- Forging an ancient metal working technology. You’re demonstrating basic open die forging. I’m a retired Aerospace engineer and professionally worked with small to large forging companies throughout the US and Europe. Your axes are almost too nice to use. Beautiful hand crafted work.
This reminds me of when I was a girl living in an area where train tracks had been, and still are for that matter. We used to hike up, play games, etc. This video reminded me of a wonderful time in my life! Great fun to see how life goes on............in a good way!
Though I have never tried black smithing in person, I am a welder of many years. I do and always will tip my hat to a dedicated smithy. Art and Heart can create wonderful things.
I could watch you make axe heads 100x’s over and never get tired watching you make them. It’s mesmerizing……You do great work Timothy. Thank you for bringing us all along on the fabrication process. I know filming and editing adds a lot of extra time onto each project. Thanks again 👍🙂
Hey Timothy, just a thought here. There is a HUGE market for steel made before 1945 due to the low background radiation. Everything made after that has elevated levels and is substandard for making medical devices that require as little radiation as possible as to not interfere with the results. There is a lot of money to be had in this kind of steel which you are in possession of. You may want to investigate and see if you're sitting on a gold mine. I know 100 year old axes are cool, but, 75 year old axes are pretty cool too and the steel can be bought with the proceeds of your 100 year old stuff...
I work in manufacturing and 100% agree with @kesterlath. I would highly recommend at least making a few calls to check the market value of low-background steel. You may be very surprised.
I was of the impression that the metal would have to come from somewhere that it would have been shielded from radiation like below a certain depth of water or under a certain depth of soil or it will still have elevated levels, also the airospace industry seeks high grade , low radiation level metals for satelites etc.
@@scotthenry3401 Nope, the low background comes from when it was manufactured. Making steel uses lots of air, after the first atomic tests the entire atmosphere of the planet was contaminated with radio active isotopes, that air was mixed into the steel hence the desirability of pre atomic steel.
I can tell by your numbers that you have been doing this for a while on RU-vid and I have just found you. This has to be one of the coolest things I’ve watched on RU-vid. It is hard to explain with words why it is so satisfying watching you pound old railroad rail into a hatchet. I was sitting here watching and I said out loud, this is so cool.
Rail has a high manganese content, which means it will “work harden”, or become actually harder on the contact surface with the train wheels after use. An older rail is harder on top than a new rail. I tested this metallurgical fact during my railroad, welding, blacksmith, and machinist days.
That work hardening disappears with each heat cycle. That's why you don't want to preheat mang. steel much before welding on, for instance, ground engaging equipment like B/E shovel buckets and teeth. It'll soften it up. All modern steel (as opposed to wrought) has some degree of mang. in it and without knowing the actual content (and carbon) it's difficult to really know how to heat treat it with a high degree of confidence.
Did you also test how much different rails for different applications differ in their composition? After all, light duty cycle heavy haulage for CP in the arctic will be different from Southern Railways in the UK, used for very high duty cycle, low loaded commuter lines, which in turn will be different from low duty cycle, low load rail for Indian Railways for use on their tropical mountain lines. All of that is only the composition, any foundry making rail will have many versions, produced by varying the pressure and shape of the rollers, temperature of the steel, as well as the composition. I guess you've seen metallurgical cross sections that show the detailed microstructure, which is what delivers the precise specification of course. So what has all that to do with making axes? I'm baffled.
Really enjoyed watching, I manufactured & heat treated industrial, knives & saws for 35 years. I now have over 22,000 blueprints on file of chipper knives, lathe knives, granulator knives, paper knives, leather knives, Zamboni ice scrapper blades & saw blades up to 144" in diameter.
Hey Friends! Thanks so much for all the encouragement! I really appreciate all your positive feed back! If you would like a Blackhawk Hatchet head over to my website! timothydyck.com/
I like what he is doing, and becoming a skilled craftsman is difficult. But I wonder is 600 for a hatchet fair, considering his current level of development.
