Gday everyone,
I'm from Nelson New Zealand, I'm new here, and it has been really inspirational reading some of the other threads in this forum. It's good to know there's a lot of other people out there that like doing the same kind of stuff- I don't feel quite as eccentric anymore! So a big thank you to the community for keeping up such an excellent forum.
I have always been into making my own gear for the outdoors- a bit of camping, kayaking and tramping, climbing the odd mountain etc, and about a year ago I started modifying old axeheads to try and make a lightweight version of a forest axe for my backpack, without weakening it too much. I don't have much of a workshop (a vice and a few old tools I've resurrected) but I'm keen to learn about steel forging and the heat treating process.
I have just cut down this old hatchet head with a combination of the angle grinder (kept the head cool with repeated oil-baths) and a lot of hacksawing and filing. I have made various others by similar methods that have withstood a couple years of frequent use, but I would love to get some advice on what I could do better. Is there a better way to do this, short of saving up for a Gransfors, or am I just weakening the axe-head to save a few hundred grams? If I had to clear some serious bush I'd use my heavy 3-pounder, but for the lighter tasks required when I'm on the move I'd like to make a good lightweight hacker.
As you can see it's pretty rough yet. There's a lot of filing to do to clean the lines of it up, and I have left the edge with a blunt profile while I'm still working away on it.
When I'm in the bush I use my faithful hatchet for firewood, some very basic carpentry such as making axe handles, a bit of furniture making and experimenting with building various shelter designs with a tarpaulin covering. If anyone out there has any photos of similar stuff they have done it'd be great to see them!
Cheers everyone-
Evan L
I'm from Nelson New Zealand, I'm new here, and it has been really inspirational reading some of the other threads in this forum. It's good to know there's a lot of other people out there that like doing the same kind of stuff- I don't feel quite as eccentric anymore! So a big thank you to the community for keeping up such an excellent forum.
I have always been into making my own gear for the outdoors- a bit of camping, kayaking and tramping, climbing the odd mountain etc, and about a year ago I started modifying old axeheads to try and make a lightweight version of a forest axe for my backpack, without weakening it too much. I don't have much of a workshop (a vice and a few old tools I've resurrected) but I'm keen to learn about steel forging and the heat treating process.
I have just cut down this old hatchet head with a combination of the angle grinder (kept the head cool with repeated oil-baths) and a lot of hacksawing and filing. I have made various others by similar methods that have withstood a couple years of frequent use, but I would love to get some advice on what I could do better. Is there a better way to do this, short of saving up for a Gransfors, or am I just weakening the axe-head to save a few hundred grams? If I had to clear some serious bush I'd use my heavy 3-pounder, but for the lighter tasks required when I'm on the move I'd like to make a good lightweight hacker.
As you can see it's pretty rough yet. There's a lot of filing to do to clean the lines of it up, and I have left the edge with a blunt profile while I'm still working away on it.
When I'm in the bush I use my faithful hatchet for firewood, some very basic carpentry such as making axe handles, a bit of furniture making and experimenting with building various shelter designs with a tarpaulin covering. If anyone out there has any photos of similar stuff they have done it'd be great to see them!
Cheers everyone-
Evan L
