tomahawk steel

savageknives · May 11, 2009

im attempting to forge my first tomahawk. i was wondering if anyone had any objections or recommendations to coil spring as my material. i know both coil and leaf spring make good tough knives but im not sure about impact resistance. could anyone help me out?

vector001 · May 11, 2009

i think that'd be a great idea, brother.

5160 is one of my favorites.

vec

wildmike · May 11, 2009

5160 would have great impact resistance. It is a very fine extremely tough steel.

savageknives · May 12, 2009

what about heat treatment on that coil spring? i hammered the square billet today and am ready to punch and drift an eye. basically the only heat treatment i have done is motor oil with a leaf spring knife a few months ago so im not very knowledgeable on the subject, always searching for more knowledge...

vector001 · May 12, 2009

savageknives said:
what about heat treatment on that coil spring? i hammered the square billet today and am ready to punch and drift an eye. basically the only heat treatment i have done is motor oil with a leaf spring knife a few months ago so im not very knowledgeable on the subject, always searching for more knowledge...

heat treat should be similar to what you state.

one should always experiment anyways IMHO - a nuance or change in procedure could be helpful, at least by verifying that what you normally do has value.

that's why i always do more than one handle at a time - i do them differently, and get some failures with new procedures, but often i get a new and astounding success, and work that new methodology into the design.

good luck, brother, make sure and post some pictures.

vec

savageknives · May 12, 2009

itll be a couple of days before i can hammer again (having a real job totally sucks, too bad i cant do this for a living...yet) but im sure i will have more questions, this is definately a learning process for me. i imagine i will have to draw the temper back several times to get a soft enough edge to avoid chipping. what do you think?

vector001 · May 12, 2009

savageknives said:
itll be a couple of days before i can hammer again (having a real job totally sucks, too bad i cant do this for a living...yet) but im sure i will have more questions, this is definately a learning process for me. i imagine i will have to draw the temper back several times to get a soft enough edge to avoid chipping. what do you think?

depends on how ya do it, i reckon.

what do ya think the RC will be at quench? 1055 is around Rockwell 65, if i remember right.

my 5160 knives seemed like they needed a lot more heat than i thought, to get them soft enough to sharpen relatively easily.

it's been a long time since i've banged on steel though.

vec

savageknives · May 13, 2009

i honestly couldnt tell you RC. i dont know that much about all that, about the only test i do are a new file over the edge to check hardness then a brass rod to test edge retention. pretty basic but has worked thus far. i know enough about knives to be a compatent maker, but have absolutely no knowledge of what a good tomahawk edge should be. i suppose it will be a lot of trial and error this first time around, but ill figure it out eventually, thats part of the fun.