Hall Ironworks: New Axes and Old

My last post was in December of 2015. A lot of things have happened in the last year, some good and some bad. Regardless, I have some new stuff to share with you.

Looking through my drafts of posts, the last post I was composing was about taking my work to more of a shift towards wood working tools. In a sense that statement is still true. However, there has been some interest in my hawks and in a newer style camp ax that I have started forging. This style has some relevance to the wrapped-eye tomahawk that I love to forge as it is folded and welded but utilizes alternating fullers and step-downs to create an eye the shape of an axe, not a teardrop hawk-eye shape.

This is a pattern and style that I have been wanting to try for quite some time. I first saw it demonstrated at John C. Campbell a few years back, but I was foolish enough to watch instead of taking notes about the process. Many call this a "bowtie" style because before the axe is folded and welded it resembles a bowtie. Forging this type of axe produces a tool that is built a little more for the wear and tear around camp than a tomahawk is built for. Here are the main differences between the camp axe and tomahawk patterns that I am forging:

Camp axes have an axe-shape eye, whereas tomhawks have the more rounded tear-drop shape.
Camp axes are permanently affixed to their handles via wedge, wood glue, and steel step wedge, whereas tomahawks can be removed from their handles.
The camp axes are forged from 8.75 x 1.5 x .50 mild with a 2 x 1.5 x .375 carbon insert . The hawks are 10 x 1.5 x .25, with the same size carbon insert. The camp axes have a bit more meat and heft to them and are of a more stout build but do not throw as well.
Hawks have a straight handle whereas the camp ax has a curved or straight handle.

Through some wonderful videos by the English blacksmith Rowan Taylor, I took diligent notes and decided to give forging this axe a whirl. The first attempt didn't turn out so well. My step-downs were not clean and I blew out the eye of the axe while drifting it to shape with my axe eye drift. Long story short, or in a bit different wording, I fried the first one in more ways than one.

What does one do when they ruin what they're working on? Start anew, of course, but not before a ceremonial beer is drank. I find this helps sooth the temper a bit after ruining something.

Round two went much better than expected. This style came out as a blend of a hawk and camp axe. They eye was shaped like a small camp ax with round langets, but the blade profile was bearded like a hawk. Nevertheless, it performs well. The langets were not properly flattened to the drift when forging so I had to make sure a nice fat wedge was inserted to close up some gaps. I was moderately pleased with this one.

Round three! This was a customer request. I wanted to try for more of an English wood axe style and less of a Tomahawk look. Per usual, I had just as much shaping the handle from Thrane Axe and Saw as I did forging the hawk!

Of course, I'm still forging hawks. I love my hawks and I love finding ways to improve the builds with each tomahawk that I forge. Over the course of the last year, I have forged close to 30 tomahawks and I fall more and more in love with that style each time. Below are some photos from over the course of the last year.

Lastly, here's two videos. The first is of a hawk that was forged for a client, and the second is a 130 layer damascus blade with 6000 year old bog oak scales and nickel silver pins.