When you hear the word “tomahawk,” many people immediately think of Indians. Really, this type The ax was masterfully used by the North American aborigines. Reading books about Indians, it is difficult to escape the impression that the small steel hatchet is an original Indian invention. In fact, the Indians only gave their name to this axe, and it itself arrived in America along with the colonists.
The first axes among the Indians of the pre-Columbian era were made of stone, mounted on a long handle, often flexible or made of willow twigs. This ax was a hybrid of an ax and a club and was used in war and in everyday life. Naturally, due to its unreliable design, such weapons were inferior to spears. Seeing the settlers' sharp steel axes and receiving several in exchange, the Indians were delighted and called them "what they cut with" (tamahaken). When Europeans heard this word, they pronounced it “tomahawk.”
Varieties of Indian tomahawk ax
Although the tomahawk for ordinary people is associated with the so-called “Missouri axe,” the type of tomahawk could be different, in particular:
- Celts. The very first iron tomahawks, which were driven into the handle with a butt. The same group includes celts with a point, more like klevets;
- Ear tomahawks. Precisely those that were advertised by cinema and books about Indians. They were otherwise called "Missouri axes" and were a traditional form of an ax with an eye. Used for combat operations, very rarely in everyday life (mainly for quickly cutting up carcasses);
- Pipe tomahawks. They could be of any type, but they had a special feature - a channel along the entire length of the handle. Often richly decorated, they were rarely used in battle due to the hollow handle. Their main purpose was in diplomatic ceremonies between tribes, often given as a sign of friendship;
- Espontone tomahawks. They were a mixture of esponton and axe. Most likely, they were remade from espontons taken in battles with settlers;
- Halberd tomahawks. They were brought from Spain and were either shortened halberds or hatchets made according to the same pattern. The rarest variety, the North American Indians had them mainly among the leaders, emphasizing their status.
Along with these models, there were homemade tomahawks. They were usually made from standard models.
The appearance of steel tomahawks among the Indians
The first metal axes were traded by settlers for furs. Having quickly learned to wield tomahawks, the natives surpassed their teachers in this art. The Indians received the basics of using a tomahawk from British sailors who used axes in naval battles during boardings. Moreover, the Indians were able to master throwing techniques, forgotten in Europe since the times of the Franks, and even surpass the ancient Europeans. Throwing masters could throw several tomahawks in a couple of seconds. The Missouri type of ax was most suitable for throwing. The Spanish halberd-type ax was suitable only for close combat. The ax could be thrown at a distance of up to 20 meters.
A new surge in the popularity of tomahawks occurred in the 2000s, in connection with the military operations of the US Army in the east. It was perfect for opening doors. Nowadays, so-called “tactical” tomahawks are produced by many companies, and everyone can choose an ax based on their needs.
Disadvantages of modern models
Modern industry produces many types of tomahawks for every taste. From the frankly predatory SOG m48, to the quite peaceful-looking Jenny Wren Spike, advertised as women's. In general, modern tomahawks can be divided into three groups:
- Identical. Such axes are produced only by Cold steel. They are a forged hatchet on a wooden handle, put on using the reverse insertion method;
- Tomahawks attached to plastic handle. This is the notorious SOG m48 and similar models;
- Tomahawks, cut from a single piece of metal, with pads in the handle area.
Let's take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of each type.
Identical tomahawks are classic design an ax that remains unchanged for hundreds of years. Usually they are made independently or ordered from blacksmiths. Despite their inconspicuous appearance, they are a formidable weapon, proven in many battles over the centuries. What distinguishes them is simple design, perfect balancing, the ability to adjust the handle specifically to your hand and ease of repair. The ax itself is “indestructible”, and the handle is easy to make with your own hands.
Tomahawks on a plastic handle have a very menacing appearance. Thanks to their light weight, they can be used at high speed. The butt is often made in the form of a pecker, a hammer, or even a second blade. During operation, these axes revealed many shortcomings. Round handle often rotates in the hand when striking, which is why the blow turns out to be a sliding one. It is absolutely not suitable for throwing, despite the assurances of the sellers (the handle breaks after several hits against a tree). Practically unsuitable for economic use household work. This type of tomahawk is better suited for intimidation than for serious work.
It would be a stretch to call one-piece tomahawks an axe. Rather, these are blades shaped like an axe. Due to the design features and low weight of the working part, they are not capable of performing the role of a powerful piercing weapon. It rubs your hand a lot when using it. Their only advantage is their solid structure, which is very difficult to break.
