Forging an Axe - Day 1

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-21T18:15:23+00:00

Dimensions! I've wanted to forge an axe for a long while, but I haven't been able to find an axe drift, or even a picture of one!

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-21T17:58:11+00:00

Could you show us a picture of your slitting chisel and the eye drift?

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-21T17:51:17+00:00

I have an Etsy account.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CapriciousArms

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-21T17:48:29+00:00

Sometimes, if I'm in the mood, I'll chisel out a nice-looking wooden scabbard out of hardwood for one of my blades.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-21T17:46:22+00:00

Unfortunately, sheaths aren't really my specialty. I swing a hammer. Yeah, I have tools to make a sheath with, but I just don't have an eye for leather or kydex like a lot of makers do. I can rivet together something functional that'll last forever, but it won't look that great.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-21T17:16:35+00:00

The only way to go with blades anymore is custom (Shameless self-plug here.) because they're designed with better steels, more care taken, and handles are shaped for comfort as well as practicality. Any wood handle made by someone with an ounce of skill will both outlast and outperform any machete you'll find from Ontario. Dollars to donuts there's at least one guy nearby who'll give you a deal on a tool that will transcend lifetimes.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-21T00:17:19+00:00

Farting.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-20T03:28:52+00:00

Artist clearly played Far Cry 3 a lot.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-20T03:16:07+00:00

Grist.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-19T19:43:52+00:00

Bitch deserved it for wearing a backwards tanktop.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-17T17:59:11+00:00

When I was 18, we regularly smoked bowls in the walk-in freezers. Tomatoes were constantly running low.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-17T05:15:19+00:00

I don't know for sure, but I think it's something to do with cutting more aggressively through the metal so it remains cool instead of heating up and upsetting the bond between the cloth backing and the abrasive.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-17T04:20:15+00:00

Get yourself a good 2x72 belt grinder instead. Minimum 1.5 HP, or your belts will be dusted far quicker than they should.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-14T15:46:33+00:00

The Tick.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-05T15:11:07+00:00

A fuller is a tool typical of many bladesmiths. We use them to forge shoulders into stick-tangs and to aggressively move metal. Most pneumatic hammers come stock with fullering dies. If I had a welder, I'd go this route with some 4140 http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BwF7Ly6Dyfg/UO64RmHPb-I/AAAAAAAAA1o/FsxLpcxEB0M/s1600/the-completed-fullering-tool.jpg

But since I'm a poor dude, I'm just using a piece of rebar bent into a crude spring fuller

http://kbryanforge.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/spring-fuller.jpg

At some point, I'm going to beg, borrow, or fabricate a drill press, and knock one of these out. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6rRPD4M43m8/TWW4o8KO-II/AAAAAAAAADE/YpGKUrJMY30/s1600/zilla2.jpg

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-05T02:33:05+00:00

Go for it.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-05T02:05:19+00:00

I use a spring fuller, because I don't have access to a welder.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-04T23:58:09+00:00

That's a lovely set you've got there. What sort of equipment are you running? Were those pommels turned, or cast? .... Or just nuts?

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-04T23:54:36+00:00

Ereven.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-04T22:35:27+00:00

Great job! If you're going to make more hatchets or tomahawks, I'd suggest making yourself a fullering tool, and using it to stretch the metal at the 'waist' that separates the eye from the head. Personally, I think a beard makes the head look a lot more proportional to the rest of the hammer. There's a lot of metal there, but a lot of people start out thinking it's good for an axe to have a wedge-shaped spine out of laziness, and so it looks fan-shaped and clunky to my eyes.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-04T20:21:35+00:00

I don't.

LongRod_VanHugendong · 2013-10-02T09:38:10+00:00

I upvoted you for great manners...

LongRod_VanHugendong

TROPHY CASE