Railroad Spike Axe - Round 1

A Saturday spent forging is a good day. Many days throughout the week, I look forward to being able to wake up, enjoy a hot cup of coffee, stroll out to the shop, and fire up our gas forge. Most mornings, dragging myself out of bed takes no less than a tow truck, but on Saturday mornings, I'll spring right out of bed.

This weekend, I had my mind set on a project I had found on anvilfire.com. As one can tell from most of my recent posts, I've contracted a mild to moderate form of ax-forging fever. I can assure you, it is one of the best illnesses one can contract. Previously I had tried to make a few knives out of spikes that did not work out. I had heard of people making hatchets and tomahawks out of railroad spikes from my good friend Heath, but that was the extent of the matter.

I stumbled across a step by step guide to forging an ax out of a railroad spike, written by Bill Epps. It can be found here. I had meant to take pictures of this process step by step... but my phone was dead and so I will post a step by step process supplemented by photos later on.

I was really excited to do this project, because it was going to require Wayne and I to use tools that I had never used before. I had split metal, but never split an eye on something before, nor had I really used a drawing block on an anvil. I usually used the horn or some other fashion of drawing. So, we started the process by, like Mr. Epps states in his walkthrough, upsetting the tip of the spike. Upsetting is a nifty technique, being able to thicken the metal where you need to, especially if you know how to control your heat. I should note here: before you start this, forage around and find some good tongs to hold onto spikes with. None of ours really fit well nor were we able to make some this weekend. Luckily, we had some that worked, but one person had to hold the tongs and spike while the other hammered.

Once you have the spike upset to a little shy of 1'x1' inch square, it's time to move on to the punching and drawing of the eye for the handle. We used this set of punches: Big Blu - we punched most of the way through on one side, then moved to the other side, finding our hole by the "black dot" that forms when punching through something. High heat seems to be key, here. You're just going to wear yourself out if you do not have a high heat on your spike (or you'll wear your punch out and dull your tip). Once we were able to get that through on both sides, we then moved on to widening the hole. As mentioned by Mr. Epps, the key is to open the eye ALMOST to the perfect size, then shape the blade portion, and once your blade shape is done, then finish the eye. Your eye will distort (as we found out, quite considerably) as you shape the blade.

Now, on to the blade portion of the project. The guide states that thin is not a bad thing. If a tomahawk blade is being forged, this is true. A thicker blade won't still in much. My last ax I forged, intended to be a little kindling/forging ax (as can been seen through previous posts) is pretty well utterly useless, as it is too thick to do anything with, despite the decent edge I put on it. I started with a fullering hardy, the one shaped like a Pringles can cut in half longways. I widened it out a bit on both sides, and then moved to the crosspeen side of my hammer to fan it out and thin it more. Now, here's where the variation of our project turns away from Mr. Epps. Once I had the blade fanned out a bit, I hammered the top of the blade down, to where the ax started to take on a bearded look. I then moved on to a rounding hammer because I wanted to really thin the blade and have the rounded hammer blow texture to the blade. I thinned the ax blade quite considerably, I'd say down to a little less than 1/4'', and that really seemed to be needed in order to get the length and shape needed for the head. I think it's really important to mention the working of the metal with the rounding hammer, here. With the 36oz Diamond Rounding hammer, I was focusing on drawing the blade in the shape I needed. I was drawing the blade toward me with glancing blows. I wasn't killing it, I was taking my time and care in my hammer blows.

