R&D,18th c.American axe

So,with poll counterweight welded on,and lugs drawn(on a drift,having forgotten all about them till now:)).
https://imgur.com/uDq23mk
This drift is something i made years` ago to fit a standard boy's axe handle.
(this will be a hermaphrodite test-model,an old pattern with our current-size eye)
Soapstone line represents the future front of eye;the ends of strap are then trimmed to protrude 2" beyond that.

Pre-form trimmed to length;opened and scarfed for welding;closed on the bit steel inserted(leaf spring):https://imgur.com/ZQAZFae
Again,the sides are 3/8",bit just under that:https://imgur.com/j6WJeZ0

uDq23mk.jpg

j6WJeZ0.jpg


Awesome, Jake!
 
Agent_H,that's so gentlemanly of you,to make photos easier to see...Thank you!
(i apologize for interruption,the River ice started running today,a big deal for us river-injuns,my compound a turmoil of visitors).

This is after the first 3-4 welding heats,when i feel it's prudent to take photo time-out:
https://imgur.com/YARgeUC
 
Now let's fast-forward to a slight trim around profiling,and quite a bit more forging,but eventually,here's the shape As-forged:
https://imgur.com/HvqEWRT

Two things kinda pertinent about this photo_One,that fissure running along above the lug.
That is a de-lamination of WI along it's slag-laden layering.I allowed some careless,too-low Temp forging to take place,and the non-homogenious material came unglued.
This is what Stohler had to deal with;except not through carelessness on his part,but just that what he had to work with was some temperamental stuff,hard to predict,too mush Sulphur,too much Phosphorous,slags of many kinds...

And the second curious thing is the color of oxidation.Low-C steel gets much redder than more common alloys of today,it's not just the photo.
Pure-iron Co. in England actually advertises their stuff by using photos of people's palms after touching that stuff:)
Pure(-er,i.e. more carbon-less Fe is also more Conductive;as in you use tongs for what otherwise you could hold on to,quite a different creature).

Al in all,i like it,but it blindsided me in being That old and "authentic" and all that,and i'm not sure i treated it right.
Was running low on charcoal,and all the company,and the possibility of flooding in the back of the brain...Excuses,otherwise:)
So i'll have to poke around these welds with the grinder,before going further.
But it was a blast playing with it,that's fer sure.
 
(i apologize for interruption,the River ice started running today,a big deal for us river-injuns,my compound a turmoil of visitors).

And you're right on the river, aren't you? Are you getting run over by everyone wanting to see the ice move?

Time for the whole town to get in gear!
 
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Fmont,thank you,and it's really enjoyable having you guys along,i can't really share this craziness with too many people,as you can well imagine:)

I do provide entertainment locally at times,my most memorable i think was a group of Cathoic priests and students,here on a mission.
We had a blast together at the forge,made something simple,but had a fantastic conversation about the role of forge and forging in historic depictions of Christian Hell!:)
(darkness and flames,the sulfurous(brimstone,from crappy coal:) smells,the naked sinners rushing about and the Din...(my PH was working back then):)

Square_peg,yes,i'm right on the River(sometimes even close enough to be IN it:))
So close in fact that our State has officially washed their hands of us in this part of town,after that good one in 2013.
Ice is being all quiet,not enough water for it to go,it's in some thoughtful inactive stage...Ominous or no,i can't intuit yet...Ice is thin this year(here at least),and everyone is hoping that it'l be another so-called "mush-out";i don't think there's mch prep going on...I'm real lazy myself about it this year...May live to regret it yet.
 
Incredibly,this WI cleaned up pretty well...Very few even crappy-Looking welds;the composite is a functional unit...
I'm pretty surprised at it's quality.I definitely crossed some bounds `working it pretty cold,hurrying,getting distracted...WI is touchy stuff,but this here behaved like a sweetheart.
https://imgur.com/q4Yu9AH
https://imgur.com/aptpAFu

After i took these i hit it with 80 grit,and it shows beautiful pattern,but so faintly without actually etching it that catching it in photograph is out of the question.

I will try to upload other views in a bit if imgur lets me..
 
Just for giggles,stuck it on a 28" link handle,just to see what it'd look like,how open or closed it hangs...https://imgur.com/gMoNCQ3

In this top view the seams in front of eye look shitty,but they actually aren't so bad...I just was too stingy grinding,hated to spare any more height of the head.
That is definitely my weak spot in forging this pattern to shape.A low spot,a saddle, that i'm still at a loss of how to prevent.
https://imgur.com/4Psn9ta
Another is the dimple right by the poll,but that is caused by my overzealousness in forging it top to bottom,love that massive poll and can't help wanting to keep shaping it;it ought to beft alone after welding.
 
Just for giggles,stuck it on a 28" link handle,just to see what it'd look like,how open or closed it hangs...https://imgur.com/gMoNCQ3

In this top view the seams in front of eye look shitty,but they actually aren't so bad...I just was too stingy grinding,hated to spare any more height of the head.
That is definitely my weak spot in forging this pattern to shape.A low spot,a saddle, that i'm still at a loss of how to prevent.
https://imgur.com/4Psn9ta
Another is the dimple right by the poll,but that is caused by my overzealousness in forging it top to bottom,love that massive poll and can't help wanting to keep shaping it;it ought to beft alone after welding.
You are getting closer and closer to making a very unique axe: boy's size Rockaway.
 
