Blacksmithing - Forging an axe drift 

It is obvious that you know what you are doing.....no wasted motion, precise technique....great video!

Excellent. Thank you for sharing! I used to think that craftsmanship was on the decline, but channels such as yours prove to me that it is merely harder to find through all of the riff-raff and cat videos.

Man, I'm so glad when I see a new video from you come in. I think I've saved just about every video you've made. if you haven't already, please make a video of all of the tools on your wall. I want to make everything you have for both the power hammer side and the manual hammer side. I know your busy with regular work and family, that's why it's a special day when a new video comes from you. Cheers, friend.

there is something relaxing about seeing your videos

Everything you do just feels like all the proportions and the process is weighed with judgement but calm artistry. Love all your videos!

Great project! I thoroughly enjoy your approach to a project and the systematic follow through to completion. your work just flows so neatly toward the finish. Thank you for your effort to educate us.................Ross

Your lawn is immaculate. It looks like you mowed, vacuumed, starched, pressed, and buffed it before you made that can of vermiculite outside. :)

Which do you prefer to make more Torbjorn? Art or tools? In many ways, it's all art really! Have a blessed day!

He is a excellent craftsman, very experienced

Experience is the mother of science. Nice video; ty Sir for sharing

Holy crap that steel is tough.

You can tell the H3 steel was hard as even the power hammer was sweating 😂 👍

The precision of your work never fails to impress, nice job.

Oooo maybe an Viking axe is coming hahaha great project torbjörn

I made my wood burning forge from my bored well water tank i cut in half, bolted on 4 metal legs. It now appears as a DIY barbecue grill in the making. Its all I had in scrap to get started. Hopefully by the end of Jan I will have it completed and up and running:) Torbjorn, hanks for you inspiration.

That's cool. Angle grinder is the way to go on that task.

Love your videos. I know nothing about blacksmithing, and probably never will know much, but your videos are kind of relaxing, and cool to see how things are made by hand. Your videos are similar to Primitive Technologies, but with metal.

That really is a tough steel, seems to stay hotter, longer from friction alone! I know this is an older video, but I still enjoy it all the same!

I didn't now what a “drift” was, and I didn't want to look it up before watching the video. I like the challenge of working it out as it comes along :-) First I thought “axe head”, then “a knife” and finally aaaaah! That makes perfect sense.

This is great! I've been trying to make one out of 4140 and it is hard work!

My grandfather was a blacksmith,he was the last blacksmith for Camden County New Jersey, I always found working with metal a lot of fun I can stick weld pretty good but always found working with metal a lot of fun maybe it's in the genes

Каждый уважающий себя кузнец делает свой инструмент сам. Классная работа. Молодец 👍👍

Your yard looks like golf course quality 👍🏼

6:30 now THAT'S an anvil!

Fantastic. Respect from Italy!!!

Sir, excellent video. Thank you.

Wonderful job!! I wish that I had the chance to learn blacksmithing when I was younger. Now all I can do is watch videos of men like yourself doing the things that I wish I could do.

You do a great job! If I could do half as good I would be very happy.

Torbjorn,hi.Competent forging,thank you for filming and posting this. If i may,when you'll be forging an axe that you'll be finishing,i'd suggest using stock not so square(before slitting). As a general rule,the poll of an axe gives one a good idea of the starting stock's dimentions. Most commonly the Thickness would not exceed 3/4"(with the height of stock 2"+) That assures that the finished head of the tool does not loosen on the haft easily. Many of the axes(and other tools)where this,the Height of an eye is insufficient(relative the mass of head),have a tendency to loosen on their haft,as they exert the undue pressure on the wood fibers. Hope that you won't mind this gratuitous,unsolicited advice!Much respect,and the very best of forging to you!

Another Great video! I always enjoy watching your stuff.

Great video. All respect to your skills.

Lovely work. Thanks for sharing. All the best Mat

I LOVE my Granfors Brux! What a piece of gear!! Love your work too man! You inspire me. ...although I do NOT have any experience lol

I thoroughly enjoy both the content and quality of your production. I'll be keeping an eye on your channel ;). Tack!

Such a beautiful forge

thx for this

Beautiful

Hello. Merci. Enrichissant. Se passer des postes à souder est un chemin nouveau à explorer ? Les maîtres sans passent volontier pour l âme d'un sabre... Merci encore pour votre partage.

Good Job - darn nice shop!

I see you wear a respirator when welding. I strongly recommend you also wear it when handling vermiculite, that is almost as bad as asbestos in regards to irritating particulates.

I absolutely love watching your channel, you make the coolest stuff ever. Would love to learn how to be a blacksmith from you

i dont know y but i love this video watching it again man😀

I could certainly make a wooden handle fit that eye. Concept proved. Well done, and well done indeed. Yes, maybe it should be a little fatter but that depends on whether you are forging a hatchet or a full-size axe. I can hardly wait to see you forge at least a hatchet.

todo lo que haces parece fácil pero la experiencia que tiene usted así lo hace ver

Nice video, Torbjorn - as usual. Cheers, Mark

@torbjornahman Thanks for this great video! One question, though. Why do you preheat the metal before welding?

Beautiful Hatchet and axe drift. Thanks for sharing knowledge. I too want to start smithing axe, hatchet wood splitting muals. I guess the first thing is to learn smithing by making ones own tools? All the Very Best!

Not that I'm claiming to know everything about crafting of the metallurgical arts, but the only thing I saw wrong with your test piece was it's a little off kilter. By that I mean in the process of working it, it turned. Not enough to really notice unless you have a perfectionists eye, which I do do to my OCD. Other than that I think it looks pretty good in all reality.

