I've watched a few. I'd never seen how an axe head is forged. Very cool, and seems like he and his partner work together very well.
To wit, sorta warmish... and those fellas gotta be some kinda gooder friends to not throw yellow hot steel at each other from time to time!
Forging iron is as elemental as you can get. I love it. Fire and brute strength. I saw a anvil go at an auction last week for $450. Still not the price of my table saw but, up there.
I like it! That can definitely be very time consuming and it works so much better when you have help! Not sure if you guys know but there is a thread on here called "Backyard Blacksmithing "
Good to see some young bucks picking up an old craft. The power press is slowwww though. Trip hammer!
Saw this on another thread on here. Just watch how he takes a white hot piece of metal to light a pipe.
The younger fellows have a long way to go before they reach the level of those two men in the old Maine axe factory. I'm wondering why they bother with all that time and trouble forming the eye instead of just bending the blank into a "U" and forge welding it as was done in the factory? I also think that since the grain of the steel is better oriented in the factory method, the poll would be less likely to crack through the eye. I didn't see any borax used when the overlaid bit was welded on at the factory either, just what looks like a near white heat. Makes you appreciate what went into the old inserted or overlaid bit axes that are still so cheap and easy to find, and shows what their real value is!
Alec Steele is another young blacksmith that has some incredible talent and successful YouTube page. Plus he's just entertaining to watch
Borax/Flux is not necessarily needed. I saw that the bit was cold and overlaid and reheated. The axe head was wire brushed to remove scale before receiving the bit. The two pieces just need a good penetrating heat at the proper temp to fuse. I saw once the axe head was removed from the oil forge, it went into a cold brine solution. If the bit was high carbon steel, it would have cracked. I think the bits were slightly higher carbon than the axe head and needed the brine dip to harden a bit more.
