Tomahawks and L6

[jdm61]

i notice that the high end tactical hawk makers seem to use 4140 a lot, followed by s7 and some H13 for prying stuff. I know why the lower priced guys might use 1045, 5160, 1095, etc. That being cost. But why no love for L6 in this application considering that we now actually have sources for the stuff. I know it is not cheap, but it ain't CPM 3V pricey either and considering what some of the tactical hawks go for, I don't see where the cost would be a huge issue.

 

[Will52100]

L6 properly heat treated will make an outstanding hawk. Or knife or sword or machete. The thing is L6 can be tricky to properly heat treat without an oven. I've done a couple and they make nice hawks. One thing I've been doing recently is making the more traditional hawks with folded wrought iron head and high carbon bit. Next one I might add a L6 bit for fun.

The reason for 4140 is it doesn't get as hard as a normal knife steel and will hold an OK edge and be extremely tough. Not to mention it's easy to get in just about any size you want, which I think is more of a factor than most. And it's pretty cheap as well. Same for 1045.

 

[Huntsman Knife Co. LLC.]

Stock size and availability and to a lesser degree price is why I dont use L6 in my hawks. 80CRV2 comes in .375 stock, is always available and costs less. Im not sure if I could tell the difference between the two in a blind test. Id mostly like to use L6 because it can air harden. With a hawk i might be able to just quench the head and let the tang harden up to 59 or so on its own. Then when I temper the tang will end up nice and tough without having to torch it.

 

[jdm61]

One of the brethren on here who uses 4140 told me how much it cost and I was shocked at how reasonable it was. I consider it to be a step up on the quality and complexity chain from the lower carbon 10xx steels like 1045, but I guess that it is used so widely that you can find if for cheap and without having to go to a specialty distributor like we do with a lot of knife steel and old school tool steel that is no longer used in a lot of industries.

L6 properly heat treated will make an outstanding hawk. Or knife or sword or machete. The thing is L6 can be tricky to properly heat treat without an oven. I've done a couple and they make nice hawks. One thing I've been doing recently is making the more traditional hawks with folded wrought iron head and high carbon bit. Next one I might add a L6 bit for fun.

The reason for 4140 is it doesn't get as hard as a normal knife steel and will hold an OK edge and be extremely tough. Not to mention it's easy to get in just about any size you want, which I think is more of a factor than most. And it's pretty cheap as well. Same for 1045.

 

[BenR.T.]

Love L6 for hawks, my last batch was out of it.
Should be a review coming up in blade mag soon....

 

[jdm61]

That's nice, Ben. How big is it, how thick and how hard did you leave it?

Love L6 for hawks, my last batch was out of it.
Should be a review coming up in blade mag soon....

 

[BenR.T.]

It's about .214" thick and around 12" long. I left the head about 58-59rc. I spring tempered the tangs like i do all of my hawks.
I made about a dozen or so. Should be interesting to see the review when it comes out (Not the one pictured). The edge still shaved when I got it back.

 

[jdm61]

I left the head about 58-59rc. I spring tempered the tangs like i do all of my hawks.

Now THAT is what I was thinking when this whole L6 idea popped into my head. I don't know of any steel that I would be more comfortable leaving at that kind of hardness for this type of application other than ones like 3V which would set you back a ton of cash just for the raw steel for a hawk or small axe. I find it interesting that you were able to go with the thinner stock and not give up any performance even at higher hardness. I was thinking that I might be able to step down from the .312" to the .275" and maybe be okay. LOL

 

[BenR.T.]

I love L6. I am also moving into using mostly 3v for my carbon steel blades, it is really the best of both worlds, very stain resistant with the right HT and Cryo, and still tough as nails.

I plan on keeping the hawk they reviewed and doing further testing (destroying things) with it. Should be fun.
As much as I don't encourage throwing my hawks, mostly because it can damage the scales, I have a customer that throws the crap out of one these. So far zero issues. Hard edge and crazy durable, L6 is my hero.

 

[A.McPherson]

Ben, awesome axe! Very Viking-esk, I approve!

 

[jdm61]

Yeah, I have done like 25 blades in 3V. I have sent them out to Peters and would probably get even better performance if I had 2-3 high temp salt pots to do the proper ramp up, etc., but even with the vacuum furnace, gas quench and the high temperature temper, it still seems to take a fine, stable edge like you would expect from some of our favorite simple carbon steels and still be tougher than a cheap buffet steak. I had one little blade that I ground super thin. One knife maker asked me if I forgot to harden it because the thin tip was so springy flexible, he couldn't believe that it was 60 RC. of course the bad news with 3V is the price. I am sure that you went through the mental exercise of trying to calculate the raw steel cost for a 3V tomahawk even compared to the not cheap L6 option that you chose.

I love L6. I am also moving into using mostly 3v for my carbon steel blades, it is really the best of both worlds, very stain resistant with the right HT and Cryo, and still tough as nails.

I plan on keeping the hawk they reviewed and doing further testing (destroying things) with it. Should be fun.
As much as I don't encourage throwing my hawks, mostly because it can damage the scales, I have a customer that throws the crap out of one these. So far zero issues. Hard edge and crazy durable, L6 is my hero.

 

[idaho]

I believe there should be a test of same model in different steels to see where the line lays.

But without I would stick to as tough steels as possible. Because I would rather see tens of flatten hawk edges, than a single one broken.
But the point is that maybe with nicely cut L6 the chance of breaking is so small, that there is no need for 4140.

Anyway - I've seen D2 and A2 hawks... Deal with that