I'm sitting here trying to think of something thoughtful to say, but all I can come up with is "wow." The design, construction, size, etc., make that a really ideal axe head by any standard. At least for me, and I'm probably speaking for many others here, that package ticks off more "wanted" features than anything still being produced in any sort of volume. And it's packaged as pretty as any ever was. I think that WI is revealing the steel bit *perfectly*.
 
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Fmont,thank you for saying that.
(you can actually see the contrast,in the photo?).
Being new to this pattern and cautious/conservative,i leave way too much beef towards the edge.
We still don't have any consensus on the convergence angle...it's something that i'm not sure about at all,among other things.

(this WI i'm more and more in love with...a friend here just got in an order of ferric chloride...i'm strongly tempted to do an etch on this...i want to see my forging marks,just how embarrassingly muddled the blows would look:))
 
Yeah, the contrast shows up pretty clearly on my phone! It's a serious thing of beauty.

I've got some ideas I'll share later about the heel on something that size!
 
Thank you for the input,please,Any and all thoughts are Greatly appreciated...

I'm pursuing this pattern and finding it quite elusive,there's much that i'm missing...
I've never seen boy's size Rockaway. It would be one of its kind.
You are so close!
The line between eye and heel should became a curve.
High centerline forms a wedge when you look from the top.
BookReaderImages.php

McKinnon

Legitimus

Kelly

vintage-axe-head-plumb-usa-rockaway_1_3b3d0f0e138a9dbe771bc587361c05e4.jpg

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-axe-head-plumb-usa-rockaway-1822019990
vintage-kellys-flint-edge-rockaway_1_46a10e2096f11e26b6a5105797f6fa27.jpg

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-kellys-flint-edge-rockaway-1866350838
 
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Just for giggles,stuck it on a 28" link handle,just to see what it'd look like,how open or closed it hangs...https://imgur.com/gMoNCQ3

In this top view the seams in front of eye look shitty,but they actually aren't so bad...I just was too stingy grinding,hated to spare any more height of the head.
That is definitely my weak spot in forging this pattern to shape.A low spot,a saddle, that i'm still at a loss of how to prevent.
https://imgur.com/4Psn9ta
Another is the dimple right by the poll,but that is caused by my overzealousness in forging it top to bottom,love that massive poll and can't help wanting to keep shaping it;it ought to beft alone after welding.

Just because I like seeing your work inline
gMoNCQ3.jpg

4Psn9ta.jpg


Jake, that is a great looking axe! I appreciate that you have share the trials, tribulations, and the triumphs equally.
 
I thank you gentlemen most sincerely...
Agent_H,it's been great to have company along the way,couldn't do it without you guys in fact...

CrbnSteeladdict,thank you so much....I'm WAY too fat in the blade...
AND,i can't help but to steer this towards the later,factory axes...What can i do to turn it back a half century or even a whole,back to hand-made Penn ones?

Couldn't resist and did a quick hillbilly etch in battery acid...
https://imgur.com/0Rc8ky8
Not really as spectacular as i hoped,but in that finish,80 grit,and no ammonia to really clean it on hand...Anyway,i haven't molested the layers in wrought all that much.
If a top-view photo comes through(reception is crap,no "like" or "quote" function),the weld at poll looks interesting,even WI shows that strangely-called "decarb line"(white streak).
The black radial cracks are damage from the inside of those square corners forged in too tight a radius.
 
Just for giggles,stuck it on a 28" link handle,just to see what it'd look like,how open or closed it hangs...https://imgur.com/gMoNCQ3

In this top view the seams in front of eye look shitty,but they actually aren't so bad...I just was too stingy grinding,hated to spare any more height of the head.
That is definitely my weak spot in forging this pattern to shape.A low spot,a saddle, that i'm still at a loss of how to prevent.
https://imgur.com/4Psn9ta
Another is the dimple right by the poll,but that is caused by my overzealousness in forging it top to bottom,love that massive poll and can't help wanting to keep shaping it;it ought to beft alone after welding.

Wow! That's an axe!!! And a 5160 bit, too. Excellent!
 
Front-row seats for viewing the spring ice run on the 3rd longest river in the USA...
https://imgur.com/IcnQQce
Ice has started running about an hour ago,moving at about 6-8 mph in a few hours it'll reach this dog-leg in the River about 30 miles down...Then it'll be me running too...to higher ground...

Now you just need a 6-pack and some hot dogs.
 
CrbnSteeladdict,thank you so much....I'm WAY too fat in the blade...
AND,i can't help but to steer this towards the later,factory axes...What can i do to turn it back a half century or even a whole,back to hand-made Penn ones?
.
Actually, once you put it on the handle It screams retro style. The angle on the haft vs the the poll plane reminds me of old Plumb axes(top right).
BookReaderImages.php
 
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