So I had some leftover 4140 moly steel laying about and thought I would make myself a tomahawk. Going for the tactical sort of look. The steel is not ideal for a blade but with a heat treat it makes for very good tool steel and I figure it will do the job just fine for a home made job. I will Duracoat it once I have it ground down and going with some micarta handles. I cut the blank out with a metal cutting band saw from a piece of 6" x 20" x 3/8" plate.
Swizz, if your interested in a blank let me know I can cut your own design if you want, it just can't be any wider than 6"
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Very nice, what are you considering for a handle when you get to that stage?
most likely be a set of Micarta handles but 550 cord is also a possibility
Nice! What a fun project!!
You shouldn't need to heat treat this. What type of steel is that?
Typically axes and hawks are left soft for a reason. You don't want them to be brittle since they are for chopping and/or striking (not so much slicing). Sharp edge retention shouldn't be a high priority for this project. Maybe a light/minor HT but I wouldn't consider it a priority.
Keep us posted on your progress.
Also... check out this knifemakers forum. It is a tremendous resource: http://knifenetwork.com/forum/
4140 chrome molly steel.
So made a little progress today, Still need to hollow grind the blade then I will start work on the spike. I also need to thin down the handle a bit to get the weight right. It feels too heavy in the handle right now. I dont plan on bringing the blade to an edge until last so I can continue to handle it without cutting myself more than necessary.
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Andrew, that is way cool. Looks great! Keep posting those pics. Can'wait to see the finished project when I get back. Again, way cool!
It's looking good Andrew, cool project!
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