Hudson Bay belt axe project (probably pic heavy)

crbnSteeladdict said:
Is there some kind of Blacksmithing 101 pdf booklet that you can advise? thanks
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Well,Sir,it wouldn't be blacksmithing exactly(as Generally it has to do with plastic deformation vs metallurgy)...I'd call that Heat-Treating of Steel Alloys.

I'm sorry,i can't think of a good single source on the basics right off...Possibly,one of the knife-making books would have a good,modern section on heat-treating...Let me look/ask around though,there Must be something just like that,in public domain.
 
Well,it looks like Dr Verhoeven has given free access to this text of his:http://www.hybridburners.com/documents/verhoeven.pdf

It's anything but compact,in fact it's a Very thorough explanation of much in Metallurgy of Steel Alloys,but if one can bring oneself to read it,it'd do absolute wonders to one's understanding of these processes....

But,it's not very 101,sorry...:(
 
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handle's done, when it's hung it'll be 9.5" i hope that the dark spot on the palm swell will soak in and be uniform. i couldnt give you guys a good picture of the picture of the color 'cause we got LED bulbs and they're more white than the old lights.

hopefully this weekend (if the O-rings arent bad) i'll get the oxy rig out and fix the head
 
Phantomknives,sorry for your equipment troubles.

In actuality,(for what it may be worth),it'd not be too difficult for you to HT that one moderately-sized head in your fireplace,using charcoal,and some simple air blast(hair dryer'll do).

If you made a stoveful's worth of charcoal(by simply shutting down the burn while at it's peak of burn),it may be enough.Or just a sack of store-boughten stuff would be even better(and cheaper than Oxy+Acet.)

If you'll be making your own,surprisingly,softwood is better.Some denser pine or Doug fir,any Hem/Fir construction remnants would do fine,or even spruce if that's what's around.
(i've been using nothing but spruce for a number of years,including some rather heavy forging and welding;it's ridiculous how hot it gets....(and how clean it burns).
 
jake pogg said:
Phantomknives,sorry for your equipment troubles.

In actuality,(for what it may be worth),it'd not be too difficult for you to HT that one moderately-sized head in your fireplace,using charcoal,and some simple air blast(hair dryer'll do).

If you made a stoveful's worth of charcoal(by simply shutting down the burn while at it's peak of burn),it may be enough.Or just a sack of store-boughten stuff would be even better(and cheaper than Oxy+Acet.)

If you'll be making your own,surprisingly,softwood is better.Some denser pine or Doug fir,any Hem/Fir construction remnants would do fine,or even spruce if that's what's around.
(i've been using nothing but spruce for a number of years,including some rather heavy forging and welding;it's ridiculous how hot it gets....(and how clean it burns).
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we're having a bit of a heat wave at the moment, whether a cold day or a chance to get to a shop comes first, i'll get it done
 
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heat treated in the fire place, it got incredibly stupid hot. i can stand around a forge for hours but this, this was excessive.
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i had to put on gloves, then a welding jacket, then a helmet, and i still got hot. i melted my welding helmet and the air hose to my compressor that i was using to blow the fire place
 
Phantomknives,well,right on man!
It has the appearance of something that was quenched from a high T...How high,you figure?...And into what quenchant?
Any tempering plans?
 
jake pogg said:
Phantomknives,well,right on man!
It has the appearance of something that was quenched from a high T...How high,you figure?...And into what quenchant?
Any tempering plans?
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i figure around 1700, i may be off, it's been a while. it was orange.
i figured it was low carbon enough to withstand a water quench, i was right thankfully, no tinks. i just tempered it to dark straw 500F for 1hr. i figure tomorrow i can clean it up, grind it,make a wedge and hang it
 
Well,fantastic!
(you've got some cojones to've dunked it in water,and from that high a heat too,but good for you!:)
Great,now that it's tempered,you should be golden.Hope that you'll get the hardness you'll be happy with,good job.
 
jake pogg said:
Well,fantastic!
(you've got some cojones to've dunked it in water,and from that high a heat too,but good for you!:)
Great,now that it's tempered,you should be golden.Hope that you'll get the hardness you'll be happy with,good job.
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Thanks! i think, anyway, i'm gonna file test it in a few minutes so i'll let you guys know where it sits
 
Looking great.
I hope it performs well for you.

Now you're making me really want to finish that HB I was working on.
It's been months and I just haven't gotten a handle yet, the hardware hasn't had one and other things just keep getting In the way.
 
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Hope it goes well for you hickory,

I guess I was hallucinating or somethong, there is absolutely no hardness in this head. It's a little harder than the body. Could I have tempered it too long? I looked at it when I was file testing it and it was purple rather than dark straw.
 
Phantomknives,right off the bat,make sure that you're not dealing with a layer of Decarb.This has thrown many people.
Decarb layer may be quite thick,a few thou,so try to dig deep,see what's under there.You Have overheated this quite a bit sounds like,so it's likely to be thick.
Tempering:Since you speak of "an hour",i take it you used an oven.The oxide colors will be different,then,as each is a Thickness of oxide film,and would get thicker with time.
(purple is fairly normal for such,prolonged,tempering cycle).
This,however,does not mean that your oven thermometer is accurate,probably not.So look up that T,just in case(and those both sides of it too).
Best of luck.
 
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