New Pattern in Progress, for Casting an Aluminum Bronze Pipe Hawk

Discussion in 'Pattern making' started by Tobho Mott, Oct 9, 2018.

  1. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    I got inspired by a recent post by OddDuck and an old post by Bull over on AA. And a new Canadian law that will take effect next week, which everyone up here has been talking about for months and months.

    So now I'm working on another throwable aluminum bronze choppy thing pattern.

    Pipe hawk!

    I just thought the idea of throwing a tomahawk at targets in an extremely mellow fashion was a hilarious image that I had to do my best to try and bring to life. :D

    The pattern so far:

    20181008_004613-1040x780.jpg

    The white stuff on the lower half is 2-part epoxy putty. The white stuff on the top half is several glued-on sheets of paper which I used to rebuild the thickness that was lost to a saw kerf when I split the coreprint, which was previously used to make the corebox for the eye core and which came from the tip of one of a few 'hawk handles I ordered online. The bowl is a turning I rescued from a busted up old piece of antique furniture. The blade is made of 2 pieces of 1/8" thick plexiglas I pulled from the scrap bin at a plastic shop somewhere around here almost 15 years ago for another project.

    There's a second corebox for the bowl that is already made too; I posted a video here recently where I showed how I made that, using Lego and hydrostone plaster. The corebox for the eye was made in exactly the same way.

    Also the same way I made the coreboxes for the first two axe patterns that I made in previous casting seasons.

    Jeff
     
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2018
  2. Jason

    Jason Gold

    What law??
     
  3. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

  4. DavidF

    DavidF Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Soooo???? the handle is hollow??
    Your going to sell the shit out of those LOL
     
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  5. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Are you making this so you can chop down your legally authorized 4 plants?
     
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  6. dtsh

    dtsh Silver

    If you're only allowed to grow a limited number, best to grow 'em BIG.
     
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  7. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    Lol, derailed already. That's why I was trying to be subtle... :D

    Drilling a hole through the length of the handle is the part I haven't figured out yet. :oops: A problem for future me to figure out! I'm sure there I can find some sort of how-to on youtube when I get to that point, I haven't looked into it yet at all, but I'm certainly open to suggestions... I don't have a lathe and the handles are too long to set up under my drill press. Presumably I will need a very long bit and to drill from either end.

    Jeff
     
  8. joe yard

    joe yard Silver

    It aint no wonder I am depressed. Living in the U.S. In a state were they will stone you with real stones for smoking wonder weed!
     
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  9. DavidF

    DavidF Administrator Staff Member Banner Member

    Split the handle into two lengths, mill slot down center, then glue two halves back together...
    Add wood pins if necessary.
     
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  10. Jason

    Jason Gold

    Try california, you can smoke the pony baloney, but you can't smoke a marlboro or vape on the friggen beach!

    obligatory on topic bs>>>>>>> Is the hollow handle to stash the zigzags?:p
     
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  11. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    The handle will double as the stem when it's in pipe mode!

    Good idea Dave, but you're making me think I wasted my time rebuilding the thickness my hacksaw took out of the coreprint by gluing in all those layers of paper!

    Here you can't vape or smoke in a park. I don't just mean they'd rather you didn't leave your butts in the sandbox for the kids, I mean anywhere in any park in the city. Including some pretty big swaths of green space where it would be easy to move far away from anyone else who might be bothered. Legally, you have to go stand on the crowded sidewalk instead if you want to light a smoke I guess. :rolleyes:

    Jeff
     
  12. Jason

    Jason Gold

    You know the deal... If it looks like smoking, BAN IT!

     
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  13. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    Got the other half puttied up.

    20181010_054007-1040x780.jpg

    It's not perfect yet, but it's getting close. While I was filing off excess putty, some small delaminations occurred where I had added a little more putty here and there after the main part was mostly cured, likely due to the grease I was using to make it easier to smooth out and to be able to mix it with my fingers without getting it all stuck to me. I may need to use some other type of filler on those tiny dips and a bit more sanding before I give it a coat of paint.

    This is coming along faster than I thought; I may even get to cast one before winter arrives! :D

    Jeff
     
  14. I'm a big fan of aerosol can automotive spray putty, just give it time to dry and don't put it in the sun (skins over).

    Winter?!?... I'm in the southern hemisphere:

    169993-Brace-Yourselves-Summer-Is-Coming.jpg
     
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  15. Jammer

    Jammer Silver Banner Member

    I have a pipe hawk somewhere, I guy forged it from a railroad spike. He did a really good job, but I don't know how he made the hole in the handle. I think he used a long drill bit. Every time I try that it comes out the side.
     
  16. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    That's what I'm worried about. I have 2 handles left that haven't been cut up to make the coreprint, so if drilling through it doesn't work out on the first one, I can still try Dave's idea.

    Post a pic or two if you can find yours!

    Jeff
     
  17. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    Got the pattern done. ish...

    20181016_154541-1040x780.jpg

    20181016_154608-1040x780.jpg

    20181016_154625-1040x780.jpg

    20181016_154652-1040x780.jpg

    20181016_154704-1040x780.jpg



    I say it's done-ish rather than just done because I think I want to add some more putty to beef the fillet in front of the eye WAY up, so that there is a much gentler taper down to the blade's thickness from the eye. I was looking at forged steel tomahawks, and the good ones seem to be built that way, so I guess my bronze one probably would be prone to bending and/or breaking at that join if I leave it as-is..

    I posted this before I think, but it belongs with this project - making the corebox for the bowl:



    The corebox for the eye is complete too, and was built the exact same way.

    I've got plenty of C954 at home, so just a matter of wrapping up the tweaks to the pattern, running some sand through the muller to moisten it back up again (it's been a while since I cast anything), and waiting for a nice day to cast it. It could conceivably happen as early as this weekend! Hope so; I feel a powerful need to melt something.

    Jeff
     
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  18. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    Those patterns are looking pretty good.
     
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  19. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    Thanks, this one has been pretty easy to make so far. Hopefully beefing up that one remaining section will go as smoothly! I kind of like working with the 2-part epoxy putties. It's one area where my gaming miniatures and terrain modelling hobby cosses over to this one pretty seamlessly. The Lego and plasticine trick I used for the coreboxes here is another.

    Jeff
     
  20. PatJ

    PatJ Silver

    Last edited: Oct 18, 2018
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