Iron Tomahawk?

B

Brody R.

Joined
Jan 27, 2005
Messages
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If I'm not mistaken hawks in the colonial era were forged of iron or brass right? Wondering if anyone forges them out of iron still, kinda curious how it would turn out. Guess it would be softer?
 
Grey cast iron is not uncommon with many import's,if heat treated properly it will perfom just as good as alloy steel or better,mallable iron which is cast iron that has been annealed work's well to IF properly heat treated
 
Brody R. said:
If I'm not mistaken hawks in the colonial era were forged of iron or brass right? Wondering if anyone forges them out of iron still, kinda curious how it would turn out. Guess it would be softer?
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Here's some Interesting Info. on the use if Iron through History, And Iron and Modern type's of Steel In general, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel I'm trying to find the Web-Site/Info. on a Sword Maker In Pennsylvania who make's Hand Forged Sword's useing Iron Ore that he collect's from the Mountain's of Pennsylvania,
 
thanks for the responses, i've seen some of the cast iron imports but wondered if anyone in America does hand forged Iron hawks or Iron with a steel bit and how it compares
 
COAL CREEK FORGE said:
FYI do alittle surfing and see what the carbon content is for Cast Iron:eek:
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Everything you need to know Is In the Link I posted above, Here's one section I copy'ed from the above Link,
Alloys with higher carbon content than this are known as cast iron because of their lower melting point and castability.[1] Steel is also to be distinguished from wrought iron containing only a very small amount of other elements, but containing 1–3% by weight of slag in the form of particles elongated in one direction, giving the iron a characteristic grain. It is more rust-resistant than steel and welds more easily. It is common today to talk about "the iron and steel industry" as if it were a single entity, but historically they were separate products.

And here's some Info.on Cast Iron,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cast_iron
 
Brody R. said:
thanks for the responses, i've seen some of the cast iron imports but wondered if anyone in America does hand forged Iron hawks or Iron with a steel bit and how it compares
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There are quite a few maker's who use Softer Steel's "Not Iron though" on the outside and a "Harder Steel Bit In the Middle, Great River Forge Is one, http://www.greatriverforge.com/ And Fort Turner Is another, Here's a little Info. on how Fort Turner Hawk's are Forged, "Our tomahawks are hand forged, using a coal forge, with forging techniques that have been utilized for hundreds of years. We start with a strap of 1020 steel and wrap around a full insert piece of 1095 high carbon steel. We forge weld and draw the blade to shape, then heat treat and temper to give you the strongest and sharpest blade possible. Finishing off with a quality American hickory or ash handle that has been hand fired and coated with two coats of satin lacquer."
http://www.fortturner.com/ And they both do some Real Nice Work !
 
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On the old forged tomahawk and trade axes i've seen, pre 1830s or so, if the material is listed or i can see up close (wrought rusts differently and you can sometimes see the grain, almost like woodgrain), they're always wrought iron, never steel. Apparently large straps of steel weren't commonly available or needed for axes. Most do have a small piece of steel forged welded at the blade edge though because wrought iron has no or little carbon to heat treat for a hard cutting edge.
Wrought iron (not cast iron which would'nt work well for an axe) is GREAT to hand forge, it's much softer and easier to pound, fire weld, and more rust resistant than steel. The thing i don't like about it though is it must be pounded a couple hundred degrees hotter than most steel or it splits along it's grain.
Usable wrought can still be found in wood wagon wheel tires and lots of wood fence post anchors around here are old wagon axles.
I found a broken blade from a small trade axe or tomahawk at an old Mohawk-Wyandot village near my house that's wrought iron with no steel bit.
 
Here's one I forged from 1" square wrought with a file steel bit that was recently sold to a forum member.Haft is weathered barn oak that is 100 plus years old.


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that etched wrought is beautiful stuff!!! I haven't tryed a slit and drifted type from wrought yet , I kinda figured it might be tough to drift without tearing it apart, but as soon as i get caught up on other work i'm gonna do some.
 
Thanks for the comments guys. I have a good bit of 1" square wrought bars that I purchased just for forging hawk heads.The wrought drifts quite well, as long as you keep it HOT! One thing to remember is do your upseting before the eye is drifted. If not you will distort the eye so bad that you may not be able to straighten it out.I also like to start me slot by drilling and millin as opposed to hot cutting, as I can never seem to keep them straight by hot cutting. If you do encounter some separation, in most cases you can forge weld it back shut.
 
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