Finally after staring at a 2" x 1.5" x 1" piece of mild steel for 3-4 months I decided to heat it and see if i could make a small bearded hatchet. the body is 1018, the bit is 5160. Oil quenched and then normalized. Many thanks to Steve Sells, Basher, KY BOY, and Matthew Paul for their combined knowledge and inspiration. Thanks for the pics and posts guys!!

I'd be mighty proud of that...especially if it was the first go at making one!

neato, I like it!

 

Thanks guys!!!

Good job, miles better than my first.

hard to believe its only your first, good work

Finishing is well done too as it smooths the imperfections rather than showing them up; good choice!

Thanks that's a moral boost coming from you guys!! Only having a few chunks of the 1018 kept me reading and studying others techniques until I was pretty confident going into it. Blade making was what got me interested years ago but after farrier school i had a whole new appreciation for the whole craft and how in depth and technical bladesmithing is(and a strong dislike for horses).  I will definitly be trying some more blades and axes in the future it was a lot of fun!! Nowadays I do my decoration and garden/grilling blacksmithing and avoid horses and the hives they cause at all cost.

Sorry you don't share my love of horses (horse owners on the other hand...) but glad you share my love of moving hot steel

 

I think its because I grew up in the city and was never really around horses at all growing up, and being of short stature (5'4") they are pretty dang intimidating. Also its not so much the animal I don't like, but the side effects of being so allergic. They are pretty awesome beasts, just too foreign to me to be anything but a challenge. I like challenges, just not being covered in hives while trying to solve them. But props to you Charles, the people who can do it are amazing!

 

Amazing? Crazy as a sprayed roach more like, lol. I apretiateapretiated the compliment. Being a horsehoer is an own off shoot of loving horses, but believe me, 5'4" or 6'2" dosnt make much of a difference when your talking about a half ton of animal that is about as smart as a 4 year old. Add to that working with drafts. Loved the heavies from afar as a kid,  grew up a gear head, a nerdy gear head at that. But I speak heavaly accented horse, albeit with a lisp, lol.