After the blade was shaped, I finished shaping the eye with a handle mounted mandrel, and then let it cool. I left this rough, I did not want to polish the whole thing because I like a rough look on my work. This thing was hand made, I want it to represent being hand made (besides, it's an ax. It will be slammed into tree stumps... and zombies if that ever comes to pass). Mildly sharpen it by file and thin the edge a bit more, and you're ready to harden, temper, and hone. I heated the cutting edge up to cherry red and then quenched into used motor oil. I then cleaned it up with some emery cloth so the edge was relatively clean of the oil residue and slag. That's important, the clean up, because you have to see your color for tempering.  I held the edge on the outside of the forge, where some of the fire, or "dragons breath" was coming out of the ports, and watched the colors dance across the ax edge. I watched it turn yellow, gold, blue, purple, and then between a purple and peacock blue, yanked it away and quench back in oil. Many will quench in water for the second quench... but I'm scared to for fear of cracking. So I'll hit it in oil again. Clean it up, sharpen it, whittle or buy your handle, mount it, and wedge it and you're ready to go. I carved the handle on this the same as I did Kindling (see previous posts) out of a 1.5in sq board of red oak with a draw knife. If you get the hardening and tempering right (which I think I did. Time will tell) along with thinning your blade enough, this baby will take an edge quick and hold it.

Here's some pictures. Happy hammering!

New Rounding Hammers - Diamond Rounding Hammers - 24oz & 36oz

So, after a total of 37 years, it was time to retire our old Diamond Rounding hammers. Wayne had bought them in the late 70's while he was attending Midwest Horseshoeing School, and they've lasted this long! That brings me to a couple of points that I think need to be examined. First, that shows what kind of quality products that Diamond makes. Ours didn't have a single chip, crack, or blemish in them. The rounded side of the hammer just wasn't quite as round as it used to be, and the handles were wearing out. Second, these hammers (evidently they were back in the 70's and still are now) are at a great price point. We bought these for Wayne for Christmas from Stockhoff's and they were only $37.99 each before shipping. However, it's all about preference. These rounders are great, but in my opinion,when it comes to cross peen, Big Blu Hammer is the only way to go. They're a bit more pricey, but they're also made in the USA and they back their product with a lifetime guarantee.
These hammers just feel great. They don't roll on you and they have a nice long handle that is gauged for just about anybody. I got a little creative tonight, instead of working on blades and axes non-stop, I figured I'd mix it up a bit. We've got more 3/8in square stock laying around the shop than we know what to do with. First, I rolled the end to a point, moved the metal so there was an inch overhang on the end of the anvil, and used the rounding side of the 36oz to draw out the metal thin and round. You've got to keep rolling the metal as you hammer! The result in this is a tear drop shape on the end, with a thin stem. This is a great way to make key chains and the such. Usually, I'd hammer out the tear drop shape using the round end of the hammer and glancing blows, but instead, I repeated the process, which gave me two tear drop shapes that were connected by a thin "stem". Then, just hammer the tear drops flat, take a cutting chisel and add some veins on the top one, and on the bottom, use the cutting chisel to split and make some leaves (this didn't work as well for me, our cutting chisels have all had their better days). Rub some beeswax on it to keep it from rusting, and you're done! Wallah!

First Time Tooling Leather

All of these knives I'm working on wouldn't be complete without something to carry them in. A few months ago, my grandfather gave me a set of leather working tools. They were in this nifty little rolled up fabric full of pouches and chrome tools. I've been chomping at the bit to use them, and I finally had my opportunity the other night. I acquired a large knife sheathe leather kit from Tandy Leather and put these tools to the test. Overall, I'm pretty pleased for my first time using these tools. Now, I just have to find some good oil or similar substance to put on this sheath to darken it up. 

Axe - Completed. Knife No.2 - Almost!

The forge was hot, and the motor oil was there thick here at Hall Ironworks Friday night. Along with my friends Heath and Colin, we had one mission that night. We were going to bravely attempt to harden and temper some blades for the first time. We had three specimens that were to be subject of our trial and error. I had my second knife blade along with my hatchet/axe ready, while Heath had his knife ready. A little background about the knife my good friend was making, if I may.

