a forge, a lathe and buckskin. ahhh....hawks

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Well I did a little research.... The first tracks for carts were invented in Germany in 1550. Stell replaced the wood rails in 1776. the first steam engine for trains was invented in 1803. So... having found the examples, I totally agree that a RR spike COULD have been used and be HP/PC. Either way you are years ahead of me. I too have the ghetto rig but mine is an old Weber with a hairdyer attached. Dad and I just fool around with it for now using ball peen hammers. My stuff doesn't look at good as yours yet. I also have no training, just the school of hard knocks. I look forward to more things coming, hopefully soon I will have something to add here. :thumbsup:
 
Son, ya got spunk, you'll go far. Smithin' has a long learning curve. Don't be too hard on yer critiques, there are your best teachers. How do I know this you say. I been a Smith for years and had to put up with a lot of negative comments, but didn't let it bother me. Everybody has their own style that's the beauty of doing what ya like no matter what it is...Bud
 
armymedic.2 said:
suggestions to scrap ur work before in a constructive way before.
Click to expand...
It didn't start out that way.
Seem's many that attempt forge work are fasinated by the fire, red hot metal and hitting stuff with a hammer.
They stop when it comes to the hard part. And that's learning the properties of the metal they'er working with and the colors they need to achieve the results they're after. The next hardest part is the finish work. Metal is hard isn't it, it takes hours and hours of fileing and sanding. People don't want to do that, yet they want a pat on the back for minimal efforts.
Curts work sells for 100's of dollars each and if broken down into an hourlt wage Curt ain't getting much, rail spikes twisted and hammered into a "knife" edge can be found at the local flea market for 10
A little research pays off too. http://furtradetomahawks.tripod.com/id25.html http://www.google.com/search?q=early+trade+ax

There are orginizations of Blacksmiths Guild all over the country.
The local one meet's monthly and anyone in all skill levels are welcome. They go each month to someones forge to watch a demonstrated technique and share experiance,, http://www.google.com/search?q=ear...34169,d.aWM&fp=7e5cb46a70252cd5&bpcl=40096503
 
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Everybody has to start somewhere.The eggspurts didn't start out that way either. :wink:
 
Cool info. Thanks for looking into that. Im not an hc guy but i do love the history behind all the things we enjoy today. My original assumption was that the first hawks natives here had were fur trade followed by rr steel. Nechi posted some info that proved there was much more to it than that. Fun stuff to me to ponder.
 
Good on ya bud. I watch people like yourself. Brian brazeal for example on you tube and marvel at the effortless metal flow. Certainly something to strive for.

I dedicated my life to the firing of guns and it has paid recreationally and now financially. It takes true dedication in time and money to reach a payable class in any vocation. I may now pursue this. Im hopping.....bowbuilding braintanning gunbuilding blacksmithing......so far im not sure which ill devote more to but they are darn near equally fun.
 
This is a valid post no doubt.

I think you may have misunderstood my original post. It was intended:, to share and show yall what im doing. Maybe spark another newbie into actually making fire once they saw i made a usable tool.

I am not hc pc. I currently dont have an interest in it. I also dont try to sell my items so i never looked into how a period blade would be done.

I was most interested in the first link which showed no spikes........no hammer ends.....more like a hatchet with a useless backside. I wonder why they did that. Certainly they needed to strike things on occasion. Interestjng.

As far as putting in hard work. I know what u say is true about people stopping short. But remember i said " thanks for looking". Not what do u think looking for kudos. Just like to share. I filed one hawk so far. Very simple to learn the technique. Why finish hawks to polish when i like seeing the hammer marks.......more so like looking at the last few and see the hammmer marks getting shallow and dissapearing.

If i approach a point i feel my work is saleable u bet ill be finishing them out the way the consumer wants it.

Im bummed to see the hammer ins and such are weekends. I looked into them a few months ago but being a self employed farmer my weekends are spent selling my meat and dairy in the big city. Maybe when im older........send my kids instead and ill bend metal.
 
armymedic.2 said:
I am not hc pc. I currently dont have an interest in it.
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I think that's something to keep in mind when posting to forums that are somewhat 'historically' leaning and are home to reenactors. Especially when you refer to what you make as a "hawk".

armymedic.2 said:
I was most interested in the first link which showed no spikes........no hammer ends.....more like a hatchet with a useless backside. I wonder why they did that. Certainly they needed to strike things on occasion.
Click to expand...
Probably for the same reason you don't see "hammer heads" on axes today? They're for chopping, not hammering. They did make axes with hammer heads, but they weren't all like that.
 
armymedic, I wouldn't waste a lot of time trying to validate yourself to others, keep it in perspective, and as long as you are happy with your journey, that is all that matters.

It is good to see that you enjoy learning, and you have piqued my interest in what you are doing. I'm kind of wrapped up in a current project that will take all my spare time, but in the future I could see me beatin up a hot railroad spike. :grin:
 
Well, I guess I'll add my remarks about this post! __ I agree with Jack's comments and name calling is something that is not needed on the forum! __ It's easy to see that armymedic really doesn't want any critique, suggestions or historic information from anyone on this site, but just wanted to show his axes and hoped that all seeing them would only give him praise or whatever! __ This was basically not the overall opinion by some and I think that armymedic is the type of person to keep coming back with any comments (Including this one) and seems to have that "Axe to grind" with any person questioning his skills at the forge! __ Sorry, but I was always taught to do the best you can do and this is apparently armymedic's best!

Armymedic, thanks for showing us!

Rick
 
armymedic.2 said:
Some hawks i did up.

The handles and collars are buckskin from some of my deer this year i brain-tanned. The handles are out of last years cut firewood, and they all started as rail road spikes.

The one on the left i did two years ago, and it has proved its worth many times over already dressing and finishing.

The other two i did this week.

thanks for looking!

photobucket-76245-1356744162043.jpg


photobucket-36858-1356744236891.jpg


photobucket-47344-1356744186696.jpg
Click to expand...


oh and by the way good job, better than most folks here that are the :bull: talkers
 
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