Started a new project today "Tomahawk"

So I had some leftover 4140 moly steel laying about and thought I would make myself a tomahawk. Going for the tactical sort of look. The steel is not ideal for a blade but with a heat treat it makes for very good tool steel and I figure it will do the job just fine for a home made job. I will Duracoat it once I have it ground down and going with some micarta handles. I cut the blank out with a metal cutting band saw from a piece of 6" x 20" x 3/8" plate.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...psc75d5ffa.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...ps7ef83600.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...ps6fdf137b.jpg

Awesome, cant wait to see this come along

Will the spike be big enough to balance the weight and stabilize it while swinging like the pole on an axe?

its not too bad right now, nose heavy but it does not try and flip so I think as long as I take equal percentage off the front and back shaping the blade / spike it should work reasonably well

That looks awesome! I like the blade design.

So made a little progress today, Still need to hollow grind the blade then I will start work on the spike. I also need to thin down the handle a bit to get the weight right. It feels too heavy in the handle right now. I dont plan on bringing the blade to an edge until last so I can continue to handle it without cutting myself more than necessary.
http://s5.photobucket.com/user/amorton-25rs/media/IMAG0828_zps2ea643e3.jpg.html"]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...ps2ea643e3.jpg[/url]
http://s5.photobucket.com/user/amorton-25rs/media/IMAG0830_zps3bcffde2.jpg.html"]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...ps3bcffde2.jpg[/url]
http://s5.photobucket.com/user/amorton-25rs/media/IMAG0835_zpseab57891.jpg.html"]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...pseab57891.jpg[/url]
http://s5.photobucket.com/user/amorton-25rs/media/IMAG0831_zpsb75f42f7.jpg.html"]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y17...psb75f42f7.jpg[/url]

very nice

How to you sharpen to the point you've gotten to now?

I have a milling vise for my drill press so I set the angle with the table then used an end mill to shape the blade. The I go over it with a grinder sanding disc to take out the tooling marks. This way the two edges are the same.

I assume the drill press doesn't spin fast enough to create enough heat to ruin the temper.
Do you use a machine for the final sharpen, or will that be by hand?

There is no temper in the steel yet, The speed of the cutter should never heat steel to the point of temper you would be throwing sparks at that point, plus my cuttes wont cut hardend steel I have not heat treated it yet. The final sharpen will be with a stone once it has been heat treated, I expect it to have a hardness similar to a file but not as brittle.

any plans for production if this one goes well? (i want one!!!)

not at this time, but once I have some time to finish it I will see how many hours I have in it and see if I can produce them at a reasonable price.

This is pretty sweet. Looking forward to watching this project progress.

update on this?

The OP hasn't been on the board in the past year.

...... thanks

Too bad.