Interesting process from a smith doing hand-forged production work with an unusual wrapped construction. I don’t know that I’ve seen anyone build up the poll by welding in a piece where the back of the eye will be, instead of drawing down the sides of the blank and leaving extra thickness at the back. 

(There’s no narration, so feel free to mute the repetitive incidental music.)

Thanks for posting that. Great info!  Straight forward technique that easy to replicate 

Note that he's using a high-carbon piece that runs from the edge all the way back to the eye; you can see the difference between the two steels at about the 7:54 mark.

For once I didn't mind the music, it was neither loud nor distracting.

I wonder what he was using for flux, he wasn't bashful spooning it on. I've never seen the eye and pol made that way either. Note how lightly he struck setting the welds.

Another excellent video link. Thanks John!

Frosty The Lucky.

You’re welcome!

There was a couple of other interesting techniques that stood out to me. The wooden backing board Mr. Mizuno uses while grinding reminded me of the backing sticks formerly used by knifegrinders in Sheffield, and I liked the metal strap that went inside the eye to hold the axe securely. Also, the gizmo behind and to the left of the anvil had me a bit puzzled at first, but then I realized that it’s a pair of thick wire wheels that he uses to clean off the scale before he goes to the power hammer (at 3:13) and to clean the surfaces before heat treatment (at 6:45). Fast and effective; very clever. 

I liked the band or clip securing the axe head to the backing board too I wish I'd gotten a better look. Another thing I'm wondering about is how many times those wire wheels have grabbed an axe head (or whatever) and fired it out the back side. I couldn't see it clearly, AGAIN but I think there are two wheels running together to clean both sides at once. 

I've been a big fan of running wire wheels and buffers rotating upwards on the operator's side who uses the top of the wheel so broken wires and anything getting snagged is thrown away and down. Simply hanging a tarp behind the wheel stops flying objects with zero bounce. I about lost it the first time I saw a wire wheel set up that way, then Rich demonstrated by deliberately pushing a piece's leading edge into the wheel and it hit the piece of carpet hanging behind it and fell to the floor.

Frosty The Lucky.

There's a shield of some variety that appears to direct sparks and debris downward to a tray on the floor. There's a good view at the 2:04 mark. Also, note the tongs he uses at 6:45 to grab the axe by the eye for quenching. He doesn't use them when he cleans the axe before taking them to the power hammer, but the way that they hook inside the eye would certainly help keep them from getting sucked into the brushes.

There's a decent view of the double wheel setup at 2:59, where you can see a bit of the top brush and a decent amount of the bottom. At 0:42, there's a good view of the pulleys driving the brushes, possibly off a lineshaft. 

29 minutes ago, Frosty said:

wire wheels and buffers rotating upwards on the operator's side who uses the top of the wheel

I'm going to have to think about giving that a try, especially set up so that the wheel is about at the level of the operator's sternum. 

The glow from the axe head lights the wheels and guard pretty well at 3:16 on my screen. The 6:45 shows how the wheel guards are designed to deflect thrown objects down at the floor. 

The reverse direction wire wheel should be low, Rich's was mounted below the bench top by maybe 6".  The higher the mount the higher the trajectory thrown pieces will take.

The dual wheels in the above video will throw things straight like a pitching machine.

The tongs remind me a little of Brian Brazeals hammer tongs. I think I like these better, especially for wire brushing. Of course if the wheels grabbed they'd throw the tongs too. 

Frosty The Lucky.

cool vid. I wonder if the 3 forged lines on both side are part of his touchmark.

I have seen them on many other japanese axes and hatches. Three to five lines. Reducing friction? I don't know.

UPDATE: There's a new video out of the same smith, in which he not only demonstrates his technique, but philosophizes about the place of traditional techniques in a modern business.

 

On 12/3/2022 at 11:28 AM, anvil said:

cool vid. I wonder if the 3 forged lines on both side are part of his touchmark.

On 12/3/2022 at 1:29 PM, wicon said:

I have seen them on many other japanese axes and hatches. Three to five lines. Reducing friction? I don't know.

This is explained at the 8:43 mark in the new video: three lines on one side and four on the other, to bring good luck to the worker and to help them avoid accidents in the woods.

 

Nice video...thanks for posting.

I like the smith's technique of forge welding the poll piece in place prior to folding.  Should help make the fold more symmetrical and control the fold.

If it was a cheese knife I know the answer, the grooves break the vacuum allowing cheese slices to separate from the blade. The captions in the video says the grooves on the hatchet blade is for good fortune, luck, etc. The smith certainly wasn't bashful with his "welding compound".

Good link, thanks John.

Frosty The Lucky.

I like how he can sit down and do the work. My body isn't the best and my back plays up if I stand up forging all day. I might try it sitting down.

 

What are people's opinions on the rather square eye?

I'd like to get into making hatchets and don't yet have a drift. Are there any major pros or cons to the tear drop cross section or the square one?

I didn't get a good look at the finished eye in the video but I was trying to read the captions and trying to figure those out distracted me. The rectangular piece he welded at the back of the eye provided stock for the poll but I didn't get a good look at either the drift nor finished eye.

My thought for marketing hand forged hatchets and axes is to make the eye as close to standard commercial eye's as reasonably possible. Axe eyes are tapered widest at the handle side so if it comes loose you don't sling the head. 

Hatchets appear to be tapered to be fitted with a wedge though lots of custom hatchets have "custom" eyes. 

Ask yourself what you'd think if every time you needed to put a new handle on your hatchet you could just buy one at the hardware store or had to hand carve one to fit. Remember, it's easy to miss, especially if you're using Dad's hatchet to split kindling camping. No?

Making a punch for a commercial hatchet eye isn't that hard. Rough it close but a little longer than finished shape, get it good and HOT, low yellow with enough soak time it's HOT all through. Then using an old hatchet as a swage drive your eye punch preform into the old hatchet eye. Drive it far enough to protrude a little, an inch / 25mm anyway so you can grind the starting end of the punch smaller than the desired eye size to ease insertion. Making the eye punch shiny means it will be slicker while punching.

Make sense?

Frosty The Lucky.

I saw the eye shape in the first video. I haven't had time to watch the second one yet.

Makes perfect sense. I never even thought of using an existing head as a swage!

I love elegant simplicity, especially when someone surprises me with it right under my nose 

 I get surprised looks every time I make the suggestion. I understand perfectly though, I've been missing that sort of thing my whole life.

Frosty The Lucky.