Another identify my axe :)

jake pogg said:
Fmont,kind of you to say that,and the` answer is I don't know...

I don't know what such an axe could've been used for,and really not too much about the Pennsylvania Dutch(Deutsch) tradition....(i don't even know that That's where this originates).
It's loike a funky little rafting pattern,with much weight aft,and stout little shortish blade...
(what got lost in my translation,too,gut Gott only knows...).

They say some species of chickadee re-generate their brain twice a year,it's`too small to fit all the info that they use in different seasons...
Well,i'm like that...Forging occupies` too many neurons,to the exclusion of so much else...(could be my brain-shedding is late this year...or i didn't re-grow some parts last time..?:)
Click to expand...
Hmmmm, Thick eye walls, mild steel body for freezing temperatures, hardened poll: If the poll was a little bit wider you could name it Kodiak Splitting Axe or Lugged Yukon Rafting Pattern Axe Awesome job!!
 
Agent_H,you're our photo Angel!:).Thank you once again.

Old,pre-mass-production patterns are fascinating.There's SO much information there it's unbelievable.
I very rarely succeed to any degree reverse-engineering those,it's super challenging for some,often obscure, reasons.

Especially those that are forged Entirely(no grinding).Those i fail at each and every time.
This particular one was most probably profiled;but still it was a disappointment for me to have to resort to my angle-grinder.(it was minimal,but still).

I've lots of photos of the process,but am sheepish about boring the daylights out of folks,it's a deadening craft in many ways,the mensuration and the logic behind it is...or can be.
 
jake pogg said:
Agent_H,you're our photo Angel!:).Thank you once again.

Old,pre-mass-production patterns are fascinating.There's SO much information there it's unbelievable.
I very rarely succeed to any degree reverse-engineering those,it's super challenging for some,often obscure, reasons.

Especially those that are forged Entirely(no grinding).Those i fail at each and every time.
This particular one was most probably profiled;but still it was a disappointment for me to have to resort to my angle-grinder.(it was minimal,but still).

I've lots of photos of the process,but am sheepish about boring the daylights out of folks,it's a deadening craft in many ways,the mensuration and the logic behind it is...or can be.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone would would be bored in the slightest! (If they were then they can keep it to themselves lol)
Maybe have a "Jake's Corner", "Galena Heat", or even a "Hot and Pounded" themed thread ... dedicated to the axe/bladed implement forging that you do.
 
Very challenging,of all things,is to come in at approx. the needed weight.
(especially if one doesn't own a scale).
I've just used a calculator,and i seems that the parameters of all stock i used x 0.283(wight in lbs of 1"cu. of steel) give me 2.33 lbs.
I don't know what my loss to scaling is,but it's not a bad number,kinda even encouraging...(original is 2 even).

Here's a photo of material used.2" wide by 1/2" strap of WI sparked close to a modern structural steel,but was badly contaminated with both S and P,making it both hot-,and cold-short simultaneously.
That was a pain,but it welded ok,both to self and to other alloys.
https://imgur.com/ZKq34Vi
 
Ok,Agent_H,you asked for it...:)

Here's a pre-form of a body of this axe,plan view.
Stock was exactly 6" long.So the middle portion is 2",as are each of the sides.
(middle looks sunk in photo,it's actually "raised",the original thickness).
The middle becomes the poll;it's kinda curious that only 2" a side makes for both the cheek and the tab extended and welded to the blade.
https://imgur.com/a/NzgYvHt

And the same part viewed on edge:https://imgur.com/a/1C0pfuz

All one-langette tools are weird...Langettes are the mass that gets "squeezed-out" when you make the eye,room for handle.So that mass can go out top And bottom both,or just get spread sideways and not stick out,but One side is odd,and requires some tricky forging...(never could understand why they did it...from the day of conical,inverse eye?)...
 
Here the pre-form all welded,and being offered up and sized to the future blade(leaf-spring,presumably AISI 5160).
Drift is in place to determine the depth to which it'll go inside it,to the eye.
Spring is 3/8" thick,and as it turned out inadequate in thickness to the slope of the blade...:(...Formed two ugly hollows close to the blade...Most unprofessional.
https://imgur.com/3jS2db0
 
Blade of spring steel cut out,inserted,and tacked into place for welding.
This is something i normally avoid doing,being a prideful ass,and enjoying the challenge of fighting a clump of bailing wire,and fighting tow slippery fluxed pieces...But today is a long,no-nonsense forging session,and i've got no time for this...(7 hours straight,it turned out).
https://imgur.com/hL9UH9T
 
jake pogg said:
Very challenging,of all things,is to come in at approx. the needed weight.
(especially if one doesn't own a scale).
I've just used a calculator,and i seems that the parameters of all stock i used x 0.283(wight in lbs of 1"cu. of steel) give me 2.33 lbs.
I don't know what my loss to scaling is,but it's not a bad number,kinda even encouraging...(original is 2 even).

