Untraditional axe making ?? Good or bad ?

Square_peg said:
Anything above 53 is very good. I think 53-56 is ideal. If you never work in freezing conditions and don't cut super hard wood than 57-58 is exceptional. If you have to cut hemlock knots or other hard knots then you're better to stay at 55 or lower. Hemlock knots are better just avoided entirely.
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So, my target of 56-58 seems reasonable.

I would like to add I have read your posts in this forum for years and was glad when you chimed in on this one. I know you pretty much make your living with an axe and I have a lot of respect for your opinion.
 
Old Axeman said:
If I were to do what you are about to do, I would do the following to your existing design: high center; larger, hardened poll; change the bevels design; keep the lugs, but point the bottom of them instead of rounding them off; pump the head weight up to 2.5 lbs; and hang it on a 26"-28", straight, slim taper, second growth, vertical grain, hickory haft.
If I could only have one axe, the above would be the one. I would have it with me at all times. I try not to find myself anywhere that I can not carry a axe and a knife.
I wish I was not so damn old now, I always wanted to built my own designed axe.
Good luck, and let us follow along with you on this forum.
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Once again, thank you for your input. I am working on refining the model now. I am going to work within the constraints on the material I have already purchased but I will keep all of your suggestions in mind. I do indeed feel fortunate to be in the position to be able to do this.
 
bikerector said:
This thread could prove useful for the D2 axe.

https://bladeforums.com/threads/toughness-numbers-for-d2-with-low-temper-and-cryo.1613451/

P.S. if you want to make something in AEB-L and need someone to partially fund it/trial it, I would be interested :). Could make a nice tool for winter camping in a smaller bit pattern.
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That was an interesting read, and an eye opener. The AEB-L certainly sounds promising. Since I just got a bar of D2 around 1.0”x4.4”x36.0” that’s what my first axe is going to be made out of. After reading everyone’s input I do believe it’s not ideal, but I think it will be adequate. Hopefully I will end up with a decent design and process. If I get all of that figured out I will be happy to talk yo you about something out of AEB-L. Until I read this post I had never heard of this steel.
 
Kerry W said:
That was an interesting read, and an eye opener. The AEB-L certainly sounds promising. Since I just got a bar of D2 around 1.0”x4.4”x36.0” that’s what my first axe is going to be made out of. After reading everyone’s input I do believe it’s not ideal, but I think it will be adequate. Hopefully I will end up with a decent design and process. If I get all of that figured out I will be happy to talk yo you about something out of AEB-L. Until I read this post I had never heard of this steel.
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Larrin runs a website/blog too that has better details. I remember reading that posting and was surprised how brittle D2 is claimed to be and how tough AEB-L is in analytical terms. The chart shared in that thread was from the published writing on the blog.

The chart is here but there are a few other toughness and edge stability posts on there that are interesting. One thing I always wondered was "how tough is tough enough?" because I've used D2 in several camp knives and haven't experienced any chipping or the like and it's supposed to be amazingly brittle by the data. I'm not saying it isn't brittle just that I haven't seen failures personally. However, these weren't super long test or any type of "fatigue" testing with repeated impact at high repetition.
https://knifesteelnerds.com/2018/06/04/toughness-testing-cru-wear-z-wear/
 
You'd be hard pressed to make an axe of AEBL. To the best of my knowledge it's only available in coils.
 
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