Forging a Bi-metal Bearded Axe from a RR Tie Plate and File

Hello friends this video is about making a bi-metal axe from scratch my axe's wedge-shaped head was forged from a massive railroad pad with the eye punched out using a drift while the cutting edge was made from high carbon steel of an old metal file the axe's handle was made from a stabilized aspen while the handles shoulder was additionally reinforced with carbon fiber at first glance one might think it is only a decorative axe but let me assure you it is the real deal the axe underwent a year of brutal testing in the Russian outdoors it was then further improved and now it successfully going through its final tests before being mailed to its new owner regardless of how you hold the axe it produces no vibration or recoil the axe's massive butt aids in balance and control it works well for chopping hacking chiseling and even cutting I heavily used this axe and my new DIY chisel for all of the projects at my log cabin campus I didn't even have to be sharpen either tool a single time the high carbon steel edge stays sharp for a long time this axe was made as a reciprocal gift to one of my viewers and presents shouldn't have any functional weaknesses or design flaws I'm fully confident in this axe and it will soon be going to its new owner let's get to the story of how this axe came to be I forged the body of my axe from an old railroad pad first of all we need to cut it to size I'm going to use my homemade side grinder cutting attachment to perform the task fast and safely I use AC/DC or Metallica heavy metal CDs to cut thick pieces like this one you could use Queen or Nirvana for softer metals only kidding I'm probably going to catch a lot of fire from Queen and Nirvana's fans for that )))) I particularly like my jig's sliding function you can make a long and deep cut in only one pass there are no vibrations no disk biting or overheating the cut ends up being nearly perfect and the side grinder's disc gets less wear if you can see any deficiencies in my cutting attachment or you come up with an idea on how to improve the jig I would love to hear your suggestions okay a cut rectangular metal bar and now we can start forging it I don't have much experience in forging metal also a lack special instruments for the task this is why I decided to drill a row of holes to make it easier to shape the axe's eye to make the forging process safer I welded a metal pin to the workpiece and slightly nudged it in the center with a regular rock chisel it is a lot easier to see if you are off-center on cold metal before you begin punching a hole by blacksmithing now it will be easier to find the central mark by feel when the metal is red-hot but there is no time to waste we need to heat up the workpiece I use my portable gas forge I made from a tin barrel in order to punch out the eye I will have to keep the workpiece stable on its side because I don't have a helper and I only have two hands for a hammer and a chisel I will have to reserve to the traditional blacksmith's trick holding a workpiece with legs this is why an anvil should be at the height at which your thumb hangs when you stand with your arms to your side as the rock chisel gets deeper into the workpiece it gets hot and soft so you have to cool it down in water frequently otherwise it will start deforming I traded my small hammer and chisel for larger ones and it noticeably sped up the process turning the workpiece while punching helps to shape a straight hole now I will need a conical eye drift to form a wedge-shaped tunnel for a handle I made my own drift from two battered tractor tread's pins I found earlier they were not very straight but my trusty grinder took care of their visual imperfections I'm quite happy with the result and now we can return to the axe forging process I enjoy looking at and working with red-hot metal that is so unusually malleable in your hands physical work like this is more of entertainment for me as opposed to a computer or office work a cold drift quickly cools off the workpiece and you have to reheat it every 10-15 hits this cycle allows you to rest your arm while you wait for the metal to achieve about 1600 degrees Fahrenheit (850 degrees Celsius) I don't have any digital gauges and I was going by the metal's color just like our ancestors 'the lighter the color - the hotter the metal' raspberry color represents the temperature I needed as a forced a drift all the way to the anvil I began to further shape the eye making it taller the taller and the eye the tighter and more secure an axe's handle will be seated in it while the eye is cooled down by the drift the rest of the body is hot enough for shaping the axe's cheeks with each heating and hammering cycle the axe becomes more and more asymmetrical: its beard and toe begin to widen for my design I have to try to keep the toe in its current position and extend the heel backwards okay as the drift went all the way through the axe's body I decided to take a break and