You mentioned that the profile was a little smaller than expected. Would you increase the size of parent stock if you were doing another? How about 38mm or 1-1/2?Thank you for a great video. As I have mentioned before, there are many of us that appreciate your efforts and learn by watching you do your thing. Hope to meet you one day.Ron

love your powerhamer

Thanks Torbjörn for your wonderful works. I ask you please to put a protective filter from the welding lights because they are also very bad for the eyes for those who stare at them on the PC screen.

Beautiful video

Good job as usual

At 7:22 I though he was mocking the power hammer lol

Love the videos please keep them coming

What is the size of the power hammer used for the forging of the H13? Fortunately for me, I have the choice of a 50 or a 90 pound self contained hammer to purchase in the next month or 2. I'm having a hard time choosing.Any thoughts Torbjorn?

Thank you.

Awesome work ,great tool

very enjoyable as always, making a hest treating oven is actually fairly simple and cheap if one would be useful for you

I've worked with metal before at my university, with the milling machine and all that stuff, as well as the general sawing, welding, etc. Meanwhile this looks far more fun with more artistic freedom, so I'm really interested to try this someday, but power hammer aside, does it need A LOT of strength to shape the steel with the hammer? I wonder if us ladies can do blacksmithing too...

TORBJORN READY TO WORK! (I just had to do it.)

I've had good experience annealing h13 just putting is back in the fire and letting it go out. going home for the night and I usually draw file as I have more files and time than belt grinders.thanx, -mike from Kalapooia forge-

Excellent work as usual sir.

Gorgeous!

I closed my eyes when you were welding. I've gotten flashed a couple times. It took about half a before I felt it. At first it felt like a gnat flew in my eye, nothing much. It slowly got worse till it was very uncomfortable. I understand getting flashed to be blisters on the eyeball. I heard the fix is to boil an egg and that thin skin between the egg and the shell has to be placed on the eye between the eye and eyelid. I just suffered with it for a day.

I love my GB hatchet and my SA Wetterlings axe!!

Love your videos!

Просто музыка для ушей и глаз!!! Мастер!!!

Man, that stuff is tough!

H13 is also very difficult to harden in a blacksmith shop. All the data I can find shows using a computer controlled furnace. I know some would see a video of the process as boring, but it would be nice to see. I have machined H13 extrusion dies, but never thought of using it in a blacksmith shop.

Jag och en kompis är i färd med att prova tillverka en sån nu! :D

I prefer a drift with a wider chisel base and a thicker top diameter, it leaves the cheeks a little thicker and gives it a wider eye, witch also makes it easier to build the handle, the handle is stronger near the head, and it splits better even if it's not a splitting style head

Thanks, Great Video! Learned a lot about that H13. Noticed you brushing the slag a lot but didn't see much coming off? That hex handle seemed almost perfect like you started with hex. Beautiful test run with it!! Look forward to seeing you work on some axes. Thanks Much! ~PJ

may we look forward to a axe forging video?

I was curious what the weight of your anvil is? Also I Love watching your content!! ✊⚒️

Thank for another great video!

I may be wrong, because I'm not much of a metallurgist, but since h13 is an air hardening steel, when using the drift, isn't their a chance that it will get hot and harden? and then next time you use it have it brake, because it is too hard? also, what was the point in hardening it, its going to loose it hardness the first time its used? like I said, I'm not much of a metallurgist, so more than likely I'm wrong about something. Other than that, you did great! I always enjoy your videos, and they seem to be getting better and better! awesome job!

You said that the H13 steel was hard to work. What kind of steel would you use if you were to hand forge it. Would spring steel from a coil spring work? I always enjoy your videos

Another awesome video! Does it change the hardness of the tool over time to be used against the hot iron? Does the tool eventually "anneal" and does it ever need rehardening?

Grande. Fabio Italy

hard work pays off

May we expect an axe-making video in the near future? Great videos!

Dude, I love your channel. I actually want to star forging and I´m only 15

I know I'm late to the game here, but a chunk of 1 3/8" steel, even H13, doesn't need to be preheated that much. Just enough to sweat the moisture out of it is plenty.

You know, I might just try that millimeter, centimeter method of measuring. It sounds more straightforward than 13/16+ or 7/8 - , for example.

Many Many Thanx ! I just wish I had a power hammer ! Again Thanxxxxxxx !

Is it just me or that power hammer sounds amazing.

hej Torbjörn , long time,no see. kul att se en ny video, mitt Facebook konto blev hackat så har inte hängt med på dina projekt riktigt, kul med yxor dessutom :-) du får höra av dig när yxorna börjar ta form, jag skulle gladeligen betala stort för ett utav ditt hantverk! Ha det fint!

I have what may seem like a rookie question. Why all the PPE? I've hit some steel, and it doesn't seem like such a necessity. What am I missing? Gases? I get eye protection because of shrapnel, but the respirator?

you videos are top notch. :D

Love the channel ,nice lawn keep up the good work , i justed subbed

I liked before watch

👍👍👍👍👍

amazing bruther

What is the function of vermiculite in contact with hot iron? Gracias. (Form Mar del Plata, Argentina)

But why harden and temper? Wouldn't you lose your temper when drifting an axe that's hot out of the forge?

Could you have driven it hot into a cold axe head to get the final shape?

Thanks for videoing this necessary tool for wood splitting heads. I been looking for how to make this axe drift. Your video are so helpful. How how do you charge for a Scandinavian Forest Axe head type? Keep up the great videos Trobjorn.

I have never worked with that steel before. Looks like a major pain, ha. It is like you are not fully heated every time but you are. I guess it makes sense for a blacksmithing tool though. You want a steel that will hold up for a job like this.

great vid