Matt Bower Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 Howdy folks. First post here, but some of y'all know me from PaleoPlanet, Don Fogg's, Primal Fires, The Outpost, etc. I recently wrapped and welded my first tomahawk blank out of wrought iron and 1095. (I know 1095 may be a little high in carbon for this purpose, but it was handy. I'll be sure to temper it well.) I did this on the fly and everything was improvised, including my mandrel. As a result, the eye is a little off in both shape and size. I figure I'll correct those problems with a drift -- which brings me to my question. I've started forging the drift out of a 1"x1" square demolition hammer bit made of S-5. The problem is that I'm not sure where to stop; I don't know what dimensions I should be shooting for at the widest part of the drift. I'd like to make this drift work for commonly available hawk handles. Can anyone help me out? I realize it may be kind of a difficult question to answer because we're not talking about a regular shape that's easy to measure, but I'd appreciate any input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 Purchase your handle and use calipers to check sizes when making a drift of similar size to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Bower Posted December 10, 2008 Author Share Posted December 10, 2008 Well, I suppose that would be the easy way. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rthibeau Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 what John B said........get the handles then make the drift(s) to match the handles..same thing for hammers or other handled tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnr Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 ORRRRRRRRR!!! Drift out the eyes , and make your own handles. (ok I'm too cheap to buy handles when I have wood enough for MANY!!! handles stored in the attic) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Bower Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 That occurred to me, but for the time being I'd rather buy my handles. I only have so much time and storage space, and right now I prefer to devote most of it to metal. I bought a hickory hawk handle for $4 today, which, considering the opportunity cost of my labor, is cheaper than I could make one. (Of course the same math might also dictate that I should buy my hawk heads but we have to draw the line somewhere, don't we?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.Willis Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 You could also buy a hawk drift from one of the blacksmith suppliers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 ya i ended up buying a drift it was easyer than getting the right shape and size .. ive seen um for under 25 usd plus shipping ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Bower Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 I thought about that, too. I might still go ahead and buy one if making it proves too difficult. But generally speaking, making tools is fun. (Except tongs. I don't really enjoy making tongs.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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