study the workpiece I think you would agree with me it already looks like an axe it is time to reheat the workpiece to continue shaping the axe I enlarged the eye a little and began to work on the bit the cutting edge will need to be widened hammering it against an anvil will do the trick the bit gets wider and thicker it is very satisfying to shape hot metal with a file even an old semi-dull file easily shapes the workpiece while giving my axe rough shape I arrived to the next step because I decided to make my axe bi-metal the next step will be welding a narrow piece of high carbon steel into the blades soft metal I used an old Soviet made metal file as a high carbon steel donor this way the high carbon cutting edge will stay sharp much longer while the excess body made of softer steel wouldn't chip or crack I haven't quite mastered forge-welding yet so I decided to play it safe and used an electric welder to create a metallic bond between the atoms of both metals (U-10 high carbon tool steel and softer ST-3 grade steel that came from the railroad pad) I'm planning to make my next bi-metal axe using a traditional forge-welding technique though as I was finishing shaping the bit the cutting edge got too wide for my gas mini-forge so I had to use my coal forge made from two metal buckets and sand as a heat insulation switching from gas to coal fuel was actually a plus for me because the coal forge doesn't draw carbon from the metal my improvised anvil doesn't have a horn which makes it more difficult to shape the axe's contour however I managed to give my axe the shape I had in mind without it almost entirely by blacksmithing I think I'm ready to make a more complicated project perhaps an axe with more complex and exotic geometry similar to my vintage Billnas number 9 Finnish axe shown in some previous videos I must have gotten a few hundred comments over a short period of time asking about what kind of an axe it was Because this axe is a gift it should look presentable which means I will need to grind and polish it I wanted to give my axe a distinct handmade look so leaving some hammer marks would be a good thing this is why I used the soft radial sanding disc to do initial sanding and polishing to further individualize the axe I branded it with two of my logos you can see them at the bottom of your screen as watermarks before doing it I had to re-flatten the axe's eye to prevent its recoil it is important because you have to stamp a logo with one strong decisive punch the axe's recoil can spoil the branding process despite my expectations it took me some time to restore the axe's geometry to where it was before branding process conclusion if you want to stamp your axe with a logo do it before you fully shape its eye okay as the eye is back to its normal conical shape with its outer opening being wider we can get to the final checks and corrections of the axe's geometry before quenching and tempering it I quench the axe's cutting edge in a small amount of warm oil such selective heat treatment will only harden the axe's cutting edge leaving its body and eye comparatively soft which prevents it from cracking during heavy use in this video I attempted to show that even a novice metal worker can make a decent axe from scraps as long as he or she has time and desire in the next video I will share details on how I polished and sharpened my axe also I will show how I made, stabilized, and installed the axe's handle using three wedges as well as how the handle's shoulder was reinforced with carbon fiber finally you will see my axe being tested as well as how you can easily make plastic axe guards of different designs p.s. there are hundreds of videos on YouTube showing how to make a side grinders stand I'm not sure if the world needs yet another design of it if you still want to see a video about my sliding side grinder's stand let me know below please if you liked this video perhaps you could share it with your friends let good people watch good videos this is Max Egorov, st.Petersburg, Russia and a final note I only produce one or two videos max a month and if you don't want to miss new content like this you can click on the bell reminder for notifications I hope to see you back on Advoko MAKES

Channel: Advoko MAKES

Views: 2,290,196

Rating: 4.9254513 out of 5

Keywords: forging an axe, forging an ax, forging an axe head, bearded axe, blacksmithing forging a bearded axe, blacksmithing - forging an axe, bearded ax, how to forge axe, forged bearded axe, diy axe, diy ax, homemade axe, axe making by hand, advoko makes, max egorov

Id: vAGXOpWs-7o

Length: 11min 56sec (716 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 15 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/GuardedDig2]

It came out beautifully

[u/Nimikins]

Very nice. I like the mix of rough forge and very polished metal. Looks beautiful and functional.

[u/rtr1999]

Wow amazing! Makes me want to get out in my shop and make an axe!

[u/JKeetonKnives]

This is excellent. Love the video.