Matthew Paul Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 I have not been on the forum in quite a while, but here is one of the many projects that I've completed. It is a "Viking" axe, modeled after some axes that fall into the Petersons Typology of "D" As it has been from the time that I started making this some years back, my work has been heavily influenced by that of James Austin and the work that he did with Jeff Pringle. I've tried many different methods and starting stock sizes and shapes, however I have found my work to be the most consistent by starting out with 1" square A36, about 4" long. The one side then gets "upset" to build up the material for the front portion of the axe, and the rear section stays about 1" square for the eye. Next the hole that will become the eye is hot punched slowly with hand hammers. After the eye is punched, it is drifted out about 75% of its final size. The edge is hot cut, beveled, opened and cleaned to accept the high carbon steel bit, which will then be forged to shape, and forge welded into the axe head. Here you can see the axe fresh from forge welding with a little clean up work to remove the excess bit material, and a little clean up around the edges. I normally have less material to remove post forging but it has been a long time since I forged one of these. You can also see the higher carbon material used for the bit showing black in the photo. Cleaned up and etched, ready for heat treatment. The heat treated axe with the material that it started out as. That's a LOT of hammer work. Test fitting the tapered handle: Here is the finished axe on the fire treated and oiled handle. I took the axe out to clear out some shooting lanes where Ill be putting up a new tree stand this year for deer season. Thank you for having a look, perhaps next time I can take more detailed photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Sawicki Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 Wow thanks for this information, the axe is very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JME1149 Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 Photos not showing for me, just a string of numbers in their place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Paul Posted September 14, 2017 Author Share Posted September 14, 2017 17 minutes ago, Dylan Sawicki said: Wow thanks for this information, the axe is very cool. Thank you 6 minutes ago, JME1149 said: Photos not showing for me, just a string of numbers in their place. Interesting, I edited the post. Does it work properly now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 I see them running chrome as a browser on windows 10 enterprise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laertius Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 great work -- Would you mind showing the drift you use post punch? Ideal with a rule behind it to show dimensions. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 Very nice work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Paul Posted September 14, 2017 Author Share Posted September 14, 2017 9 minutes ago, Laertius said: great work -- Would you mind showing the drift you use post punch? Ideal with a rule behind it to show dimensions. Thanks. Thank you. I use 3 drifts. The first two are commercially available through most blacksmith supply shops, and the final drift I sized the same as the replacement tomahawk handles that you can get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benton Frisse Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 FanTASTIC work, MP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Paul Posted September 24, 2017 Author Share Posted September 24, 2017 Thank you very much Benton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancho Posted October 8, 2017 Share Posted October 8, 2017 Very beautiful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jspool Posted December 11, 2017 Share Posted December 11, 2017 Beautiful axe. Kinda like a jumbo hawk. I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonah k Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Love it very nice curves and clean forging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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