If you want to purchase a truly real combat tomahawk, choose identical ones from Cold steel, or better yet, make it yourself or order it from a blacksmith.
Cold steel tomahawks
The Cold steel company has become famous for the production of knives, axes, swords and other weapons, which are a symbiosis of the best ancient models with the latest developments. Cold steel tomahawks are forged from 1055 steel and are capable of chopping and throwing. Despite its good reputation, like any serial product, it may need improvement. It is not uncommon for the ax to have play on the handle, and it happens that it does not fit well in the hand. When purchasing, you should carefully inspect the purchased product, and after purchase, carry out a test cutting. If you need to mount the ax better, place some leather on it and lubricate it epoxy resin. If possible, try making a tomahawk yourself.
Drawing for making a tomahawk with your own hands
There are two ways to make your own tomahawk:
- Forging method;
- Using a donor axe, a grinder and an electric sharpener.
Let's take a closer look at these two methods, after which we'll figure out how to make a handle.
To forge an ax you will need a forge and an anvil. A forge can be made from old pan, drilling holes in the bottom and partially cutting off the side walls. You can use it to blow air old vacuum cleaner or a computer fan. A piece of old rail is suitable as an anvil.
For the ax, 65g metal is suitable. As alternative source steel can be used to reforge a car spring. First, a rectangle of suitable thickness is forged, and an eye hole is made in it using a chisel or punch. Then the workpiece is given the desired shape using a forge (or ordinary) hammer. The workpiece is hardened, after which metalworking is carried out.
The hardening of a forged tomahawk should be zone-hardening - the blade is hardened, but the butt is usually not hardened. After metalworking, the ax is mounted on a previously prepared ax handle.
To make a tomahawk you will need a donor - an ordinary ax. As a first prototype, you can take a cheap Chinese ax. Only quality instrument it won't work out. Although if you are afraid of ruining a quality ax, you can try it in Chinese.
If you want a quality tomahawk, use old Soviet forged axes. Axes from army warehouses of the forties and fifties enjoy good fame.
First you need to make a drawing of a tomahawk. To do this, the donor is placed on a sheet of paper and traced along the contour. This drawing is then given the desired shape. The next operation will be to transfer the drawing from paper to an ax. Having drawn the desired shape on the axe, you should trim off the excess metal using a grinder. Be sure to wear safety glasses and gloves when cutting. Do not cut too quickly, otherwise the metal will overheat and lose its hardening. It is recommended to periodically cool the part with water. After trimming, the workpiece is sharpened on an electric sharpener and polished. If you have a Dremel, you can decorate the ax with a message or design. If the metal overheats during the work, the ax needs to be hardened again.
Making a handle for a tomahawk
Usually ax handles are made of birch, but for a tomahawk it is better to choose a different wood. Cold Steel uses hickory wood for its tomahawk handles. In our latitudes best wood for the ax handle it is ash. It is not inferior in strength to oak and at the same time has good flexibility. You can use dogwood, pear and cherry plum.
I am interested in martial arts with weapons and historical fencing. I am writing about weapons and military equipment, because it is interesting and familiar to me. I often learn a lot of new things and want to share these facts with people who are interested in military topics.
A blogger with the nickname Lawyer Egorov talks about how to make a tomahawk from a railway spike using improvised means. A tomahawk, like a small hatchet, is primarily intended for chopping wood, but in some cases it can replace a knife. If it is well sharpened, then it can do delicate work.
Externally, a hand-made ax looks very impressive. It was decided not to completely sand down the forging marks, as it would look more attractive. Its cutting edge is made from a Soviet file. The ax is pierced. I stitched the eyelet with a chisel, and then gave it a cylindrical shape with a crossbar, which I forged from a bolt. Oak handle made from a tree branch. Wood killed in pairs ammonia. For protection, I soaked it in Rescuer ointment. This ointment contains wax oil and antiseptics.
There is a bandage on the ax handle. On one side with the words “city of military glory”, and on the other “Vyborg”. The bandage is made from a coin with a face value of 10 rubles.
The blank that was used in the project was made from scrap material. For many years now on Oktyabrskaya railway crutches are not used, and therefore they had to walk several kilometers along the railway track until a rusty crutch was found.
Forging workpiece processing
The crutch was heated from the cap side. To begin with, just straighten it and make two even edges. The cooking was held in place by a clamp. This is not very convenient, it is better to use pliers. Compared to Sh15, the material of the crutch is soft, the cap was flattened in a couple of blows. The eye area was heated. Pointing a chisel at this place, he made a hole. I managed to stitch the crutch the first time, but without marking the hole was not perfectly centered. I stitched the hole, increasing the notches on both sides. The deeper the cut, the easier it was to position the chisel and workpiece.