Lovely work......and your axes and hatchets will probably be around for the next century, assuming the new owners care for and use them properly like we all should with any tool. Fascinating process to watch. Keep up the great artistry with those reclaimed rails.
Your whole process and the videos of the past year or so and everything youve been doing have allllll come together for me with this videos and I see where you're going with it all! It makes so much sense now! Haha you're a smart dude, and I can't wait to see how this all turns out!
We cut a Weld out of a piece of continuous welded rail at our welding plant at our Union Pacific Rail welding plant . The piece was sent to be tested for any defects . The piece is cut into 16 pieces to fully test the weld . The welds are a flash butt weld in the plant and the strings of rail were 1440 feet long when I retired but now they are about 2000 feet long and the rail trains haul 50 strings of rail . Great idea of using the old 85 pound rail . Awesome video .
Dude hes tryin to sell this axe for 450-650, meanwhile you can buy an actual quality granfors bruks axe, handmade in sweden from some of the best steel for 75% of the cost. And the gransfors bruk actually has quality steel not some shit 1084 steel.
@@sminem7466 quality, design, and supporting a true craftsman are worth it to me, and I have the money to do it. But if those things aren't true for you, fine. However, you've never met me. It's pretty disrespectful to call me dumb.
@@Theorof The guy purchased some old train rails at some government auction for pennies. Made a few RU-vid videos and you were dumb enough to fall for this so hence my comment. You can spend your money where you want but you are dumb.
For a college summer job, I worked for the Canadian Pacific Railroad turn-out crew picking up the old lines. They would sell the rails to razor blade companies. They wanted it because it was extremely high-quality, premium, hard steel. Interesting job to say the least.
ah now there is a phrase I heard from cross stitchers called stash beyond life expectancy.....but thats only for cross stitch patterns and cotton skeins and has nothing to do with steel or wrought iron....honest🤣🤣
This is such a cool idea for reclaimed Steel, its a known steel and because there is a date on each rail you can date the Axe, brilliant. Very cool Timothy and thanks for sharing
@@Jake-bt3fc Railway steel is consistently a medium carbon high manganese steel that work hardens, its a slightly different alloy in the states but its been the same basically since modern rails were invented.
That's a million bucks worth of art material and a fine use for high manganese scrap rail. The way you refined and market product is a lesson for anyone interested in these things.
I love his work but 400-650 bucks for a hand axe is a bit on the pricey side! It is cool I mean that in every way but not to many folk can afford them and if they can they are not going to want to use it. That is not a stab at his workmanship but we could not afford more people to make quality over priced tools.
@@jvmiller1995 The best axeman in the world demand the best axes. This isn't about everyone owning one, any more than everyone should own a Lamborghini. You can spend $3000 on a pair of shoes that won't last anywhere near as long. Yes they're expensive, but this axe when looked after could last hundreds of years.
@@ApexHerbivore Knock yourself out buy 3 or 4. I understand they are not for everyone that was the flipping point. Most people are not going to spend $650 on a hand axe. That is not to take away from his craftmanship it is just a fact. That and their is a huge difference between a Italian sports car and and a hand axe.
