Make a tool to make a tool to make a tool .☺️

Now some of you guys might know what I mean when I ask myself who made the first tongs. I have no answer to that question, for it is a bit academical. But I like to ask no less, for it illustrates a lot of what blacksmithing is all about. 

I have been meaning to make myself a decent Tomahawk for ages now. In fact I started to forge this one from an old ball peen hammer in the Industriemuseum Ennepetal. But I was unable to continue for lack of opportunity. I forged with children and had little time to make anything more complex than knives, and while knives are in themselves none too shabby an effort, too, they do not require a lot of tools. 

Now this tool in itself is nothing special, it is a taper and that is about it. It is a drift to prepare the eye of a hammer, or, in this case a Tomahawk. An axe or hatchet drift is made differently, but I wanted the hammer poll of my 'hawk to be fully functional, and you need less bulk for a cutting edge, for you need less effort to cut than to crush, nail or even forge something. So more bulk will not hinder the cutting performance and will enhance the functionality of the hammer poll at the same time. Also I am a lazy bum and I want to forge a hammer as one of the next projects, and I can make an axe drift any time. 

I was lucky, because a friend of mine dropped by and (with all Corona precautions followed, in case you asked) helped along with the sledge, so it worked out well in no time. 

 The drift is made from C60 (which I believe is equal to 1060 steel. That way it is less prone to crack when cooled in the bosh. 

I then first staunched the ball peen to a more regular hammer poll, forged the blade and then used the drift to make the cone fitting for the handle. The 'hawk will be fitted more like a hammer and not in the traditional way, which is a handle is mounted from the top with no wooden or metal wedges. The traditional method has the advantage that the hatchet can be taken apart with no tools for sharpening or skinning chores, but I always carry a knife, too, so no problem. The handle will be longer than that of a hammer, though. Stay tuned! 😁 

Tomahawk for fun ;-)

On the bench... with a lousy pic by my old camera... a tomahawk I made for fun throwing. The head is spring steel, haft is yew....

Hammer- In at the Industriemuseum Ennepetal-Gorgeous FUN!!!!

 Sunday it was "work" at the Industriemuseum Ennepetal again. Willi dropped by, Daniel (Beché;-)), Rolf with a friend of his, and myself.We lit the forge a little bit later than usual, but no harm done.

 Grinding mayhem, and what may come out?;-)

 This is the knife Willi made last time, now tempered and polished and etched in Vinegar. It´s made from silver steel and I like the Hamón....

 A knife by Rolf, loosely  modelled after the Nessmuk design. 100Cr6 steel with a reindeer antler handle... sweet!

 

 Rolf and Daniel forging a prybar for breaking out of the bedlam.... I had to confuse their guardian meanwhile with my gibberish;-) to distract him. No, honestly, I did...;-).

 This is one of Rolf´s hammers. And the battered one below is mine;-).

 A tomahawk Rolf made from an old locksmith´s hammer. C 60.

 And now, say one thing for Willi, and one thing only, say he´s completely gone off his rocker now. I could not quite make out what he wanted to do with this length of C 45 steel, but I soon learned what it was all about...

 Punched a hole in it....

 ....and made himself a felling axe... tempered and sharpened, so sharp in fact that it cuts paper...

INSANE!!!!!

 The axe in total....

 But also hats off to Daniel, who made this flower stand for the balcony... the "little" one makes a hell of a progress....

 A skinner blade Rolf made from 100Cr6...

 And a tomahawk we made together, two brutes with sledge hammers and Rolf. Guess who the brutes were;-).

 Daniel made this nailforging tool. Might be there are some out there more beautiful, but it will do the job, and Daniel was righteously proud of his achievement.

 Made two Kopis blades myself. The top design you might be vaguely familiar with;-). It´s made from plain spring steel and has a Hámon. Below is one made from Zwissler seven-bar damascus...

This one is one of the seven dwarves, made by Willi. It´s made from Zwissler "monster" damascus, a billet from a world record attempt Matthias made in 2004 (2,4 to of damascus billet) with Norbert Bahls and Joachim Wirtz.





We had quite a laugh working together with funny folks, spreading the fire together and doing what we like. Had a coffee and a piece of cake even, and Rolf brought some towels for each one of us as a gift... nice guy, Rolf....;-)

Another strenuous day, but a perfect day nonetheless.