In this video I show my second attempt forging a hatchet or small hand axe. Check out my recommended tools/gear: www.amazon.com... If you like my videos you can support me at: / torbjornahman
Mister Torbjörn, I watch many independent blacksmiths on youtube, but your videos are by far the best ones I have came across on this site. The amount of patience and detail in your work is astounding, your workshop is really impressive and I love the small, calm and relaxing pauses with natural landscapes you use in your videos. You always make an extra effort and don't use things like saws or sandpapers machines unless it's absolutely necessary, your predilection for manual tasks shows off in the end, you put a lot of soul in your work, you won a loyal fan, greetings from Chile and keep the good work!
I'm mostly self taught. I have always loved to make stuff and work with my hands, and when I tried blacksmithing at a young age, that rooted something in me I guess. I have a short about text on my web page if you're interested.
Honestly that sounds young to start something like this. These guys make it seem "kinda" easy and safe but it is very dangerous and difficult to do. Maybe start working with metals like aluminum and mess around with it. its a soft metal and has low melting temperature so it doesnt really require a blast furnace
Alec Johnson It's not "very dangerous" at all and we don't use blast furnaces... If you think trough what you do and use whatever PPE you think is necessary, there shouldn't be a problem. I would recommend to try and get in touch with some local blacksmith who can teach the basics though.
12 year old playing with extremely hot metal sounds dangerous to me. When it's someone who knows what they're doing no not dangerous at all really. But someone who doesn't really know what their doing or have proper safety equipment, sounds like a bad idea.
You've got some nice videos, watched this one as well as making the drift. Really enjoyed seeing the project as well as your work space, especially your anvil, quite nice. Thank you.
You probably dont give a shit but does any of you know a way to log back into an instagram account? I somehow lost my login password. I would appreciate any tricks you can give me.
@Reign Ben I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site thru google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff now. Takes quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
Samuel Pippin or at least they are able to :x, my blacksmith teacher started with a hairdrier a hacksaw a forginghammer, he bought some other later, but he forged knifeblades and sold them to earn every tool he needed
Im sorta in the same boat right now, I have a steel bucket and a hairdryer, right now im trying to make tongs so I can put small objects in and out of the forge.
I'm Bored im in the same situation right now to,im using a steel bucket of cement with a hole in midle and im grinding with a belt sander thats ment to sand floors and thet thing doesnt eaven make sparks.
What are you talking about? Have you been in an art gallery before? Seen the sculptures? What about 7'x9' paintings? Go look at them then compare this axe to them. o_O
I have seen been to art galleries before some are amazing some not so much and you damn well know which ones i was talking about so stop trying to start something out of nothing.
He’s putting carbon steel in there so the cutting edge doesn’t roll over and can hold a good edge compared to the softer steel for the main head,which is so it doesn’t crack.
How do your blacksmithing tools not lose hardness over time by constantly having them against red hot steel? Or maybe they do? Just a question i was wondering about.
Sexy small axe ! I wish you made a real handle for,it but sometimes we must do what we can do to time constraints! But if she needs a home I’d gladly trade for some Osage orange handle wood ? 😀
Very nice work! I never use metal cross wedges when hafting a tool. They split the wood as it did in this case and allow water and moisture to enter. When properly fit and yours was there is no need for them the wooden wedge will never move if kept oiled.
I'd put two 3mm pins through the head and the handle, a couple of inches apart north-south, hammer them flat and grind a bit for finish if you want. A bit of added work for anyone to restore 100 years from now, but the only way the head leaves the handle is rot and rust. Puzzles me why people don't do that.
Oh man, the ring of that anvil. That's a good anvil... So many blacksmiths I've seen on youtube are using old dead or cheap anvils. An anvil like this is worth its weight in gold to a craftsman.
Hello. I figured since I’m a new subscriber. I’d ask a question. The part when your done shaping the Ax head. At what point do you know that the blade is straight. A lot is going on in the shaping. At what point do you see it? Let me know in your spare time.
It's a constant struggle to keep everything straight or in line. The last step in the forging is to check one last time that everything is in line and straight.
fantastic skillful work on axe. Would just like to know what is the white powder used for when adding spring steel on cutting side. Please advise if hatchet style are available for sale. Thank you so much for video's
Very Impressive work, I enjoyed the video during our crazy times. I never thought of laminated axe before, very clever skills. I bought many hand-forged blades from Sweden, Finland and Norway based blacksmiths and I have to say it must be in your DNA, well done from Australia.
Ååååå, den här karamellen skall jag suga på en stund! Perfekt video när jag går och lägger mig ikväll. Kan knappt vänta!! Det är så grymma videos du gör Torbjörn så man blir mållös. :)
Jag blir aldrig besviken. Det här var din bästa video hittills. Det var kul att se lite av omgivningarna också. Fantastiskt vackert, och en fin yxa du fick gjort med. Lösningen med "korvbrännarn" såg lite säkrare ut i den här videon. ;)
i am curious why you split the head and then added the steel / welded it together to make the blade wider opposed to just beating the initial square stock flatter ? is that metal you added for the blade a different kind of steel?
Shouldn't the final handle hole drift be done from the top down? Thought you wanted the top of the hole to bigger than the bottom so that when you flair the top of the handle it wedges into the axe.
After all that work, it is to be used! I have, and use several handmade tools that date back to the mid-1800s, and they work just fine. Better than new! Replace handles as needed...
This is not art, it's a trade that represents a bygone era, a valuable trade & life skill. I see true craftsmanship here, not "art". It's skills like this you want when the oil industry fades away.
Arkādijs Kulačkovskis cthe difference between a skill and art is that with skill you can do something, but art is when you do it beautifully. This is the prime example of something being a work of art and a skill at the same time
The body is made from mild steel which cant be hardened and wont hold an edge. You need proper steel for the edge. You could make the whole axe from steel, but it's harder to work and a bit more expensive to "waste" steel where it's not needed.
The big companies swindle folks into buying the inferior product they put out....but the truth is, to most people ,the stuff like you make, is not avaiable. or one doesn't know how to find it....Beautiful and practical stuff...reminds me of my childhood in NW Spain where the town smith fixed all the agricultural implements, the plows....shoed the cows and the horses/donkies......another universe altogether.....Thank k you for the video sir!!
It gives me a sense of how easy we have it these days to see all the work that went into this one beautiful hatchet. Good work, man! Making tools is so satisfying! Thanks for the lovely video.
@@torbjornahman Thanks for the inspiration - as a budding maker I love watching your videos, but I have yet to master the skill of karate chopping steel bar ;-)
Thank you for taking the time to show us the making process step by step, the final result looks truly amazing! You inspired me to forge my own, more primitive, hatchet. Nice touchmark stamp as well!
I've watched this video twice, it's just so good and such a sweet design for a useful tool. I'm thinking of taking continuation course at Skeppsholmsgården - you inspire me to just go ahead and do it, tack så mycket! :)
