Axe HRC

B

Bo-dacious

Joined
Aug 13, 2016
Messages
408
Hey guys. Can someone tell me What a "bad", "good", and "great," hrc number is for a tomahawk (and axe and hatchet if it's different). I know most of my knives are 56-62 hrc but what about hawks? And while we're at it, what about machetes?

Thanks,

BO-DACIOUS
 
Is this a mind game? Folks of old used to swear by what worked 'over the long haul' and never considered asking about Rockwell Hardness numbers. Sometimes ya gotta trust the maker of the implement and get out there and use it rather than try to second guess him/her's methods. Oftentimes they've already been 'there', and well before you.
 
hardness rwtings can be useful but like the above poster sais. get out there and use the tool
 
Um. No. It's not a mind game. I'm new to axes and kind of new to knives. I just wanted somebody's advice. Isn't that What these forums are for?
 
About 58 tends to be good for axes. For machetes you usually want about 55 or a little under.
 
I'd say that 53-58 is good for axes. 49HRC is about as low as you want to go. High carbon steel at 54-56 is what I consider the sweet spot. At 58 you can be OK if your particular steel won't chip at that hardness. 58 gets a little hard to file.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
About 58 tends to be good for axes. For machetes you usually want about 55 or a little under.
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And you dutifully attend the store displays and tool racks with tester in hand, I'm sure! Just kidding. You've got to trust manufacturers (and take into account retail prices) to some degree in this business ie you'd never get anywhere.
The Swede boutique jobbies for instance proudly use recycled steel. How much I'd trust that (toasters, soup cans, car fenders and a maybe a few truck leaf springs) vs known property/controlled ingredients steel doesn't seem to influence the folks clamouring over the chance to pay through the nose to get one.
 
300Six said:
And you dutifully attend the store displays and tool racks with tester in hand, I'm sure! Just kidding. You've got to trust manufacturers (and take into account retail prices) to some degree in this business ie you'd never get anywhere.
The Swede boutique jobbies for instance proudly use recycled steel. How much I'd trust that (toasters, soup cans, car fenders and a maybe a few truck leaf springs) vs known property/controlled ingredients steel doesn't seem to influence the folks clamouring over the chance to pay through the nose to get one.
Click to expand...

Roughly 80% of all steel in circulation is recycled, and mills do chemical analysis to ensure that their production is within grade specifications. Actual hardness of tools tends to run a little softer than manufacturer claims, but some folks with access to testing equipment are able to verify hardness on commonly available cutting tools and then experience with those verified tools can help a user get a feel for what the likely hardness range of a certain unverified tool is. The more experience and the larger the number of confirmed hardness tools you have access to, the better you can assess hardness by feel.
 
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