Tomahawk temper?

[Tom Kernan]

I started Working on a tomahawk and realized I have no idea how hard it should be. I figure it has to be tougher than a knife edge. Is there a method for telling when the temper is right?

[Ed Caffrey]

Let me know what material your making the hawk from, and I can give you a good idea of what the tempering temp should be....

[Tom Kernan]

Ed, I hate to say it but its mystery metal,Im using ballpeen hammers that my uncle gave me. I have about 8 0r 10 of them. I figured I'd use them for forging practice. I plan on doing 5160 and 15n20 / 1080 damascus for the show at the end of march.
I thought there might be a method like the brass rod for knife edges that would get me close, I dont plan on selling the hammer ones but it would be nice if they were usable.

Im going to use the press Santa brought to make a couple of drawing hammers like the one you showed me. Any advice on the temper for those? I can start with a small sledge or would you advise another metal?

[Ed Caffrey]

For starters on the hammer/hawks, bring to critical and oil quench. Start your temper at about 375F. They will likely be a little hard at that temp, but you never know. With the hammers, I have a method of quenching/tempering them in oil that I don't have room here to explain. I would quench the hammers in oil also, but start tempering them at around 425F. It's just me, but I like a hammer that is softer than the anvil.....that way if I make a miss lick all I have to repair is a dented hammer rather than a dinged anvil.

[Tom Kernan]

Thanks, Ill start there. BTW the norton belts you suggested sure made a difference. picked up some 3M for comparison as they seem to be well thought of but I have not tried those yet.
A softer Hammer makes good sense to me! I would rather not buy a new anvil...however unlikly that might be with my great skill with a hammer

[Ed Caffrey]

You'll come to protect your anvil as if it was one of your kids! Especially when you have a visitor walk up to it with a hammer and whack it........of course that person may wind up with a few broken bones..........

[B. Buxton]

I always temper to a deep brown on my hawks. This makes them a bit softer but makes them a lot safer. I've chop tested and they hold and maintain an edge really well, but if you make a wild swing and hit a rock or hard surface they will dent and not chip. Chipping hawk and hammer steel is a good way to cause eye or skin damage from mach speed steel pieces, definitely not a good thing. I just place hawks in the oven, raising temps until I get the desired finish color.
Hope this helped a little

Bill

[Coutel]

If its all made from carbon steel , I thermo cycle the hawk....then I only heat the edge to critical and quench the edge only.....so the eye stays soft....then temper to desired color.

[Tom Kernan]

Thanks for the help, Lots to learn when ones starting out, but Im sure enjoying it. My wife has become somewhat of a shop widow lately, she is starting to view the anvil as the other woman.

[Tim Brewer]

Mr. Caffrey,

Now that I?ve read it heat-treating the hammer to protect the anvil seems so obvious, but I would have never in a thousand years thought to soften the hammer to protect the anvil. This is one of those ideas where you hit yourself on the head and say, ?Now why didn?t I think of that.?

Thanks for pointing that out. Short of making my strikes more sure this seems like the best way of protecting my anvil, such as it is?

The only question I have, if it?s not too much, is how long do you temper at 475 or to what color? Is one cycle at 475 enough or would you recommend several?

Again, thanks for bring that to our attention and thanks in advance for your response.

[dennis2]

Hello Tim
I'm not Ed but I'll try to answer your question. Hammers are a large lump of steel and take a good amount of time to get to temp. Also, the heat needs time to perform the required task, i.e. temper the steel. For hammer heads I'd stick with the old rule of thumb: 1 hour for each inch of thickness. One temper cycle should be enough.

For hawks from ball pein hammers, I temper mine at 450 twice.

Hope this helps.

[Jason Cutter]

I recently made a hawk from myself, also, I suppose "mystery steel" that from experience at the forge and grinder, tells me its probably the sort of L6 or 15N20. A bit unwilling to move under the hammer to be 1050 or 5160. hardened up very well in oil, edge quenched about 1-1/2inches up the head. I also hardened the spike on the other end the same way.

I ended up testing it a bit step at a time and found that 390F in the oven produced a wicked edge that would hold up to everything until I tried to chop mild steel nails with it. The edge would chip too much for my comfort, so I tempered again at 425F, less chipping but still there. With 450F on the final temper, the hawk would whack through the nails with no obvious edge damage - doesn't hold an edge as well, but hey !

Likewise, the spike would hold up to everything, tempered at 390F, but when dropped onto concrete (read, trying to dig a hole through solid concrete), it would chip badly. the 450F temper also made it amazingly durable.

The 450F temper equates to approximately a deep blue in my oven. Jason.

[Tim Brewer]

Thanks Dennis and Jason for the answer. I truly appreciate it.