Started a new project today "Tomahawk"

[RedDogFabrication]

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.

[spleify]

Awesome, cant wait to see this come along

[Irving]

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

[RedDogFabrication]

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

[hunterhawk]

That looks awesome! I like the blade design.

[RedDogFabrication]

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"][/url]
http://s5.photobucket.com/user/amorton-25rs/media/IMAG0830_zps3bcffde2.jpg.html"][/url]
http://s5.photobucket.com/user/amorton-25rs/media/IMAG0835_zpseab57891.jpg.html"][/url]
http://s5.photobucket.com/user/amorton-25rs/media/IMAG0831_zpsb75f42f7.jpg.html"][/url]

[kona]

very nice

[Irving]

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

[RedDogFabrication]

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.

[Irving]

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?