@@ApexHerbivore I have a 1844 Helko Werk Classic Forester made in Germany it is it is hand made dropped forged and beautiful, these are the best axes IMO, I think I paid close to $200 which my freinds thought was crazy, but it is worth every penny
@@BILLY-px3hw Thanks Billy. That sounds beautiful. I'm sure you cherish it. And that's the point, to me anyway. When things get too cheap, they're easier to care less for. They're easier to replace. Having nice things means you tend to look after what you have, and that is just as important as the nice things themselves :)
Hi Timothy. Beautiful workmanship. While I would want to put it on display, I am sure thatthese axes deserve to work. May I offer you some metallurgical feedback that might save some head scratching as you work through that pile of rails. I served as the rail rechnical specialist at Australia's rail mill in Whyalla through the 1980's and 90s. I had cause to visit the Algoma Mill where your rails were manufactured and in 1998-99 was a consultant at the Sydney Steel mill in Sydney Nova Scotia, representing them on the AREMA (American Railroad Engineering & Maintenance of Way Association. Modern rails are all continuously cast but up until about 1990, almost all rails used in Canada were made by the ingot route. Apart from improving the yield, continuous casting eliminated a potentially serious quality issue inherent to the ingot process - central segregation and potentially even pipe (shrinkage cavity). Pipe would be a disaster for your purpose though you would likely see it during the itial forging. The segregation though you would not see and it would give you grief durng hardening and tempering. I suggest that you use the head and base for axes and find a less challenging use for the web. The Carbon content is typically 0.6 - 0.82% lower end of this range in older,smaller rails higher in larger, newer ones. Johnny Jones is correct in commenting that rail has a high Manganese (Mn) content (usually about 0.8 - 1.0%. though not high enough to be a serious issue and certianly a long way short of the Hadfields Managanese steel which is cast into crossings which he may be thinking of. Johnny is also right that the head of the railwork hardens but that disappears as soon as you heat it to forge it. A bigger concern is micro-cracking of the running surface (called head checking) which results from the work hardening. Mocro they may be but they are still cracks and will grow during forging. I suggest that you clean up the rail head on your belt grinder and check for cracks - a little kerosine sprayed on the surface is a good crack detector. When spraye on the surface it soaks into the cracks. When the excess kero is wiked off, some of what soaked into the cracks will seep back out again to show you where the cracks are. I've subscribed to see more.
I was an NDE inspector in a Nuke plant. The kerosene trim is how Dye Penetrant testing started. Wipe the kerosene on, let it soak in for a few minutes, this is called the dwell time, wipe off all of the excess and then dust it lightly with talcum / baby powder, this will really highlight any cracks that are open to the surface. This won’t work for internal cracking, that requires X-ray or ultrasound.
I worked at the Port Kembla Steelworks in the late 1970's, I was told that when the Steel was being made for manufacture into railway line, no scrap or Sinter was used in the process. Can you confirm that this was (is) the case?
Beautiful process and end piece of functional art. I'm with one of the other posts, put it to work! These are just too nice to be wall hangers or viewed in collectors boxes. Congratulations young man, I wish I was going to be around to watch you progress in your trade and art! E
I cannot resist watching metal being squeezed in slomo, it's great. Like your attention to detail and your final presentation at ship time, that says it all. Smart move on the old rail purchase.
I forgot how therapeutic and relaxing your videos are thank you and I can put a lot of hard work into these as well as the axis. I can see all the detail in the attention that you put into it. Beautiful video and I might say some damn good looking axis. Make On. Maker 238
@@DrMarcusDay At that time steam hammers were used to forge steel items. he hammerman would control the hammer .Assistants would move the ingot under the hammer to shape it correctly
I actually got emotional watching this, being a perfectionist in several hobbies myself...I just love it when I see someone like Timothy ply his trade sparing absolutely ZERO compromise! Nothing but respect for this man...and hopefully my wife and kids will make dad a happy camper on his 70th B-day👍🤣
ha ha - love how axes cross generations, new handle then a new head, still the original axe.. ha ha ha... (just like the old Massey Fergusson, after every part is replaced , still the same old girl..)
You are definitely producing an excellent product. Old iron is best. Beautiful work and the kind of craftsmanship that's impossible to find now days. Sure wish I could afford one. geez I'd have to sell tickets just for people to look at it hanging in a bullet proof case above my mantle.
that's the catch the price… I don't know how he could compete with factory production. His hatchet at $450 I was just on Amazon and you can get a good one yeah a great one for 40 bucks… Though I am impressed with his quality I just don't see how he would be able to compete with mass production. I can tell he enjoys making them that's probably why he does it
@@jeffrenman4146 I don't think he's competing with mass production at all. I think his marketing strategy is more on old world tools like the old tools that were passed down through generations with no functional damage. And then selling more as a wall mount peace. I mean it comes in a custom made wooden box with correlating cereal numbers like a collectors item and not packed with wadded up paper but what looks like wood or something. It's definitely not marketed for someone like me that thinks it's a cool ax and I'm actually going to use it. I might be willing to pay 150- maybe even 175 plus shipping and it can ship in a cardboard tube without the leather work lol . But this ax seems to be more directed at the guy that puts it in a glass case with a light and a sign that reads " (in case of a zombie apocalypse break glass)" lol 650???? Not for this fat boy. I say more power to him though. I like his work and hope he sells everything he makes for 650 a pop and has to hire 200 people to help build them.
