July 4, 201610 yr Out of curiosity, has anyone here ever converted a carpenter's hatchet into a hot cut top tool? One caught my eye in the hardware store the other day, and it struck me that one could easily grind or cut the blade width to match the height of the eye, maybe spot-annealing the hammer end to make a softer struck end. Has anyone ever tried this, or is there a good reason not to?
July 4, 201610 yr using an axe for a hot cut and hardy has been discussed here before and yes drawing temper on the struck end would be a good idea as would using a flea market or yard sale one for a couple of bucks over a store bought one for much more.
July 4, 201610 yr Author Thanks. I didn't see the previous discussion, but I probably didn't use the right search terms.
August 7, 20169 yr man, you seem to be on a tool making craze! I get them some times. any specific project in mind, or just building up your tooling? Littleblacksmith
August 7, 20169 yr Author 7 minutes ago, littleblacksmith said: man, you seem to be on a tool making craze! I get them some times. any specific project in mind, or just building up your tooling? Littleblacksmith I had an unexpected gift of TIME: a week that I was supposed to be on vacation (accompanying my wife to a chamber music conference where she teaches in the summer) had to be spent at home so I could keep an eye on my hospitalized mother-in-law. Rather than sit around doing nothing, I fired up the forge for about 6 hours a day for eight days running and got a LOT done. Yes, most of that was tooling. I've been in "make the tool to make the tool to make the...what was I making?" mode for a long time, so it just made sense to get a bunch of things made that I'd been needing or thinking about for a while. 23 minutes ago, littleblacksmith said: man, you seem to be on a tool making craze! I get them some times. any specific project in mind, or just building up your tooling? Littleblacksmith I had an unexpected gift of TIME: a week that I was supposed to be on vacation (accompanying my wife to a chamber music conference where she teaches in the summer) had to be spent at home so I could keep an eye on my hospitalized mother-in-law. Rather than sit around doing nothing, I fired up the forge for about 6 hours a day for eight days running and got a LOT done. Yes, most of that was tooling. I've been in "make the tool to make the tool to make the...what was I making?" mode for a long time, so it just made sense to get a bunch of things made that I'd been needing or thinking about for a while. Would have gotten a lot more made, too, if I hadn't burned a couple of pieces 3/4 of the way through making them!
August 7, 20169 yr 12 minutes ago, JHCC said: Would have gotten a lot more made, too, if I hadn't burned a couple of pieces 3/4 of the way through making them! JHCC Its good to know I'm not the only person that burns things up mid-project.
August 7, 20169 yr Author 3 minutes ago, 51 Papy said: JHCC Its good to know I'm not the only person that burns things up mid-project. Several hours' work down the tube.
August 7, 20169 yr 3 hours ago, JHCC said: Several hours' work down the tube. what were you working on? it happens to all of us...... Littleblacksmith
August 8, 20169 yr Ya know, that's what I like about this site. I can look at projects I will never have the skill to do, projects that are beautiful, so-so projects (some where mine) and failures (again some where mine)and everyone is supportive and willing to help you learn from your mistakes and let us new guys know "stuff happens" to both experienced smiths and beginners. Thanks all! Papy
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