Forging a tomahawk from a railroad spike 9. Hardening the steel, and doing a scratch test.

[AuzziGamer1996]

whats your forge made out of??

[MrIronman1979]

@flamedrag18 You may have deleted your comment...But I'll respond to your comment anyways. 1st: Who may ask are YOU to call my work "shotty"?. 2nd. If you'll notice, I TEMPERED the whole thing to a sky blue (softer and springy) {in the next video} EXCEPT the cutting edge and point which I left much harder and therefore capable of holding a decent edge with more abrasion resistance..however more brittle. Your comment was in itself contradictive, tempering gives more flexibility, not brittlenes

[crucifytheswine]

no, guard? I am calling osha, lol. u from virginia?

[crucifytheswine]

u should get an old tar, or mastic bucket, they are netal, and most roofers would just give you one sir.

[MrIronman1979]

@crucifytheswine I have plenty of cleaned out 5 gallon metal buckets. A plastic bucket will work just fine as long as you don't let your steel touch the bottom when quenching. Metal buckets conduct electricity and I weld for a living, so there is less chance that an accidental arc flash will ignite the oil. My large oil tank is made of Tubular steel and my slack tub is also plastic because leaving water in a steel bucket just invites rust. So thanks for the "advise"..but I have my reasons.

[Lakesideforge]

how did you make the stamp ?

[MrIronman1979]

LOL....uh...very carefully.  : D

with some needle files, a belt grinder and alot of patience and finesse....coupled with some hardening and tempering knowledge...and alot of fucked up blanks to teach me what NOT to do.

[hawkdlb06]

what sucks is when ur in the same room as someone using a grinder w/ wire brush, and one of those barbs gets u in the eye, trust me they dont feel good... my fault i didnt have eye protection on

[MrIronman1979]

haha...I've had my eyes drilled into MANY times. Wire wheels are not my best friends either. I had a chunk of welding slag burn itself into my face when I lifted my hood to tell my tell my tank buddy to turn his wire wheel the other way cuz he was sprayin me with slag. We were burning 1/4" jet (7024) on the tank shell ring to the bottom plates. I hate when the wires stick into your pants and you get em scratchin your dick everytime you take a step.

[charlesburch]

that forge cost about 60-86 cents an hour to run, depending on how hot you need it and at what price you get the propane tank. Works well for jobs like these. As far as getting camera shy, just let someone you don't respect slap you in the face before you get in front of it.

[MrIronman1979]

Right about. And good idea!!! I'll have my mother-in-law have her day before getting back in front of the viewfinder.....eh....she'd probably die of a heartattack from giddiness....then I'd have my wife to deal with.....hmmmmmmmm....yeah, IT"S WORTH IT!!!!!! Good thinking!!!~!

[TechnicusJoe]

Interessting, as far as ive learned hardening of a master, he told me the best color is cherry red, hardening and then holding it straight up and waiting to she the sky blue lines coming by to anneal it a bit. works really well and then cool the whole thing and you can use water or oil, only with water you need to be a bit faster

[MrIronman1979]

Depends on the steel. Some steels just crack in a water quench especially if under 1/4" thick or so...and warpage is a MAJOR issue....I try to temper two or three times anyways...no such thing as being too safe

[TechnicusJoe]

Can be, but Ive hardend steel that's under 1/4" without cracks or any warpage.

[MrIronman1979]

Umm.... just to kick myself real quickly....when I stamped this blade, I really should've done so before I annealed it...by going through multiple thermal cycles and forging on it after annealing...I put stress into the thing, and likely a larger grain structure than would be ideal...but I go braindead in front of cameras. I easily get tonguetied and stupid in front of them. Sorry. Just wanted to clarify and identify my mistake...before anyone else calls me on it. Don't want to pass on bad info