Hot metal behaves like plasticine heated in your hands. When there was a danger of the chisel hitting the anvil, I aligned the eye with the hole in the anvil and the chisel fell into the eye. The next step is to enlarge the hole. For this you need a crossbar. It was made from a bolt. The bolt obtained in this way is not very strong, but it is enough for a hundred tomahawks. It was shaped into a cone and the tool was polished on a machine. With the help of a large hammer, the head of the crutch was finally dispersed into the future blade of the tomahawk. The next day, blacksmith pliers with angled jaws were made from improvised materials. This device holds the crutch perfectly. The impact surface of the hammer is close to spherical, it allows you to leave the largest possible dents on the surface of parts.
The rim of the tomahawk could be shaped into a flat surface like a hammer or sharpened into a claw. It was decided to make a klevets, since they are more convenient for digging the ground, splitting trees, and can be used as a wedge. With the tomahawk tip pulled out, the forging portion of the project was completed and all that was left was the metalworking.
Carpentry part of the work
The ax handle was made on lathe on wood. A sawn-off oak branch was used as a blank. A sharpened tap was used as a cutter. The second one is from a file. The cutting edge was made from a file using electric arc welding. The weld seam was cleaned using a grinder.
The cutting edge must be hardened. The length of the cutting edge is so short that it is not necessary to take into account the danger that internal stresses during hardening, the cutting edge will tear. The hardening was successful, the file slides along the edge, and the ax doesn’t need anything else. Next, the ax was polished. Polished metal is easier to keep clean and more pleasant to hold. A felt circle and GOI paste were used. All that remains is to make a bandage from a coin and the project will be completed. The bandage is ready, all that remains is to polish it and you can assemble all the parts together.
The tomahawk is a simple but effective hand-to-hand combat weapon that was used with success in hand-to-hand combat of the past. And for ordinary person modern times, tomahawks can also be used for household chores, such as trimming the limbs of animals and birds or cutting down bushes for personal plot. Regular axes are somewhat heavy for one-handed use, but a homemade tomahawk will be just right. And this will also be very relevant as a sports equipment. Here is a guide to create your own throwing tomahawk, loosely based on the North American Indian tomahawk model. In one of the articles we already looked at the hot forging method, but now we will look at how to make a tomahawk in the simplest way.
Simple technology for making a tomahawk
First you need to find a piece of steel among the household scrap sheet iron thickness from 4.7 mm to 6.35 mm, and size 10 cm by 12.5 cm. If you don’t find anything suitable in the garage, then look either in a salvage store or in industrial goods stores. The steel sheet should not be too heavy, but not too light.
Mark the plate: 8.89 cm high by 12.5 cm wide, with a radius as shown in the picture. You can make the curvature from the blade to the butt arbitrary, it’s not important. In the picture, by the way, the dimensions are indicated in inches.
To save time and effort, cut the tomahawk blade blank using a grinder or a gas cutter. If there is neither one nor the other, then use a vice the old fashioned way and hand saw on metal.
Now, using an emery machine (stationary or manual), tomahawk.
Next we need a piece steel pipe, which we will saw off to the size of the blunt edge of the tomahawk blade. Further using welding machine, carefully weld the tomahawk blade to the middle of the pipe. At the same time, try to match the axial relationship of the edge of the tomahawk blade and the center of the pipe as accurately as possible so that your throwing tomahawk does not look crooked.
After you have welded the blade to the tube that will serve as the handle socket, clean the weld.
Next we need to find a handle for the handle. You can use cuttings of hillers, shovels, etc. for this. In principle, when selecting a pipe for the handle fastening coupling, you must immediately take into account the diameter of the pipe so that you can select a required diameter a stalk that would fit very tightly into it.
To keep the handle tightly in the tomahawk, do the following. We cut off a piece 43 centimeters long from the cutting. Cutting into a pipe internal thread and screw the prepared handle into it, holding the tomahawk blade in a vice. Now the handle will definitely not go anywhere and will not become loose when throwing.
Those who do not have a thread cutting device can make it even easier. Drill a couple of holes in the pipe and attach the handle. Then screw the screws into these holes, thereby firmly securing the handle to the tomahawk.