One of the biggest allures of modern blacksmithing today is the idea of reusing old things to make something new. Just pick up an issue of The Anvil's Ring or The Hammer's Blow published quarterly by the American Blacksmiths Association of North America and you'll find guides, articles, and photos on how people have turned something old, rusted, decayed, and decrepit into a new thing of beauty. My step-father, Wayne, got his start in the ornamental blacksmithing/fabrication world by doing the same thing. He started out by making my mother a 6ft tall sunflower made from an old plow disc off of a tractor. He then used a plasma cutter to cut a few petals into the steel, heated the petals up, hammered them out, and welded it to a 3/8 in round stock rod and stuck it in a coffee can full of concrete. Oh, there were stems and leaves coming off of it, too. It was really a simplistic thing of beauty. Many of my mother's friends saw them and wanted one. Salvage, re-use, re-purpose. It's really big right now, and that's great because it helps the art flourish. You'll find that many smiths do enjoy conversing with each other and sharing little tips and tricks they've found. 

This knife that Heath is making, it's very much the same thing. It's a beast of a knife, longer than 3 and a 1/2 inches for sure, but that's not the most striking feature of it. The most striking feature of the blade is that it is cut out and hammered from an old farrier's rasp. By old, I mean probably pre-1950's at the latest. Those old, thick rasps make great knives and tools because they have a high carbon rating. The higher the carbon rating, the harder the steel, the better edge it holds as a knife or the less likely it is to break being used as a tool (that's a REALLY watered down explanation, mind you). Heath's knife is beautiful, especially for someone's actual first knife. He and I have tinkered around, making a few knives out of horseshoes, rail-road spikes, and so on. However, this is his first knife that will actually be tempered and hardened accompanied by a nice wooden handle. It's fairly common for people to make knives out of old rasps, utilizing the beauitful texture left behind once the rasps have been hammered down and flattened. I only have one picture of his knife, and it's after we tempered it. You'll be able to see some of the really cool texture below in the attached photos. 

My second knife that I have previously posted pictures of is now nearing completion. I'm fiddling with the brass pegs currently, trying to get a nice snug fit (but not so snug that they crack my handle). My original intention with this knife was to have a nice polish on it, but not a mirror finish. I wanted it to have a rustic, rough look. Many knife makers have a theme, and quite frankly that's the theme I like. I like things that are old, look old, and feel old in your hands. Our first heat for hardening was truly breath taking. Granted, Heath and I were probably nerding out (don't you love that term?) so bad that it would have been truly embarassing if anyone besides Colin were around. My knife had been polished with a 120 grit emery cloth quite extensively. When we opened up the gas forge, fired it up, and set my knife on the edge to regulate the heat, we were awed. Because of the finish of my knife, we could see the colors rolling across the blade and handle quite extensively. First a yellowish orange sheen literally rolled its way across the knife, then a light blue, dark blue, and finally a purple-ish blue before turning to red hot for our quench. After that step, we tempered them all, and watched the colors dance across the metal again. When the blades reached that pretty purple-blue, we quenched them in oil again. After this process, my knife held these colors really well, and the handle turned jet black. I really liked these colors, especially the dark colors against my greenish/gold poplar handle. So, I've decided to leave it that way. Can't wait to get it sharpened. That's my dad's gig. My dad, Fred, can put an edge on pretty well anything. He sharpened my hatchet by hand and put an edge on something that was probably considered pretty difficult to sharpen due to its thickness. 

My hatchet is a unique little thing. It's folded and forge welded out of 1 1/2in x 1/4in flatbar (It may have been 3/8) with a tool steel insert for the edge. It's not meant to be a big, bad, tree felling forest conqueror. It's a nifty little axe made for making small kindling and maybe a bit of rough carving. It's a prototype, really. The handle is hand carved and drawn out of an 1 1/2in x 1 1/2in x 36 in red oak board. I cut it down to about 12 inches (I eyeballed it, really) and then took a draw knife to it and shaped it. I like draw knives, gives you a nice control over how much you're taking off and where. I think rubbed about 4 coats of mineral oil on it to bring out some of the color. The handle and the head have a rough look, and yet again, that's what I wanted. Hopefully these pictures don't bug out and disappear like the ones on my last post did. 

