First forged 'hawk

[psilogen]

I work in an 1820s shop, so I figured I'd forge an 1820s tool. This is a steel-edged tomahawk, made somewhat in the style of the trade hatchets being sold to the natives in the area (Mississippi/Minnesota confluence in MN, USA). I'm told that the trade hatchets would have been fairly soft steel (designed obsolecency), but I wanted to make one that would last, so I attempted to weld a steel edge into it.

I have to admit that none of the welds went half as well as I'd hoped they would. For the edge, I had a lot of steel hanging outside of the main 'hawk body. The excess got burnt and mucked up the rest of it, so I'm not sure how much good steel is actually left. As for the socket, the blade near the socket is necessarily twice as thick as the iron forming the socket, so the iron forming the socket heats much quicker if you place it poorly in the welding fire. Consequently, there are some pretty hideous burn marks (adds character). I think I've figured out how to prevent the steel edge from burning (trim it very closely to the size of the unforged blade edge, flux and then hammer together at orange, then go for the weld heat), and the socket will be a matter of arranging the whole thing in the fire in some novel manner which leaves the weld seam in white coal and the socket in yellow or orange. (Perhaps straight up with half the blade buried in ash and the socket sticking slightly above the weld hotspot?)

This is my first one, so be harsh.



additionally, I can't find the "Edit Photos" button the FAQ refers to. Could someone help me out?

[brucegodlesky]

Looks good to me!

[racer3j]

Did you split and insert steel and then forgeweld? Or, did you fold steel over and forge it on? Either way I don't see any voids in the cutting area. It looks good to me as well.mike( unless it is like a vain celebrity and only allows photo of "good side.")

Edited August 7, 2008 by racer3j
typo

[Frosty]

Looks good to me too.

Frosty

[S.Willis]

Thats a fine looking hawk

[chyancarrek]

My first one didn't look anywhere near that good.

I did 6 years in an 1840's shop - and it's up to par with many I've seen.

Great job!

[psilogen]

Thanks, all. I welded an old chunk of file into the mild steel the rest of it was made of, just sandwiched in the end. I think most of the current edge had the carbon burnt out of it, but I haven't tried tempering it yet, and I guess I'm taking it on faith that it was a solid steel file. I plan on grinding another 1/4" or so off of it to see if I can find a point where a file skates over it. If you look at the top and bottom (no pics yet), you can clearly see the seams, but it holds together alright, and I learned a lot in the process.

[Rich Hale]

Have you hardened it yet?

[Tom Lumpkins]

Looks good, Thanks for sharing with us...

[racer3j]

Did you make those fine looking hammer heads?mike

[Doug C]

I would be a happy man if I could do one half as well. Nice job.

[ThomasPowers]

May I point out that in the 1820's the body of the piece would have been wrought iron and not steel, steel as we know it being generally a post 1856 item.

The high carbon steels for edges would have been blister steel (carburized wrought iron), shear steel (carburized wrought iron that has been folded and welded together) or most rare and expensive cast steel (carburized wrought iron that has been melted in a crucible and poured as an ingot and then worked down)

Even as late as the American Civil War high carbon steel could be 5 times the price of wrought iron and so was used sparingly.

It looks good and usable now go out there and *use* it!

My coal forge kindling hatchet was made by folding an old farrier's rasp over and welding it up leaving a gap to drift for the eye. I used a hammer handle drift as they are cheaper and easier to find than hawk handles out here.

[psilogen]

May I point out that in the 1820's the body of the piece would have been wrought iron and not steel, steel as we know it being generally a post 1856 item.

The high carbon steels for edges would have been blister steel (carburized wrought iron), shear steel (carburized wrought iron that has been folded and welded together) or most rare and expensive cast steel (carburized wrought iron that has been melted in a crucible and poured as an ingot and then worked down)

Even as late as the American Civil War high carbon steel could be 5 times the price of wrought iron and so was used sparingly.

It looks good and usable now go out there and *use* it!

My coal forge kindling hatchet was made by folding an old farrier's rasp over and welding it up leaving a gap to drift for the eye. I used a hammer handle drift as they are cheaper and easier to find than hawk handles out here.

True on the wrought iron, but we have hundreds of bars of mild steel and zero bars of wrought iron, so one must make concessions. Today I found a crack in the blade. During the welding/forging I noticed the blister that has made itself more apparent, but it will hold up to wood. once I'm back in the shop, I think I'll start on #2. One of the other smiths brought in a few examples made by smiths much better than I, so I have something to aspire to. The rifle barrel pipe hawk was especially cool.