Hawk Steel

S

SheepishLion

Joined
Jan 30, 2006
Messages
29
Question for you guys, what types of steels do you use for your forged hawks? I was thinking that something mid-range on the carbon scale like 1050 would be good. I was thinking of using it as-is or fitting some high carbon cutting steel in for the bit.

I'm not a collector and expect to use these hawks for general light duty usage around camp. Smaller firelogs, kindling, etc.

My question basically centers around whether 1050 is a good steel to start with while I decide what I really need.

Joe
 
I have used 1080 for the most part just because that is what most crowbars are made from. You do not want a real high carbon content for an impacting tool.
 
I figured that with 1050 being a midrange steel that it would make a good hawk head. Enough carbon to decently harden but not so much to make it brittle. I just wondered if anyone around here had forged hawks out of 1050 before. I've got a couple of scrounged pieces that seem to be just the right size/shape to be made into hawks.

Thanks,

Joe
 
The best test is to crank one out and see how the edge holds up to chopping different woods. We all know that 150 years ago hawks were made from whatever metal was handy. If you go back farther they were made from copper and bronze. Imagine how often the edge needed to re-done or how long it took to knock down a 1' diameter tree. They probably never even used the term "chopped" instead they beat the tree to death and then it fell over later on.
 
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