Michael Cochran Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 I have a couple tomahawks I need to make for some people and I've decided to do the smart thing and buy new/known steel for the bit. I was originally thinking about using an old wrecking bar because I know those they are pretty tough. I thought twice and decided I don't want to waste time and fuel (both very valuable resources right now) and do several different test heat treatments to find the ideal one. All that said I'm thinking of using O1 but since I've never used it and know only what I've read I'm not 100% convinced that's the best choice. I don't wanna waste money buying the wrong steel so please someone give me a clue. I'm also curious about the thickness requirements. I know I'm going to have enough some steel on either side of it but was debating on if 3/16" would be too much, I was thinking I could go thinner but then I run the risk of the edge running off to one side. I'm sure these questions have been asked before and I'm just not seeing them right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Will they be thrown? (if so I like 5160) On size is this a fold and weld or a slit and drift type hawk---can't address thickness without knowing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted July 1, 2016 Author Share Posted July 1, 2016 I should know better than not give all the information one might need to correctly assist by now but it slipped my mind. Neither is supposed to be for throwing and one is actually meant to be more of a wall hanger than anything. The wall hanger will be slit and drift, the other I'm not sure until I wrinkle out a couple more details but it'll probably be wrap and weld. I thought about leaving the bit out of the wall hanger but decided to include it just in case it ends up in circulation one day. I'd hate for someone to get it and start talking trash about my work cause the hawk won't perform right simply because it didn't put a bit in it. Im headed out the door for work I'll see if I can't check in later if I think of any more information that might be useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Wrap and weld hawks that I've made were mild steel with 1084 or 1075 bits forge welded in place (I've also seen folks forge weld a small section of old rasp or file for the bits). I wouldn't use 5160 for a wrap and weld without putting a sacrificial thin shim between the sides to aid in forge welding the 5160 together. Actually in that case I'd probably do an eccentric forge welded eye rather than a "butterfly" join so I didn't have the shim centered in the business end of the hawk. 5160 would be great for a slit and drift hawk, though a lot of work to move around. Would be pretty easy if you have a power hammer or agreeable striker though. Needless to say you can still do a slit and drift in mild steel and add a high carbon bit to it after rough shaping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 Agree that 5160 doesn't like to forgeweld to itself and I like the traditional soft body and hard bit construction method; which also gives you more room in what the bit actually is as a failure can be dealt with by putting q new bit in. (I've seen old axe heads where the original bit was a cleft weld and the "replacement" was a lap weld.) I picked up a hewing hatchet head at the fleamarket recently that looks to have a lap weld bit on it. (US$5 IIRC) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted July 1, 2016 Author Share Posted July 1, 2016 It's definitely going to be two different steels, one for the body and a different for the bit. So I might wanna try 5160 or a 10xx instead of o1. Am I understanding that correctly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Latticino Posted July 1, 2016 Share Posted July 1, 2016 As far as I'm concerned, for a hawk I would not go out of my way to get any specialty type of tool steel. I'd use whatever I had lying around that I had successfully forge welded or heat treated in the past. For my money the bit on a hawk doesn't have as stringent requirements as a high end knife, but if to be thrown impact resistance is probably more important than edge holding ability. 5160 or 4140 might be good choices, but I expect O1 would work fine also. In any case I would use mild steel for the body. If you haven't seen this yet, this is a nice tutorial on the "butterfly" method of forming the eye and setting a bit: http://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?showtopic=26567. I've used a modified method of this with some fullering of the body stock for the cheeks to preform the eye and improve the chances of getting a good weld at the front of the eye (thin the cheeks and keep the area to be welded thicker), a typical place for failure. Just remember not to drive in the drift to open up the eye once welded (though using it as an inner form to forge onto works nicely, if that makes any sense). Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted July 1, 2016 Author Share Posted July 1, 2016 Unfortunately at this time all i have on hand is mystery steel (coil springs, lawn mower blades, hex and flat pry bars). Well i do have some W1 round (5/8 and 3/4 if I recall correctly off the top of my head) but have never used it and didn't think it would be up to the task but maybe I should do some more reading. Thanks for the link, I have read it once upon a time but it would be wise to reread it. Alan definitely knows a thing or two about tomahawks from what I've seen of his work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will52100 Posted July 2, 2016 Share Posted July 2, 2016 I really like either leaf spring, most likely 5160, or 1084 new stock. I normally use 1/4" stock and forge it to a taper. The one real weird failure I've had is with 0-1, after forge welding and heat treating I found it was split down the center of the 0-1 bit. The wrought iron welded perfectly, but the 0-1 itself came apart. It was not over heated and I've welded 0-1 into damascus with no issues, not sure what happened here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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