Hand forging a hawk

[Raymond Richard]

ray....i know u said you were suing 1080 for your hawk....do you think there is any advantage to using just a bit of steel for the cutting edge or to use one piece of steel throughout the hawk.....i've seen people weld a small piece in the tip for the cutting edge...just wondering if there is a difference.....ryan

Ryan, I can't really say there's any advantage of one way over another. Most the old tomahawks that were forged were done in that manor. Its sure a lot less work and you would most likely have a lighter tool. The one that I have been forging is more along the lines of an ax than a pure tomahawk. I went back out to the shop and did a little more forging on it. Nothing major just more straightening and truing things up. Here's a couple better pictures. Tomorrow I'll use the grinder and first hit the profile and take a good look at it then. Most likely the bit is a little cocked left or right so it will go back in the forge one more time.

 

[John M Cohea]

Fantastic thread Ray!! Thanks a lot for sharing!

 

[Mace]

Hey Ray, Cool thread!
I have a question.....It looks like your hole is farther back on the bar....
How far from the spike end is it compared to the blade end? (before forging)
Thanks
Mace

 

[Raymond Richard]

Hey Ray, Cool thread!
I have a question.....It looks like your hole is farther back on the bar....
How far from the spike end is it compared to the blade end? (before forging)
Thanks
Mace

Mace, Thats something I didn't check but here's a guess. I'd say from the center of the eye to the end of the spike end before forging around 1 3/4". From the center of the eye to the front of the bar 4 1/4". I just guessed at the length of the bar of steel before I started when I said 6". The finished forging is now 7 1/2" with 3 3/8" cutting edge. Distance now is 3 1/2" to end of spike from center of eye and 4" from cutting edge to center of eye.

 

[Redsnake1997]

Great thread and hawk Ray! Subscribing so I can see how this one turns out.

 

[CitizenQ]

Yes...more pictures...please!

 

[Raymond Richard]

Hey Woodchuck, I did do some grinding this morning. Actually a little more than I had planned. Had one deep pit I wasn't sure I could remove but its mostly gone now. I also had to remove about 1/4" off the end of the spike because of some kind of inclusion. Wasn't sure if it was a crack or a fold but its gone now. It still looks somewhat like it did yesterday. I'm going to go ahead and post this and get it heat treated.

 

[CitizenQ]

Beautiful! How 'bout a picture with a ruler nearby so we can get some scale?

 

[ryan9977]

wow ray it looks great.....what hardness do you aim for with your axes and hawks?.....i'm interested to see how exactly how you attach the handle...i never really saw pics of that process and it'll probably clear up a bunch of questions....thanks for all the work with the pics and explanations....ryan:thumbup:

 

[Raymond Richard]

Beautiful! How 'bout a picture with a ruler nearby so we can get some scale?

How's this for service?

 

[Lorien]

it's all about the service!

 

[Raymond Richard]

wow ray it looks great.....what hardness do you aim for with your axes and hawks?.....i'm interested to see how exactly how you attach the handle...i never really saw pics of that process and it'll probably clear up a bunch of questions....thanks for all the work with the pics and explanations....ryan:thumbup:

As for hardness I usually try to get them softer than what I would for a knife blade. I'm going to shoot for mid 50's but I use the file method so that will be just a little bite into the steel.

I'll be taking picture all the way to completion with this one......

 

[ryan9977]

thanks ray!:thumbup:...ok so stupid question....i obviously know what you use an axe for.....but what do you use the spike for?....zombies in the forest?....bears attacking?....what do people use it for?.....ryan

 

[Raymond Richard]

thanks ray!:thumbup:...ok so stupid question....i obviously know what you use an axe for.....but what do you use the spike for?....zombies in the forest?....bears attacking?....what do people use it for?.....ryan

How about a tooth pick? The spike is an opening device, beer cans, what ever........

 

[Karl B. Andersen]

Nuthin' but cool, Ray.
Did you make your own drift?

 

[Raymond Richard]

Nuthin' but cool, Ray.
Did you make your own drift?

Karl, Yes thats my special homemade drift. I've had to make several over the years.

Well there's a moral to this story. Don't start telling a story until you have all the pieces made. I won't go any further on that for right now.

I'm normalizing for the third time in this photo

Quenching now

This last photo is pretty much end of story for now.

 

[thefifth]

Thanks this is great!

 

[joeshredd]

Bummer Ray.... It was looking sooooo good... :grumpy:

Will that crack kill the project???

 

[Scott Hartman]

Raymond, great thread...sad ending

Wasn't sure if it was a crack or a fold but its gone now

Is that what you referenced earlier in this thread?

 

[Raymond Richard]

Bummer Ray.... It was looking sooooo good... :grumpy:

Will that crack kill the project???

Things were going real good but I just had a feeling something would happen. I went and used the forge instead of my heat treating oven. Something I do quite often when I do hawks except I had the lights on in the shop so I could take a better picture. I went by color of the steel and I'm pretty sure I just got it to hot. It actually survived the quench. I had it in my hand when it cracked. I even heard it. Ever so faint a sound. I knew exactly what had happened. After I took it to the grinder and cleaned it up a touch there it was. As far as going any further with this hawk its done the way it is. This could be a future second chance hawk. At least I have a pattern now and hopefully I'll give it another go in a day or two. That crack goes in at least a good half inch.