navasky Posted November 12, 2015 Posted November 12, 2015 I finished this one up this weekend. Forged out of a piece of railroad anchor, the handle is made from an old baseball bat. It ended up kinda plain Jane but feels nice in the hand. Quote
TwistedCustoms Posted November 12, 2015 Posted November 12, 2015 Nice lines all around, I like it. What is the handle length? Quote
David R. Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 What is railroad anchor? How did you harden and temper? Symmetry is excellent. Did you use swage or die? Quote
781 Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 Railroad anchor is a piece of spring steel hammered onto the bottom of the rails. It is to keep the rail from sliding as it hits the railroad tie. Quote
ThomasPowers Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 sort of 3 looking things here in the USA, usually about 1050 to 1060 steel (so about double the carbon content of a RR spike and I see them at the scrap yards with the spikes) Quote
mitch4ging Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 looks great, nice shape. good choice for the haft...all repurposed! my only concern would be the eye is round, would it be prone to turn on the haft when you start to use it. Great looking photos by the way! Quote
ThomasPowers Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 Be easy enough to squish the eye a bit on the next one... Quote
Stormcrow Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 That came out pretty darn sweet! Love all of it except for that round eye. Much better choice than using a railroad spike, in my opinion. Quote
JHCC Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 There are two different types of rail anchors on the right hand side of this photo: the squiggly "3" shape and the fat "J" shape. Quote
navasky Posted November 13, 2015 Author Posted November 13, 2015 20 hours ago, TwistedCustoms said: What is the handle length? The handle is about 20 inches. 19 hours ago, David R. said: What is railroad anchor? How did you harden and temper? Symmetry is excellent. Did you use swage or die? As others have said rail anchors range from about 1040-1060 depending on the manufacturer. This one was triple normalized, hardened in canola oil, and triple tempered at 425. The body was drawn back to spring temper with a propane torch. No dies or swages used, just some grinding in between forging steps. In defense of round eyes, viking axes were commonly made with round eyes, so were trade axes. They won't turn on the haft if you hang them right and they're strong and easy to rehang in the field. They're not great for splitting though. Quote
Frozenthunderbolt Posted November 14, 2015 Posted November 14, 2015 Beautiful lines on both the axe and handle - I like the square poll on the back. Quote
VaughnT Posted November 28, 2015 Posted November 28, 2015 That definitely qualifies as beautiful work. The symmetry is perfect and I like the size for general tinkering in the woods. Maybe the handle another foot longer and you'd have a nice walking cane like they use in the Alps. Quote
eggwelder Posted March 2, 2016 Posted March 2, 2016 On November 13, 2015 at 4:36 PM, navasky said: The handle is about 20 inches. As others have said rail anchors range from about 1040-1060 depending on the manufacturer. This one was triple normalized, hardened in canola oil, and triple tempered at 425. The body was drawn back to spring temper with a propane torch. No dies or swages used, just some grinding in between forging steps. In defense of round eyes, viking axes were commonly made with round eyes, so were trade axes. They won't turn on the haft if you hang them right and they're strong and easy to rehang in the field. They're not great for splitting though. I make round eye all the time, they don`t spin or turn as you might expect. i have lots of these, I`ll be trying them, i love the simplicity Quote
WAGONJON Posted March 18, 2016 Posted March 18, 2016 Some beautiful things are still make in Oakland! Very inspirational! Have you used it yet? Quote
navasky Posted April 6, 2016 Author Posted April 6, 2016 On 3/18/2016 at 10:14 AM, WAGONJON said: Some beautiful things are still make in Oakland! Very inspirational! Have you used it yet? Yup it's been on a couple backpacking trips with me. Works great and even splits wood a little better than expected. Quote
Jonah k Posted April 15, 2016 Posted April 15, 2016 Very nice hawk clean lines. Does it throw well? Quote
navasky Posted April 20, 2016 Author Posted April 20, 2016 On 4/15/2016 at 6:40 PM, Jonah k said: Very nice hawk clean lines. Does it throw well? Thanks. I don't plan to find out since I've spent too much time on the handle at this point to risk breaking it with a bad throw. Quote
Jonah k Posted April 21, 2016 Posted April 21, 2016 Fair enough. I need to replace my handle soon, I make lots of bad throws Quote
dbeam Posted June 15, 2016 Posted June 15, 2016 On 4/20/2016 at 5:47 PM, navasky said: Thanks. I don't plan to find out since I've spent too much time on the handle at this point to risk breaking it with a bad throw. Your a wise man, very nice job. Darrell Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.