Oh, and here's a picture of Colin's first attempt at doing Scrimshaw. FIRST ATTEMPT. Pretty awesome, right? It's on a synthetic wales tooth that comes with most beginner's scrimshaw kits. 

Cheers, 

Benton 

Knife No. 2

My next knife is almost finished. It has a far different look than the first, as it is a little fancier. I added some file work on the top and bottom of the tang that will be visible between the pieces of the handle. I'll be tempering the blade tomorrow, along with my little craft axe. The handle is pretty cool, it started out as a green poplar and after about 6 coats of tung oil, it has a pretty greenish/gold color. I'm excited to piece this one together. This is my favorite yet! 

Forging Year: 2013 In Review

So, it has been almost a year to the day since I have posted to this blog. That is mainly due to until the second half of 2013, I didn't have a whole lot to post about. However, around summer time, things really began to take off here at Hall Ironworks.

In late spring, we acquired a fence construction job. This project, like all of our projects, was pretty unique. The house that the fence was to surround was an old (1800's) two story brick school house that had been converted to a residential house by a wonderfully intelligent woman living in New Harmony, Indiana. She told us to get creative with the design, and her only stipulation was that she wanted to look like it was part of the building in that it was to look very old, like the fence had been there for a century. Wayne observed some older fence styles around the local tri-state, and we came up with the beautiful design posted below. No paint, no finish, the fence will rust and fight in quite beautifully.

We really had a lot of activity this year, arguably as big as last year. It is amazing how with all of the technology and automation that is available to our ever progressing society that people still love things of old that are hand-made and not machined. Another event of 2013 that we were so lucky to be apart of was the Artisans of the Lower Wabash Tour of Indiana and Illinois. It was a two day event on December 14 & 15 that exposed us to a lot of wonderful people who truly appreciate quality hand made art. We were lucky enough to set up at the Indiana Glass Barn, ran by the ever so energetic and creative master glass blower Dave Powell (not to mention he has one of the most impressive beards you've ever laid eyes on!). We set up outside the first day, and inside the second. People could see our work, how we made it, and even made their own metal Christmas ornament!

As of late, I have been taking to making knives and axes. I have found that there's no greater enjoyment than crafting something by their own hands.My cousin, Mr. James Poag, was a very well reknowned knife smith for close to 40 years, and after my final capstone studies project of interviewing him and other blacksmiths and metalsmiths,  I decided to try my hand at making knives. What a wonderful mistake that was, for now I'm hooked, and it is on my brain at all hours of the day. I almost have my second knife and my first solo ax finished. What I am most proud of is that my first solo ax is a little craft axe for kindling and carving, but it's also my first successful forgeweld by myself, which I am very, very pleased and proud of, for it is not an easy thing to do. Pictures of that will follow once completed.

Wayne has come up with some brilliant ideas for the outdoor cooking community. He has developed a tripod for cooking in dutch ovens over the fire in which free stand, but can be collapsed and folded with one hand. Some can be seen in the photos below, along with some of the previous photos above. 

That's all for now, folks. Stay tuned, as I will be posting more photos of our work. Right now, between Wayne and I, we have some pretty impressive things in the works. Three different styles of knives, two hatchets, more outdoor cooking gear (tripods, trivets, and cooking grates) and maybe a new fence job soon. Which, of course, any of the above listed could be yours ;)

Cheers! 

Benton 

JACKPOT! New forge!

Thursday evening, after finishing a somewhat late shift at work, I come home to find a big, heavy box in the dining room. Of course, I knew what it was. In big, dark, bold letters it said across the front "NC TOOL". Finally, after much anticipation, our new gas-powered forge had finally come in. We're super excited! This puts our efficiency much higher, due to the lack of hassle of getting a fire started, cranking it, and maintaining your fire or heat in a traditional coal forge. Also, it puts less impurities in the metal!