Awl forged from carbon steel.

[sticks65]

I was looking at an civil war era reenactors kit the other day and noticed a little awl which i thought would be a nice piece of kit to make and add to my little whittling & leather working knife.

It is made from carbon steel and is 3" in length.

I used a blow torch to heat it as it was hardly worth getting the forge going for such a small piece.

I cut a stripe of the steel to the desired size then heated and flattened the end the put the little scroll in,i then sharpened the point then re heated it again and put it in the vise and added the twist.

To finish i heated it to non magnetic and quenched it in motor oil to get the dark olde worlde look to it,i then re sharpened the point and tempered it to blue.

I also made a little leather sheath for it using the awl and knife and attached that to the knife sheath.

 

[Biker]

That's easily a 6.4 on the envy scale.

And you make the casual "I just did..." description sound so simple too. Tempering and heating till non magnetic and such is still white man's magic to me.

Very nice sheath too, love that olde worlde riveting.

 

[pwb]

Like that a lot, the more you think about it an awl is a really handy addition to have with a fixed blade.
Good idea with the sheath mounting too.

 

[phill_ue]

Nice, I'd like a little old school awl myself, could a normal nail be hardened after a bit of fettling to create a good point for poking through bark, etc?

 

[sticks65]

Nice, I'd like a little old school awl myself, could a normal nail be hardened after a bit of fettling to create a good point for poking through bark, etc?

I don't now if a nail has enough carbon in it but i would give it a try as it onlt an awl which you can always re-sharpen it any way and its fun messing around with steel.

 

[sticks65]

That's easily a 6.4 on the envy scale.

And you make the casual "I just did..." description sound so simple too. Tempering and heating till non magnetic and such is still white man's magic to me.

Very nice sheath too, love that olde worlde riveting.

Thank you.

 

[sticks65]

Like that a lot, the more you think about it an awl is a really handy addition to have with a fixed blade.
Good idea with the sheath mounting too.

I was thinking leather work and birch bark basket making but ive already removed a splinter from my finger with it.

 

[Gill]

I really like that my friend.

 

[redandshane]

I bet that comes in handy
Nice idea

 

[caliban]

That's cool. One of these really nice wee objects that are most covetable. You could sell them I reckon.

 

[Zingmo]

I am inspired! Perhaps at last I have found a use for all those old chainsaw files!

 

[Everything Mac]

nice bit of work there matey - it must have been a bit of a pain working something so small?

Nice, I'd like a little old school awl myself, could a normal nail be hardened after a bit of fettling to create a good point for poking through bark, etc?

I would think an ordinary nail would be ok for such duties. - although you can play about with it to make it a bit harder.

1:heat it up to a nice cherry red and then hammer the end to the desired shape.
this will work harden the point and refine the structure of the steel.
2. at a nice red heat you can rub the point with a piece of antler. this adds carbon to the surface of the steel - effectively case hardening it. I am under the impression that this was done many years ago.
3. get it to a cherry red colour then dip into cold water.

any one of those or a combination of them all will sufficiently harden the steel for use as an awl I should think.

andy

 

[pwb]

I am inspired! Perhaps at last I have found a use for all those old chainsaw files!

Now there's an idea, never thought of that :bluThinki

 

[Bushbuddy]

I will give it my best and let you know how i get on good work guys