I welcome fans to work with steel. Today we will look at how to make a useful thing out of a useless thing, at a low cost. The author decided to forge a hatchet from the springs ear, few people undertake to work with such source material, because it has to be leveled before forging. The author’s hatchet turned out to be very strong, the blade turned out so strong that the author easily cuts nails with an ax, and we have the eighth number of nails. The ax is not complicated to manufacture, but you will need a blacksmith's furnace, an anvil and at least a hammer. The author worked with his wife to quickly unleash such a massive piece of iron in two hands. And it’s not customary in Cambodia to take wives to the shops, they are taken to the forges and they help them make a present for themselves. One way or another, if you are interested in the project, I propose to study it in more detail!
Materials and tools used by the author:
Material List:
- an ear from a spring;
- a tree for overlays;
- wood screws;
- Super glue;
- oil or varnish for wood (optional).
Tool List:
- oven and blacksmith tool;
- a grinder with grinding nozzles;
- manual circular or hacksaw;
- marker;
- drill, screwdriver.
Manufacturing process homemade:
Step one. Straighten the ear
First of all, we need to straighten the ear of the spring so that we get a plate. We thoroughly heat the steel to a yellowish glow and get to work. The author coped with the task quite easily, he simply hammered two steel rods into a stump and with his help he straightened his ear. Well, then with the blows of the hammer we straighten the ear.
Step Two Forging hatchet profile
Next, we form the desired profile of the hatchet by forging. To begin with, the author cut a piece from the workpiece to make the future handle. Cutting is also used by forging; the author uses a special chipping wedge.
Well, and then, with the help of a strong wife, the author forms the desired hatchet profile. A little effort and here the profile of the ax is ready. Thanks to forging, the steel became thin and its strength increased.
Step Three Eliminate defects
Of course, you can bring an ax profile to the ideal by grinding. Our author is not a savage and used a grinder for such purposes, but before everything was done with grindstones and files. We put a grinding whetstone on the grinder, and also use Velcro for sandpaper. Hatchet planes can also be sanded to make the ax easier to wash.
Step Four Quenching
The author conducts hardening of knives and hatchets according to his own technique. You just need to heat the blade thoroughly, and then only immerse the blade in water. As a result, we get a very hard blade, and the ax itself remains plastic, which protects it from cracking. With this hardening, the body of the knife or ax is always deformed due to the difference in tension inside the steel. But this is not a problem, carefully align the hatchet with a hammer after hardening the blade.
Step Five Handle
We assemble the handle for the hatchet, for a start we will need to cut two plates of suitable size from the board. We drill holes in them and twist on the handle of the ax with screws, pins and glue the author does not use.
Next, we form the handle profile we need by grinding with a grinder and sandpaper, or we can handle the rasp. At the end, we take the chips and close the gaps between the handle and the plates with it, pouring everything on top with superglue. Final sanding and handle ready. Of course, it would be good to protect a tree from water with varnish or oil, otherwise the linings may come off and crack from water.
Step Six Sharpening and testing
The author grinds the ax on a grindstone, pouring it with water, so the stone grinds steel better. After sharpening, the ax easily cuts wood, and even 8 cm long nails. The ax turned out to be weighty and strong, which is what you need. Of course, if you sharpen the ax well, they can easily cut it.
On this project can be considered completed, I hope you liked the homemade product, and you found useful thoughts for yourself. Good luck and creative inspiration, if you decide to repeat this, do not forget to share your ideas and homemade things with us!