@@jaychapman2045 LOL… You're funny and thank you so much for being here. Yes I agree with every word that you said. I also wish him the best and I think his products will be around for centuries… Yeah they're probably just showpieces. Stay well and take care
@@MrBollocks10 you do realize that saws and axes are used in tandem? One doesn't replace the other. An ax is still used for it's same purpose now as it was hundreds of years ago.
My grandfather was from Norway. He was a blacksmith. During WWII he worked in the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard. He was the lead blacksmith and laid the keels for destroyers and liberty ships. He was a real American hero.
Ive always saved shelving angle iron. This is next level :) Great investment, into most probably really great metal, and certainly a historic commodity.
You may want to consider making medical grade equipment, they currently pay a fortune for equipment that's made from pre nuclear era steel, old shipwrecks are targeted because of the presence of rare low-background steel, commonly known as pre-war steel. This steel holds immense value due to its low radiation levels.
@@cyoungso No, it's just old steel. Pre-nuclear has super low background radiation. Nuclear weapons testing results in a relatively large amount of radiation being released into the atmosphere which can interfere with super sensitive equipment. These days though, the demand for pre-nuclear steel has dropped due to the ban on atmospheric testing from back in 1963.
@@cyoungso There has been this surge in RU-vid videos about this topic and its extremely misleading and has produced a legion of comments like the original. Yes its worth a lot....in very very small quantities and to very few customers. The amount of steel needed for probe tips is measured in grams and the people that sell it have stockpiles of the stuff in the thousands of tons. Also if for some reason it needed to be made from ore it can be done using purified oxygen furnaces (not cheap but not particularly expensive either). In the same way that snake venom is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars per gram to reasearchers....it would be pretty stupid to start milking snakes. The people that need the stuff have long since secured a supply chain.
That's awesome man. I have a handcrafted log home with rusted corten steel siding/roofing. I scored some 1910 rails with Alaska history and used them as my top rail on my deck railings. Mortised into log post. Weird thing was logs were already up when I scored them, and my eve's log center of post to center of post was 33', same length of rail and didn't even have to cut them! Sick material
You are fortunate that the rails were 33 feet instead of 39 feet. On the side of the web is information about the rail section, company and mill rolled, and the year and month rolled(these will be in raised characters). The other side of the rail will have numbers stamped in which is the heat number and will include the bloom of A, B, C, D, etc. What are the raised letters and numbers?
@@royreynolds108 Agreed on the length. I did have to cut my gable end sections, wasn't too bad with a hot saw, metal seemed soft actually. It's stamped Carnegie 1910. I'd need a ladder to see the other numbers. I believe it was left over rail from the CR&NW going from Cordova to Kennicott Alaska. I'm certainly no steel or RR expert, but the history behind the Copper River railroad is quite interesting and worth a read if you haven't read about it already. It was in a bone yard in Valdez, which at the time was in a race with Cordova to get the train to Kennicott.
It's always fun to do your own thing. Axes are always needed. I think in every house, not in an apartment, but in every house there is an ax. I have three 🙂
Hey! I live in an apartment and I have 6 axes. I ostensibly bought them for woodworking, but who am I kidding; I use them as mental masturbatory aids. Sexyest tools ever. Don't judge me! I am what I am. And I keep one behind the door for greeting uninvited visitors. That, I admit, might get me 'judged' one day...
