Ringing steel

T

The Old Dog

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Jun 8, 2020
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I have a few old axe heads (5-6) laying on my work bench of various makes and models. A db collins, a sb plumb, a sb ludell etc. I held them up with a small piece of steel in the eye and struck them with small hammer. Some ring like a bell and some clunk. The Plumb actually rings like a bell and has a long sustain. What is the correlation with ring and steel quality if any? Thanks, Dog
 
Hardness is definitely a factor.

The ludell is if I'm not mistaken an inexpensive relatively modern import that I would not expect to ring like a bell.
The Collins could very well be a more modern 70's-80's example which weren't as good as the older pre 70's axes, and not ringing doesn't surprise me.
 
It's a matter of several factors, some of which may or may not play a role in actual quality. However, lore has long stated that a ringing axe was a good one. This is mostly because most common faults in old hand-forged axes would also render them unable to ring. However, it does not mean that an axe that doesn't ring is a bad axe.
 
If an axe that rings is “good”, and an axe that doesn’t ring can also be “good”, then ringing or not ringing doesn’t really mean anything? Sounds good though to hear.
 
It means that if it does ring there's certainly no delaminations in the forge welds, IF it was a laminated construction axe (inlay or overlay bit and so on) but many a solidly made axe doesn't ring simply because it isn't thin enough to do so. And an axe that rings can still have other issues with it like being TOO hard and/or thin, so yeah it's basically lore and not much more than that.
 
garry3 said:
A ringing axe means the head is loose from the haft and potentially ready to brain the user or those nearby. The change in tune was usually the first warning that I needed a new rigging axe handle.
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Maybe in the cases you've experienced but by no means is that always the case. I've used a number of axes that sang while you used them and they were completely tight.
 
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