All that remains is to finally polish the tomahawk handle, treat it with antiseptic or oil, and sharpen the tomahawk blade to razor sharp. If you wish, you can burn designs on the handle and then soak it in oil. Special antiseptic oils are sold, but you can use regular sunflower oil for this. This is done as follows. The handle is soaked sunflower oil, and dry in a very hot oven. Then it is soaked again and “fried” in the oven again. After such treatment, no moisture or rotting will be scary for it. The tomahawk blade can also be subjected to some kind of processing, for example, bluing. Good luck!
You can give it to someone as a valuable gift or even sell it. And everything is collected from available materials, which you can probably find at home. As a basis, the author used the most ordinary hatchet, which we all use to chop wood. Moreover, you can use an old and no longer useful ax.
The manufactured ax is hardened, so it will be strong and will remain sharp for a long time. So, let's take a closer look at how to make such a hatchet!
Materials and tools used
List of materials:
- axe;
- wooden beam(for the handle);
- leather, cord, feathers and stronger (for decoration);
- oil for impregnating wood;
- wedge;
- bolt and nut (to make a hammer).
List of tools:
- Bulgarian;
- vice;
- hammer;
- forge furnace and hardening oil;
- metal files and sandpaper;
- welding machine;
- grinder;
- acid for etching;
- planing machine;
- hacksaw for metal;
- sewing accessories.
Hatchet making process:
Step one. Cutting out the main profile
We will need a regular ax as the starting material. We knock out the handle from it and clean it from rust, if necessary. Next, take a marker and draw the desired profile of the hatchet that you want to get. That's all, you can start cutting. We clamp the ax in a vice and arm ourselves with a grinder.
Step two. Changing the mounting hole
We need to make the mounting hole into which the hatchet is driven round, so the hatchet will become more beautiful, and it will not remind us of an ordinary ax. For such purposes, you will need a forge, the metal will need to be heated until it glows red. Next, we hammer a wedge of suitable diameter into the hole so that the hole becomes round.
Step three. Rough grinding
Next we proceed to rough sanding to form the main profile. The author installed a thick grinding disc on the grinder and got to work. You can also treat some areas with grinding machine. We will also need to work manually, here we will need files. The author made the grooves on the blade manually using round files.
Step four. Ax head
A small hammer is installed on the butt of the hatchet. It gives weight to the axe, and you can also hammer something with it if necessary. To make this hammer we will need a suitable nut and bolt. These parts must be made of high quality carbon steel so that they can be hardened. First of all, we weld the nut to the bolt, and then cut off the excess. That's all, now the resulting figurine needs to be sanded to make a hammer. Later we will weld it to the axe.
Step five. Final polishing of the ax
We weld the previously made hammer to the ax and carefully grind the weld seam so that the product becomes monolithic. We carry out finer processing with sandpaper. Next, the hatchet will be hardened, so we must remove all gross defects, since this will be much more difficult to do later.
Step six. Heat treatment
Let's start heat treatment, as a result of simple manipulations we will get a strong, durable ax that will serve us long years. First, the author normalizes the metal to relieve internal stress. This is done so that the ax does not deform during hardening. Heat the product until it glows red and let it cool in the air. That's all, now you can harden it, heat it up and cool it. The author separately hardened the blade and separately the hammer.
After hardening, we check the metal by trying to scratch it with a file. If there are no scratches, then the steel is hardened. But that's not all, we need to let go of the metal, otherwise it will be brittle. For such purposes, you will need a household oven; place the blade in it and heat it at a temperature for at least two hours. We determine whether the vacation is successful by color. The metal should become golden or straw colored. That's it, now we have a quality ax!
Step six. Etching
To make the ax dark in color and not afraid of rust, you can do etching. But before this, the metal must be cleaned of oxide. Sandpaper soaked in water will help us here. Well, then we immerse the ax in the reagent and wait for the acid to do its job. After this, all that remains is to wash the hatchet thoroughly under running water. It wouldn't hurt to use detergents. To make everything look good, you can do a light polishing.
Step seven. Making and installing an ax handle
We can start making an ax handle, here we will need wooden block. The author first went over it with a planing machine, and then cut out the main profile using a grinder. When the ax handle is perfectly adjusted to the axe, you can install it. Here we need a hacksaw and a steel wedge. We hammer in the wedge and cut off the excess. Ideally, the ax handle should be hammered in with wood glue, then it will always be securely fastened, regardless of the moisture content of the wood.
Step eight. Decorating the hatchet
To decorate the ax we will need leather. We cut out the required piece, glue and stitch the workpiece. Subsequently, the author installs feathers, beads and other details.
In addition, the ax handle is decorated with interesting patterns. First we draw them with a pencil, and then we burn them. You can burn it with a burner or just a hot piece of iron. This design looks beautiful and does not fade.