Some of my axes (picture heavy)

[Latticino]

On this grey, cold day I thought I'd take the opportunity to post a couple of the axes I've made in the last year or so (yes, I'm a slow, hobby smith only...).  Not great photos, but might do for inspiration:

This one is a sweet little hand axe.  Punch and drift mild steel with a forge welded 1084 bit:

A trio of mild steel wrap and weld throwing hawks with 1084 forge welded bits:

Punch and drift pipe axe with integral forged bowl and HC bit:

A wrap and weld "Viking" style with forge welded 1084 bit:

Something a little different.  Wrought iron eye forge welded to a 5160 body.  Like the technique, but need to refine the form further.  The wrought was deliberately left proud of the body and preformed to the final shape.  Once I get my coal forge going I'll be making more of these.

 

 

Another wrap and weld splitting axe:

 

 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

3 minutes ago, Latticino said:

Wrought iron eye forge welded to a 5160 body.

All of your axe's and hawks are to be proud of for sure. I really love the wrought & 5160 one that would be a favorite.

[jlpservicesinc]

Wonderful work..  Looking forwards to more examples to be added too..  

 

[Frosty]

Boy, how'd I miss this thread? 

I like your hand axe, first pic. and the viking. I really like the wrought and 5160 for the pol, I'm looking forward to seeing more refined versions. 

Thanks. More please. 

Frosty The Lucky. 

[jlpservicesinc]

For myself having some measurements would be great..   It's really hard to see what the lengths and widths are with no reference..  and eye photos..  these little extras if possible just added to the , Wow factor. 

[Latticino]

Jennifer,

A reasonable request.  I tried to photo with something added for scale, but i had a lot of trouble composing the photos, so I begged off and just went for simple shots.  All of these axes are essentially single hand axes, with the largest being on the scale of a camp axe, or there about.

Here is a rough list of the size and weights (note that all weights are including the handles).  Sorry for the mixed measurement systems:

1. Hand axe: 473 g, 3" bit, 6" long head, 15" haft  (made for backpacking, still need to make a belt sheath)
2. Hawks: 716 g, 3" bit, 6.25" long head, 19.5" haft  (a good weight for throwing, though I've made similar size at 580 g that I also like)
3. Pipe Hawk: 492 g, 2.5" bit, 8" long head w/functional bowl, 19.5" haft
4. Viking axe: 1041 g, 4.5" bit, 6.75" long head, 25" haft
5. WI axe:  966 g, 4" bit, 8" long head, 24" haft
6. Splitting axe: 1041 g, 3" bit, 6.5" long head, 26" haft (I kow, hard to believe it came out the exact same weight as the VIking one, but I did make them the same week from similar sized stock)

[Latticino]

Some more photos showing details and eyes in certain cases (didn't want to bore folks before, but since you asked):

Pipe axe eye (w/violin tuner peg):

Closeup of a throwing hawk (shows my touchmark):

Splitting axe detail:

Here is another functional pipe hawk with welded bit and integral bowl.  Not super happy with the eye proportions, but the filework was fun:

[jlpservicesinc]

Beautiful work.. Thanks for more photos and measurements.. 

Anything tomahawk like, or medival time frame I leave the tops up.   Your style and eye for dimensions is very good..  Wonderful. 

[Latticino]

Kind of you to say so Jennifer.  Got a ways to go, but enjoying the journey.

[Latticino]

I made a quick bearded hawk  today as a demo to teach one of my son's friends to forge a hawk.  He did great on his (don't have a photo of that), but he stuck both the forge welds on the first try (wrap and weld eye with a 1084 HC bit)  as a complete beginner to forging.  Only thing I did for him was to preforge the HC bits for both of us.  Of course he was a former glassblower, so familiar with working with heated stuff you can't touch, and that helps.  Both got fully heat treated and his is mounted on a handle as well.

[Frosty]

Nice. What are you going to use for the handle?

Frosty The Lucky.

[jlpservicesinc]

Very nice work.. Love the shape. 


Forge welding is one of those things that if you show someone it's not magic. It's usually not a problem while they are there..   

[Frazer]

Wow, all of these are incredible! The one with the wrought iron eye is especially cool in my opinion. I like that the wrought is left proud, it really adds an extra layer of visual appeal.

[Anachronist58]

Excellent and pleasing to the eye, Latticino, your work inspires...

Robert Taylor

[bigfootnampa]

I like your splitting axe!  I just am impressed by the power of a true wedge shape driven by weight and momentum!  Yours looks just about right too.  I do find that the axes in my collection are rarely used for splitting though.  For firewood a maul is better and when I had a bad arm on one side I actually split quite a bit with a heavy duty froe and hand maul.  For more delicate splits... like spoon blanks or tool handle blanks... I generally use a mid size froe.  The small froe is also just the thing for splitting chunks of hickory or pecan for the smoker/bbq.

[Latticino]

Thanks for the kind words from everyone. I agree a maul is a superior choice for splitting, but haven't made one yet.  I do have a froe  that just needs a handle.  I'll have to try that next.   I have a small fireplace in my home office/sanctum, so processing small logs is in my future. The current axe works well for that also.

Here is the latest hawk with an "antiqued" hickory haft. I like the look, but my wife says it is "interesting" (code that she is not impressed).

Today I've been struggling with a pipe hawk with integral forged bowl.  All from a 4.5" stick of 1 x1" with forge welded bit.  Hope to finish forging tomorrow. 

[JHCC]

I'd like to point out that not only is Latticino a good maker of axes, but he's also quite a good teacher of how to make them. Here he is demonstrating for me how to do the wrap-and-weld:

And here I am, giving it a try: