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Spiked Hawk HT question

T

Taz

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Apr 28, 1999
Messages
2,606
I got some the the DL Hawk blanks from Pops recently in 1/4" 8670. I was going to heat treat the whole thing (there's a reason why my HT oven is 7" wide!! LOL) and quench it in AAA and then use torches (or my forge burner) to draw back the handle section and middle of the blade to make it a bit softer. Should I do the draw back before or after the main tempering? Or do 1 temper cycle, draw back and then 2nd temper cycle?

These were laser cut out, so there is some HAZ on the perimeter. Should I clean this up before HT or is it OK to do it afterwards?
 
I usually just quench the bit and spike separately.
However, you can quench a small axe like the one you have and temper it for the bit hardness desired. Do both tempers, and then use a torch to draw the cheek/eye area, handle, and spike to the desired hardness.

A good trick to keep the bit hard is take a kitchen sponge and fold it over the edge. Use a couple spring clamps to hold it in place. Soak it in water, and use a torch to draw the temper back farther on the rest of the axe, starting a the knob ( bottom of handle), and going up the handle as the color turns blue. Watch the spike, and when the spike is at the color wanted - brown, just past golden and just before light purple- dunk the spike in water and stick it in a potato. If the sponge has started to dry up, just give it a dip in water, too. You can draw the rest of the eye and cheek more if needed now, but they should be fine. Once all looks good, cool in water and you are done.

I like my bit pretty hard, so I suggest you temper for the whole axe at 425°F. The draw protocol I gave should make the handle and eye/cheek quite soft, and the brown temper on the spike will make it somewhere in the lower 50's.
 
Is it better to just do the edge and spike and leave the remainder of the steel soft? I was concerned with that bending.
 
I have never bent a full tang hand-axe before. I have beat them pretty mercilessly, too. My spiked throwers are regularly abused by folks who don't throw well. They are fine, too.
What I do see is a lot of broken handles on the 16" Estwing camper's axe. It is probably perfect for camping use, but when thrown and it hits bad, the steel is too hard and snaps at the grip/shank junction. I have welded a new lower part on a few and drawn the shank soft. That seems to hold up better when used for throwing. Not really worth the trouble, so I save them and weld up axe-art from them.

The protocol I gave will still have a hardness in the upper 40's of the softest places. That is a very tough hardness for an axe handle.

If you want your belt axe harder, you can draw the handle and cheek/eye to brown instead of blue. Leave the edge and spike at the 425° temper hardness.
 
Thanks for the info!! I may try out both and see; I was leaning towards quenching everything since 8670 has nickel in it and the full quench/draw back most of the tomahawk may help resist rusting a smidge more?
 
I plan on doing the ones I got from Pop's as a full quench, too. I doubt I will draw ant differential areas after a 425°F temper.
I hope they get back in stock soon, You got the last of the spiked ones, so I bought the last of the other style.
 
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