Every time I buy a house, I find hammers left behind. A significant nuber of houses also have hatchets left behind, but not quality ones like Timothy made in his video.
Good buy, 20 years ago my friend bought a property in Portugal and there were 10 old rails on it, he gave it to me for collecting it, very useful stuff.
The detail and love you put into each of your axes blows me away, i just came across Square Space earlier today I really like that you use that website to sell. I will be ordering one, I've been making knives for a few years now and have yet to make an ax. It's difficult to do without a large hammer like you have, but eventually I'll make one. Their axes look absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to buy one. Thank you for posting 🇺🇲
I've got a buddy who does rail repair & maintenance who told me about the old rail steel. VERY cool! I thought I already had enough axes, ....... but... maybe not? Gonna be watching more of this channel - first time I saw it was this video today.
This is awesome! Very cool axes! :) one tip if i May say wouls be to use a wire brush to knock off the scale before you start hammering and after hammering, i think it will reduce the amount of scale being hit against the metal and cause the pitting and uneven surface.
The unusual surface is part of the artistic effect and helps sell product. Retaining the scale is a wise choice for what is an art piece capable of doing good work.
I’m a 70 year old retired tool maker when I got in this business but as an apprentice you guys told me railroad rails is the best material to make your tooling out of like angle plates and vises because it’s been run over so many times. It’s so old when you machine it it’s not gonna move anywhere
I'd be super curious to get an alloy composition of that old rail vs new rail. Very cool project Tim! Talking about them work hardening and cracking, I think they are a high boron(?) alloy like forklift tyne
What's a tyne? I come from Tyneside. A big steel area, back in the day You tweaked my curiosity.😊 Our river Tyne comes from the Viking word for River. I thought I was on to something, for a second.😊 LoL
@@MrBollocks10 no idea where the term comes from but I just know it's a special kind of steel and it's correctly tynes, but people use tines now to mean the same thing. It probably has to do with your area producing the higher boron steel's needed to make them
As a locomotive engineer and someone who deeply appreciates all types of metal fabrication, this is awesome. Your tools, machinery and love that goes into the creation of these axes is incredible. I’ll be placing my order very soon. Cheers from upstate New York 🍻.
The ore that they used to make these rails was some of the best. It yielded "blue" steel after smelting with little to no effort. A Swedish company scrapped an old rail line near me that was over a hundred years old. When assayed it was determined that they could convert 200kms of rail into mens/womens razor blades......hella profit.
Timothy Dyck, This was an interesting video. These days I am mainly tracking solar system colonization and gravitational engineering. So, seeing your tools, methods and materials, I tried to translate that to Mars, Moon, various orbits and transit situations in space. Mass is expensive so taking tons of materials and equipment is generally not the way to go. More likely people will process local materials, and 3D print metals where they are needed, but glass and nano-synthesized more likely. The Mars "regolith" (unconsolidated deposits covering solid rock) is about 18.4% iron oxide (Fe2O3). The regolith is mostly silicon dioxide (quartz sand), ferric oxide, and the oxides of aluminum, calcium and sulfur. For making things like pipes, plates, structures, windows various types of Mars concrete are being tested (simulated materials). About 42% of the surface materials on Mars is Oxygen, so "mining" and extracting oxygen is part of the plans. Once the oxygen is separated (many methods), then the residual silicon (22%), iron (13%), magnesium (10%), aluminum (6%), calcium (3%), sodium (2%), potassium (2%), titanium (0.6%), manganese (0.2%), chromium, phosphorus etc -- can be used for various things. Mars glass and iron will be important. I think that Mars humans will use hammers, shovels, hoes, spoons, forks, plates, cups. I expect nuclear and atomic heat to be common. Low cost, compact sources of electricity, heat, radiation (for industrial, chemical and practical uses). Richard Collins, The Internet Foundation
My favorite is the conversion of rail into a small anvil for the home shop. Having read some of the comments I agree as to the quality, composition, and presentation presented in this VID.
