Hello everyone this is my first post and almost my first full year as a member of the ABS. I wanted to share a recent project that I have been working on, I have been trying to make a wolf's tooth pattern axe and this was my first attempt which was a disaster on the side of the pattern but it still turned out to be a nice axe. This axe was wrapped and welded with a body of mild steel and an edge of 1095 and 15n20 with a central core of 1084 giving the edge about 32 layers. The head is 8 1/4 inches long and the edge is a little over 6 inches, with the weight of the whole axe sitting at about 4 pounds. The handle is hickory and measures 35 1/2 inches long. All comments are welcome thanks for looking.
Oh also I did take photos step by step on the forging of this axe head so if anyone is interested in seeing the process I can post that in a separate thread.
-Robert Burns
Nice as. I like it.
Dale
Dale Huckabee
Journeyman Smith
dalehuckabeeknives.weebly.com
Very nice! I have been making some wrapped and welded axes too and this is very interesting to me. It takes guts to even start one but the point is that it can be done. I would like to see your step by step pictorial if you get the chance. I also have some photos of mine when I get to it.
Dude- that is SWEET!! I attempted forge welding one like that as a tomahawk, only to fail miserably. Well done!! Very handsome looking....almost looks too nice to use <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> How long did it take you to make the head, start to finish, out of curiosity?
Thanks guys <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> The total project, making the handle, head, and today the sheath took approximately 20-25 hours. The head start to finish took about 7-9 hours
Impressive.....both a good looking piece of workmanship and the time spent was much less than I would expect to spend myself, but that's becuse my first pattern welded axe head is still a block of steel sitting on my workbench. It's been there for 2 years now.
Anyway, how does it cut? It looks like you've been testing it. How did you heat treat it?
Joshua States
www.dosgatosforge.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdJMFMqnbLYqv965xd64vYg
https://www.facebook.com/dos.gatos.71
Also on Instagram and Facebook as J.States Bladesmith
“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.â€
It cuts extremely well just holding it makes you want to fell trees and call yourself a lumberjack. As far as tempering goes the edge is quench at non-magnetic after the mild steel body has been allowed to heat to just below critical. The edge is then submerged in the quench until the axe body has gone to dull red it is then suspended in the air to cool until at room temperature. I then gave it one tempering cycle at 385 degrees for two and a half hours. At one point the finished axe head accidentally fell edge first onto concrete from several feet up and after my heart attack I saw there was no edge damage. This process for tempering axes has always worked for me but what do you do to harden and temper yours?