Here's a photo of material used.2" wide by 1/2" strap of WI sparked close to a modern structural steel,but was badly contaminated with both S and P,making it both hot-,and cold-short simultaneously.
That was a pain,but it welded ok,both to self and to other alloys.
https://imgur.com/ZKq34Vi
Click to expand...
ZKq34Vi.jpg


jake pogg said:
Ok,Agent_H,you asked for it...:)

Here's a pre-form of a body of this axe,plan view.
Stock was exactly 6" long.So the middle portion is 2",as are each of the sides.
(middle looks sunk in photo,it's actually "raised",the original thickness).
The middle becomes the poll;it's kinda curious that only 2" a side makes for both the cheek and the tab extended and welded to the blade.
https://imgur.com/a/NzgYvHt

And the same part viewed on edge:https://imgur.com/a/1C0pfuz

All one-langette tools are weird...Langettes are the mass that gets "squeezed-out" when you make the eye,room for handle.So that mass can go out top And bottom both,or just get spread sideways and not stick out,but One side is odd,and requires some tricky forging...(never could understand why they did it...from the day of conical,inverse eye?)...
Click to expand...

36a8GU4.jpg


u7UZDiL.jpg


Who doesn't want to see this?
 
Poll-plate(AISI 1095,1/4"x 1 1/4") is tacked on (again...lawd have mercy on my perjured blacksmith's soul..:(
It's thin,but slightly over-sized in area.The edges will get bent down and welded,forming a cup-like cap(which the original may or may not have,hard to say from photos).
But for hard-facing the thinner is actually better;hammer-faces are done quite thinly,less than 1/4" normally.
Softer steel underneath ammortizes effort.

https://imgur.com/a/SPxsKUY
 
jake pogg said:
Welding of the blade is about complete,and another control-issue appears.The profile is going way outside the intended lines,it's sploodging out like a pancake from all the welding blows.(soapstone line indicates what i Want it to be).
But i fail to manage to forge it back in,and later adjust by grinding.
https://imgur.com/pXbJr0K
Click to expand...
pXbJr0K.jpg



jake pogg said:
Poll-plate(AISI 1095,1/4"x 1 1/4") is tacked on (again...lawd have mercy on my perjured blacksmith's soul..:(
It's thin,but slightly over-sized in area.The edges will get bent down and welded,forming a cup-like cap(which the original may or may not have,hard to say from photos).
But for hard-facing the thinner is actually better;hammer-faces are done quite thinly,less than 1/4" normally.
Softer steel underneath ammortizes effort.

https://imgur.com/a/SPxsKUY
Click to expand...
MgZXkNr.jpg



jake pogg said:
Poll is steeled now.In appearance you'd think that plate to be much thicker...

This photo really shows all the extra,unplanned area of the axe,it'll definitely need to be profiled by grinding.
It can be done by hot-chiseling,but i'm old,and decrepid,and the day is getting on...
https://imgur.com/LdKj7LB
Click to expand...
LdKj7LB.jpg



jake pogg said:
OK,thank you for being so patient,i've gone on and on...Last photo.
Axe is profiled,and here one can really see the declivity near the edge.
It's on both sides,and is the result of the disproportion in gauge between the blade material and the body.
Short of forging the darn thing into an Estwing there's no help for it.
Will do better next time.
https://imgur.com/N4KjRak
Click to expand...
N4KjRak.jpg
 
jake pogg said:
But for hard-facing the thinner is actually better
Click to expand...

As i re-read this i happened to glance at that last photo...(Thanks a million,Agent_H:)
I lost yet another chunk of my poor old anvil's face today...(but you can see how thin it is,and it lasted a Long time).
This old Vulcan used to belong to U.S.Air Force here in Galena,and they've failed to dress the edges properly.
If you own an anvil,Please dress,chamfer,radius those edges,for one errant blow can really damage that most essential of all tools....
 
Just to finish up here...After preliminary grinding i find that i've lost such critical amount of mass close to the blade that it'd not be worth it to finish it up.It's just the way the cookie crumbles.
It's too bad,as i just found that great thread about this type of axes,and was looking forward to maybe testing it out balance et c. wise...

https://imgur.com/LLXhCnZ
https://imgur.com/AjniyiK
 
jake pogg said:
Just to finish up here...After preliminary grinding i find that i've lost such critical amount of mass close to the blade that it'd not be worth it to finish it up.It's just the way the cookie crumbles.
It's too bad,as i just found that great thread about this type of axes,and was looking forward to maybe testing it out balance et c. wise...

https://imgur.com/LLXhCnZ
https://imgur.com/AjniyiK
Click to expand...
Looks fine to me Jake. A nice handy little hatchet for a variety of tasks.
 
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