I have 1 word for the craftsmanship of your Axe's & that is " EXCELLENCE " & how you pack them in your own crafted Lovely boxes. You have great pride in your work & it sure shows :) Thumbs up From "Downunder" Aust. Well done Mate :)
@@dlcurtis69 That is BS. It is craftsmanship done by a tradesman, not art. Just because so many people now are too soft to do real work, doesn't turn something that has been done in a similar way for thousands of years into art. Not everything is art. His prices are way too high. I say that as a tradesman myself. He can make multiple a day. There is overhead, but the profit margin on these is robbery. If it wasn't for uneducated people watching youtube videos, he wouldn't have a market at this price. I'm all for a tradesman making good money on the products they make, but I also can balance that with the value of the product being sold. There is a big mismatch here.
Amaizing workmanship! Love the historic use of these RR rails. -- SUGGESTION: How about making small anvils?? Maybe 6 to 12 inches long? With HARDIE, HORN and PRITCHEL with bolt holes too... They would be super-handy for the small projects guys like me.
Nicely presented Tim...I would say that by using the rails that you are on the right track! 🚂...ps nice shafts but I would use a lighter stain to show the wood off (retired woodcarver)
These are beautiful pieces of art that no doubt took a lot of time and skill to make. But for $650 I doubt any of them will ever be used! Lol I was wanting one to use around the farm but I'm definitely not on that level 😅
I'am glad you are using old materials and giving them a new life I do the same. Beautiful work on the axes like the profile godbless and be safe Timothy.
I think what you're doing is very cool , and great work from what I was able to see , I was wondering if you ever thought about doing a line of firemen's axes , short handled and smaller heads , it's a very versatile design besides being a very useful instrument , hope you would give it some thought if you haven't already , in the meantime I sincerely wish you the best of luck with the regular axe heads , I really think you have a winner .
The UK post WW2 had a salvage operation to raise metal from the German Fleet sank at Scapa Flo off Scotlands coast, for the same reason and for the medical aspect. It is also stated that the Gillette Razor blade company also used the same salvaged metal.
There is a Chinese salvage company who are desecrating war graves off Malaysia apparently they have ripped huge chunks of steel from the battleship HMS PRINCE OF WALES and the battlecruiser repulse over 800 men went down with these ships during a battle with the Japanese WW2 the metal is highly sought after for medical equipment it’s an absolute disgrace that these Chinese scumbags are getting away with this the same company have also targeted American warships
Hey, these are really cool and I checked out your page. Would you ever consider doing forestry axes? I have been looking for a North American custom forestry axe for some time now. Everything I buy breaks in less than a month. The old Swedish axes are getting harder to come by too, and an axe made from old train rail is such a cool idea.
I 80 yrs old been burning and workin steel since apprentice in smithy shop at 10 yrs old. My body is old and now my forge is cold. You guys are on an honerabe path. Love your shop. Your hammer mill is a beast. Enjoyed your video. Dandahermit.😅
@@tylermiwa8249 If they said, the axe was $200 million, would you still suggest, that it is just not for him? When the dude says $650 is expensive for an axe, that doesn’t have to do with how expensive a lamborghini is. Also probably people may think, that Lamborghini is too much. Happens more often with expensive items, then with a price close to free.
And 1912 there was a huge sunken ship, causing a stir about the quality of steel assembled in Ireland boatyards.Your power hammer is awesome.Dark color wedge in ash or hickory is an elegant solution.
Yea that 'sunken ship' was caused by faulty Irish steel, and not plowing full steam ahead into an iceberg field and the pilot panick steering the bow straight into the side of one raking a giant gash across the lower side of the non welded riveted plates flooding several sections. ok .
If that stuff really is 100 years old, then it's pre-nuclear age, so it's a relatively special kind of steel. It can be used for experimental machines and whatnot because there is no nuclear component to it.
You do fantastic work in creating those unique axes thank you so much for showing us how you do it, the price you have set on those axes are definitely worth it sadly there out of my range but hey a man can dream ah!
