I was wanting to make a throwing hawk/camp axe, and I need some help. I have tried to make them out of railroad spikes, but the blades always end up too small. Any1 know what makes good hawks?

A 16oz. ball pein hammer might make a fine throwing hawk. A 16oz. claw hammer could work, too, if you chop off the claws and reshape it, a 20oz. head would be even better. You can find tomahawk material at garage and tag sales if you look, especially if you dig to the bottom of boxes full of rusty junk. I never pass up a rusty hammer head for a quarter. Heck, I might even go as high as fifty cents or a dollar if it suits my fancy and is a fine design.

RR spikes need to be upset an inch or more on the pointy end to have enough metal for a decent blade. Take a look at mine in the gallery.

Try old ferriers rasp. You can usualy pick them up at flea markets for about $1.00 or so.

I have seen them made by bending the tip down at a sharp 90 degree then forging out the blade. I think I can find a picture of one someone made. Personally I have always done as Jerry said.

If you recycle hammer heads make sure they are good steel. A friend of mine heated one up to reshape. The first or second hit whith the power hammer and it shattered. Did not fly apart just shattered. Really looked odd like broken saftey glass. Still all one piece but lots of cracks all through it. That said you could use the traditional method of folding a piece of steel over on itself and welding or rivetting it together.

Aaron

A.s.t... The head was likely to cold, but i know for a fact that dollartree hammers are cast iorn.

i have tried a 2lb. ball pein i picked up at the flea market for $1, and after i heated it up and started hammering, it cracked. i found out the bad way it was cast iron. any1 know how to tell if a hammer is cast or not if it doesnt say?

Do a spark test on them when you get home. I've never seen or even heard of a cast iron ball pein hammer. If you offer a quarter for them you won't be out much dough if they do turn out to be cast iron.

Are you sure your head was cast iron? If it was cast iron it would not just crack, it would break apart into pieces. That has been my experience. It is possible the hammer head was worked at to low a temperature?

I use HF 24 oz framing hammers for reshaping . So far they have given me great results. Not to mention a tidy profit!
Finnr

I heated the hammer up to bright orange in the coal forge, then i hit it with my 4 lb. cross pein twice and there was a big crack right down the middle of the hammer head of the ball pein. Then, after i heated it up again, i hit the pein of the hammer and it just broke off.

also, what is HF hammers? Harbor freight?

Yupper good old Harbor Freight! Three dollars each on sale. I buy them a dozen at a time when they are cheap.
Finnr

New from the local alchemist(Or Google): If you've had a hammer crack on you; (like me) More heat, longer heat, short time out of the fire. also to correct myself- Dollar tree hammers are Half-decent steel, Not cast iron. Bright orange is the coldest we should be going until the third heat/or till its thinner (Round 1/4 in.)
As soon as i get a cheap hammer I'll post some pictures

I have run into several old cast iron ballpeins. We tend to forget that there were low quality tools way back when too, (just look at the 100+ year old Sears catalog selling cast iron anvils for their lowest grade ones); but the bad tools tend not to survive to come down to us today. They get broken and discarded/recycled.

I have a bucket of ballpeins as I pick them up whenever I see them a dollar or under at garage sales or fleamarkets. Besides hawks you can reforge them into handled punches, slitters, or dishing hammers.

Good News the creek has Given me a 20 OZ. framing hammer from the time of the mammoths! (it looks it!) i shall forge it in to a 'hawk soon!

I've had success using a geologist style picking hammer. They're those ones with a fairly long square head with a a pick opposite. Undoubtedly they have another name. I believe I picked it up for pennies at a yard sale. You can cut off the pick or forge it to a point. It forged easily with no problems (as it is not cast) and is a great first hawk project as it doesn't require forge welding or drifting a hole for the handle.You will however have to shape the hole into an oval over a preshaped form (or the head will spin on the handle) or alternatively leave it round and drill through the hawk and handle and rivet with a piece of 1/4" brass or copper.