Estwing Hatchet steel

i have 5 Estwings , they were made of 1055 i guess ,cuz they are tough and do not rust easily , it is indicate that estwing axes are made of mid-carbon steel.
 
Gents,greetings,my first post here...

It seems doubtful to me that Estwing is something as simple as AISI 1055.It's resistance to corrosion alone indicates something of a more complex,alloyed,nature.

Also,i've been using a broken-off Estwing as a hot-cut,in the forge,and it performs ridiculously well.I normally cut through an 1"+ of yellow/orange-hot steel with it,and even the cooling seems optional...(that's NOT how plain-carbon steel like 1055 would act AT ALL)...
It's pointless to guess at such issues,but if i had to call it,i'd be tempted to name some tool-steel type alloy,S7,H13,or 80xx-90xx series,something not unlike pavement-breaker bits,maybe even tougher.
'I do a lot of forging,quite a bit of it of a healthy cross-section,but very un-scientific-like,so i speak off the cuff here.

respect,Jake
 
Its resistance to corrosion stems from being slathered in clear lacquer at the factory. It quite readily rusts once the coating is compromised.
 
David Martin said:
It's 1055 steel. My axe is 20 years old and I can tell the hammer head is softer than the axe face. It takes and holds a good edge. I suppose you could weld a harder metal piece to the cutting face. Then shape that. I think a simpler route would be to give it a cryogenic treatment. A long soak in dry ice would pick up the hardness a point. Then give it a stress relieving quench with a torch wrapping the leather handle, to isolate the head. Could work. A weekend project. DM
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Estwing deferentially hardens their tools? Wow, that's interesting, and impressive! I wonder what hardnesses they use?
 
Most axes are. The bits are usually induction heated and then quenched/tempered. Though it'd be curious if Estwing was actually using that process since they have the neck and tang of the handles at spring temper, and maintaining that would be tricky to do a differential on.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Most axes are. The bits are usually induction heated and then quenched/tempered. Though it'd be curious if Estwing was actually using that process since they have the neck and tang of the handles at spring temper, and maintaining that would be tricky to do a differential on.
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Some clues (but not the details) can be found in this video about making Estwing hatchets, showing an oil quench (of the entire head, apparently) at one point in the process:

[video=youtube;XmTY6-uL58Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTY6-uL58Y[/video]
 
The Last Confederate said:
Estwing deferentially hardens their tools? Wow, that's interesting, and impressive! I wonder what hardnesses they use?
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I used my Estwing to cut some barn tin. The tin being mfg. thin these days. After drawing the line, I used a McVoy Wessling lathing hatchet to hammer the Estwing along for the cut. Hammer head to hammer head. The Estwing's face and edge wasn't harmed during this but the McVoy hatchet had the checkered face. After this cut my Estwing hammer head now has that imprint on it's face. This causes me to think 1) the Estwing has differential heat treating and 2) the McVoy's steel is harder. The McVoy hatchet is old probably from the 30's. DM
 
David Martin said:
Someone here said these hatchets are date stamped. Is that stamp at the butt of the handle?
Thanks, DM
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I was wondering the same thing. I just removed all the leather from my handle and found what looked to be a date up by the top of the handle. It was 3-1-68. Seems to me that would be a date but not for sure. Anyone know for sure???
 
Skill, I decided to go ahead and give my Estwing a cryo treatment. It has now been laying on a brick of dry ice for 24 hours in a Igloo water jug and that resting in my home freezer. After this dissipates I'll give it a one cycle temper at 375-400* for one hour. To relieve stress, 2) to minimize retained austintine and 3) to increase hardness thus increase wear resistance. I'll let you know how it goes. DM
 
I've now removed the Estwing hatchet from the dry ice and allowing it to reach ambient. Then start the temper cycle. All looks fine. DM
 
From the video it appears that they heat treat and quench the entire head.
However, wouldn't the edge heat/cool faster than the other thicker parts?
Allowing the edge to be harder than the rest of the body?
 
I just gave my hatchet a temper at 350* for one hour and the entire head was still too hot to handle with bare hands after 30 minutes of removal. The thicker steel really holds the heat and transfers it to the bevel and edge. In my oven I also had a thin 7" blade of 01 steel which was given the same temper. I removed them both at the same time. The hatchet I could not handle but the thin blade (1/16") I could. Because heat dissipates from that much quicker. DM
 
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SamuraiDave said:
From the video it appears that they heat treat and quench the entire head.
However, wouldn't the edge heat/cool faster than the other thicker parts?
Allowing the edge to be harder than the rest of the body?
Click to expand...

Yes. Oil is slower quenching than water. The thicker part of the head will not be as hard is the bit, at least not below the surface. Note that they don't show exactly how deep the axes are dipped into the quench. So they could confine the hardening to the head and not to the thin haft which would become brittle. Residual heat in the unquenched haft would temper back into the head. A carefully timed second quench could stop the process at just the right moment to have strength in the haft but hardness in the bit.
 
Though it did not completely show it, because of the flame / splash safety shield --- it looked to me the quench went at least up on the haft. We have to speculate much from a 2 minute video as all is running at a fast pace. DM
 
Here is the quenching sequence:

Going back to the oil
24256362593_5e6513bf07.jpg


Over the oil
24789834561_1581347713.jpg


Going down
24883209735_d40e5eb79d.jpg


Down
24883208205_cf3bc288b3.jpg


Bob
 
I got around to giving my Estwing a new edge after this treatment. (around 40*) I discovered that the burr comes off quicker and cleaner now than before. So, something changed the steel during this treatment. I'm looking forward to using it and hope it gives a good account on edge holding. DM
 
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