Seeing if I still can

Hey Big Boy,

If you keep at this stuff long enough, you are gonna be a star someday. :)

Nice work my friend.

Robert
 
Very funny Ray... You da MAN!
I love the hawks in your archives.....

Cal
 
This is going to be the section on drifting the eye. I do things quite a bit differently since I first started making tomahawks. It use to be I would always do the eye first and then do the rest of the forging. I have since learned to wait on the eye since it tends to get in the way of the hammer and usually has to be redone so I save doing the eye till the very last. Now remember I have got the slot for the eye already made. The only bad thing was with this hawk I went from memory and I made the slot a 1/4" shorter than I should have. For most per made hawk handles you want to start with a slot that is 1 3/8" X at least a 1/4" wide. Also when working on drifting the eye you want to have the steel close to welding heat. The first thing I will do when drifting the eye is I open up the slot so you can get the tomahawk drift in. In this case I'm using a round tapered drift. This usually takes a couple heats but if you make the slot the right size you should be able to do it in one heat.
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Once you have opened up the slot insert the drift. Now the drift is tear drop shaped and it is important that the pointed end of the drift goes to the front of the hawk. I usually start drifting from the top but at this stage it really doesn't matter cause your going to do this a few times before you have established the finished eye. Once you drift from the top reheat the steel and the next heat drift from the bottom. This helps to open up the eye when you do this. Also it is a good idea to oil the drift to prevent it from sticking. Old crank case oil will work fine.
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Remember you really need to smack the drift good. Also when you start getting the eye to its final size you want to finish by driving the drift from the top only. You can mark the drift where you want it to stop. Now in my case on this hawk I had to do the eye with 3 different forging sessions before I got the eye the right size. Now if I had made the slot right the right size from the start it should have been done with just one forging session.
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This is just a shot of the drift showing I need to go much deeper. Another thing I forgot to mention is its best to have some type of backer when you do the drifting. Something with a hole in it that is just a little bit larger than the finished eye.
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That's looking great Ray. Seriously, thanks for taking the time to explain this process, this is a ton of fun to read/watch!
 
I had taken a couple days off to head down to Placerville, California for a mini reunion and retirement celebration for a sister in law. Time to concentrate on getting this hawk done and also get things together for the OKCA Show this weekend. This will be the last progress bit on this hawk until I have it done.

The next thing I started working on is the bowl for the pipe part of this hawk. First thing I did was use chainsaw files to start a groove.
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After the groove was established the bulk of the shaping was done free hand on the grinder.
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Here's a shot of the bowl after using the grinder.
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After the bowl was roughed shaped on the grinder I used my Foredom and carbide burrs to do the final shaping.
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Hopefully in another day or two I'll have pictures of the final product.
 
I'm excited to see this one polished up and ready for showtime Ray. THANKS for taking time to snap and post all these pics :)
 
I goter done at least for now. I may add a few turks head knots eventually but for right now I'm feeling pretty burnt out. The haft measures 21" and it has stag mouth piece and also a piece of stag for the cleanout plug at the top of the haft. The head measures 10 1/2" form the tip to the end of the bowl. The blade is 6" and is 2 3/8" wide at its widest part.

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Wow, very nice, Ray. (For a second I thought I was in Pirate's Cove checking on a viagra thread.) Yup, you can do it.

Seriously, great WIP and that did turn out great. Have fun in Eugene. Be sure to give Lisch a bunch of crap.

-M
 
Oh yeah, that turned out awesome Ray! Somebody ought to buy that sucker this weekend so I don't have to be tempted every time I look at your website :D
 
Wow, Ray.
That kind of work just leaves me speechless. (And that doesn't happen very often!)
You're still my hero.
 
Thanks for taking the time to show your work. This is priceless. How do you drill the smoke hole through the haft?
 
saxon said:
Thanks for taking the time to show your work. This is priceless. How do you drill the smoke hole through the haft?
Click to expand...

For an extra 5 bucks you can buy a premade haft that comes with a hole already drilled. Here's a link to where I get my hafts: http://www.dunlapwoodcrafts.com/TomahawkHandles.php

I don't know how many times I have done shows when I've had a pipe tomahawk on the table and I'm asked how do they smoke? I finally gave this one a try and I think the Surgeon General was right. I lite up some dried out chewing tobacco. I did not inhale.

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Hawk came out fantastic Ray, it should sell quickly at the show, just be sure to set up in the smoking section.

Bill
 
Thanks for that link. I'd love to see that one up close but Oregon is a bit too removed from N. Carolina at present. Hope yall have a fun show.
 
Raymond Richard said:
For an extra 5 bucks you can buy a premade haft that comes with a hole already drilled. Here's a link to where I get my hafts: http://www.dunlapwoodcrafts.com/TomahawkHandles.php

I don't know how many times I have done shows when I've had a pipe tomahawk on the table and I'm asked how do they smoke? I finally gave this one a try and I think the Surgeon General was right. I lite up some dried out chewing tobacco. I did not inhale.

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Click to expand...


Another pic to savento the hard drive :D. Hope it's a great show Ray!
 
xaman said:
Another pic to savento the hard drive :D. Hope it's a great show Ray!
Click to expand...

Eli, That's a real gem of a photo. :D I'm about to haul hay out to where the cows are so my wife can take over the hay fairy detail while I'm gone.

I made this sheath up yesterday in hopes that I don't poke myself in the eye.

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Great WIP Ray. Thank you for putting together the pictures and great narrative. Beautiful work!
 
Wow.. Great work Ray. Your forging ability leaves me speechless. You are so darn good at it..
 
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