches and drifts are all untempered and work just fine on hot steel. Driving a punch through a two inch round at forging temp would mess up any tempper you put in your punches anyway. If I'm seeing something that isn't there correct me. Looking good. The little ball pein hammers make good hot sets too. Grind a chisel bevel on it and handle it and use it with a soft backing plate on top of the anvil and you have another shop tool. If you make a hot set it will still split kindling but if you make a hatchet the thinner blade section won't hold up for hot cutting. Hot set = two tools in one.

Edited September 17, 2015 by TwistedCustoms

[Charles R. Stevens]

For an axe or a hot set (just about the same profile) fuller a bit by the eye and draw your bit (blade) a bit thiner with the rounded eye your going to end up with a tommahawk like profile (bulge around the eye). 

[scottyp74]

I have 3 more slapper 8oz ball pein hammer heads im going to make into hot sets. Thanks for the tip on the drift i will untemper it. So with my eye like it is with the drift i have it will make the ax look more like a tomahawk?

[turbo7]

With your punchs put a champher on the striking end, I round mine off completly, helps slow down mushrooming the top.

[beammeupscotty]

Rather than chopping at the small pieces of wood needed to start up a coal or coke fire with a hatchet, I'd suggest using your hot cut hardy instead.  I used to use a hatchet, but found it to be very easy to miss those small pieces of wood and come dangerously close to damaging a finger or the anvil surface.  With a hardy you just put the small block on top and hit it with a hammer.  I have a commercially made hardy which is forged at an angle similar to a splitting wedge and it works very well, much better than any hatchet.

[ThomasPowers]

My wife uses a froe to split kindling for our woodstove.  I was thinking that the fat bevel is usually seen on splitting rather than chopping items.

[SmoothBore]

Rather than chopping at the small pieces of wood needed to start up a coal or coke fire with a hatchet, I'd suggest using your hot cut hardy instead.  ..... With a hardy you just put the small block on top and hit it with a hammer. 

Concur.

I use the same technique, ... but use a rubber mallet to strike the wood .....

 

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[Charles R. Stevens]

I use a batton/mallot to strick the axe or more usualy my knife.