Railway Spike Tomahawk Update

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Does wood charcoal burn hotter than the heat beads? Or are you talking about coke?

Wood charcoal does burn hotter and I am also taking about coke which I think burns hotter again. Heat beads are made with clay I hear and I have found that they break down to ash very quickly. Unfortunately there are not too many blacksmiths to ask so i have been sifting through the net and youtube.
 
Just make your own charcoal. Do you know how to make a ground oven or hungi?

Just light a fire in a pit (you might need rocks in it, but not totally sure) with some good red wood about about as thick as your wrist, wait for the flames to go down and cover with corrugated iron and dirt. Come back in five hours and bam, charcoal. You can even put a pig in it too!
 
There is coal in the Permian age country from south of the Perron Islands inland to Woodicupulder and south to the Fitzmaurice River. Happily not in commercial quantities. Unfortunately the fracking mob are onto it. You can get free geo maps of anywhere in the Top End from the Mines dept. and hunt it yourself. Dont ignore local knowledge, a cooked chook or packet of smokes can go a long way.
 
Wood charcoal does burn hotter and I am also taking about coke which I think burns hotter again. Heat beads are made with clay I hear and I have found that they break down to ash very quickly. Unfortunately there are not too many blacksmiths to ask so i have been sifting through the net and youtube.


I might just have to do that Gordo!
 
I can't find the pics of when it was all cooked up and we opened the pit. But follow this and you should get a similar result.

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Covered with iron and the dirt from the hole. Was brilliant looking coal too.
 
I collect a few knives and have a couple that were made from scrap steel [ leaf springs etc ] in 3rd world Asian countries . Nice to see an old Art still in use , most people these days can only turn a good tool back into rusty metal :]
 
WOW..... that is amazing....!!!! A beautiful work of art !!! :D

Thanks,

It was the my first attempt at making one. Next time around I do things a bit different as I made quite a few mistakes which is good because with each I have worked out a better way of doing things.

I have made some tools for putting a round hole in the head instead of a rectangle slot and I will work on a bigger bit of steal.

I am happy with the heat treat which has produced a really durable edge without being too hard and brittle.

I bet many years ago when some bloke hammered that spike into a railway track he never thought one day it would be reborn as a tomahawk.

Anyhow stay tuned for the next one.
 
The cutting edge is only 2.5 inch and the whole thing is a bit over 1 foot long. It is only small but does pack a punch.
 
How do you stop it getting rusty on the surface like the original railway spike?
 
How do you stop it getting rusty on the surface like the original railway spike?

I just keep it oiled after use. I make my knives from 5160 spring steel which also rusts..one of the drawbacks with high carbon steel...a good plus is they make very tough blades.
 
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