Aluminum Bronze VS Tin Bronze, Making & Testing Bronze Hatchets

Lets test out some modern C630 Aluminum bronze up against ancient Tin bronze and see how well they do!

Casting equipment

3d printing FDM

3d printing Resin

Belt Grinder

Belt Grinder Accessories

Welding

Metal finishing tools

General

Some of my favorite tools of the year

Camera Equipment

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Intro 0:00
Making sand molds 0:39
Melting bronze 1:47
Opening Molds 2:43
Cleaning up castings 3:14
TIG welding 3:46
Cold Forging 4:39
Making Handles 5:59
Testing 7:38

[steve-ushg]

Oh boy, this is so sad. Why cant people make good content, like we know it from years back.

[jordanhorst]

some aluminum bronze variations have a percentage of iron added and can be hardened up to 66RW. They're most commonly used in marine or industrial applications where strength comparable to steels is needed but also corrosion resistance. They make for great boat propellers

[chrispartridge]

Just a quick tip, I've worked in the Aluminum Diecasting field for about 7 years now. Those holes are porosity, not from shrinkage though, they are from trapped gases. You've made what's called "Overflow" which you refer to as risers. Overflow work better with high pressure die casting because the injection system squeezes all the gases into these overflows at the edge of the casting. With you gravity feeding the metal into the mold, I'd leave little vent holes on the end of your "risers" for the gases to flow out the other end of the casting. You'll have a much more solid casting.

Awesome work though! I want to get into casting at home, I just haven't because of other stuff haha. You're doing some cool stuff here man

[Pablo]

I guess there are good reasons why a whole age was dedicated to using bronze as a go to material. Great work btw, and the axes look really cool too.

[seanyackley]

I'm kicking myself for not remembering the book, but there was a knifemaker who did probably hundreds of test trying to figure out what the best method for quenching blades was to maximize edge retention
his testing method was to cut short segments off of a rope with the knives, counting how many cuts he made, once he could feel the knives struggling, he called that his stopping point, it would be cool to see you try this with the bronzes, more controlled than chopping wood at the very least
for those interested, his best method was to quench a blade 3 separate times, waiting 24 hours after each quench (waiting apparently made a huge difference, it started when he got interrupted before the 2nd quench, and he struggled for some time to figure out why that knife preformed so much better, until he remembered the interruption )

[iainburgess]

4:15 vaporisation.
TIG has an extremely hot point source, that lowers Rapidly as it radiates away from that source into vastly larger volumes.
But your spark is around 5000k/4700⁰C.
Aluminium vaporises around half that, same with copper, but the multiple minor ratios of the entire process will have vaporised one more than the other, and changed the exact composition relative to the whole head.
Likely also localised heat colouration; that spot was melted and cooled under different, less controlled circumstances. It's why material type, filler type, welding settings be extremely important.

[JhnnyShadw]

As far as the Tin Bronze staying sharp, I have made a straight razor out of Tin Bronze and, after 3 years of use, all the owner does is an occasional edge touch up. He uses it daily LOVE this video

[zaynehayashi]

It may not look impressive to anyone else, but u drawing those lines was perfection

[Knapweed]

Bronze is a wonderful metal for marine use, it's tough, resilient and very corrosion resistant providing you take care of electrolysis. It makes a beautiful looking axe. Good job.

[NFTI]

That hammered texture on the blades looks sweet.

[BronzeCactusorBronzeCaktus]

If I'm remembering correctly, the bronze-smiths of the bronze age actually had a superior product to early iron tools; it was just a lot harder and more expensive to make good bronze tools; like how when firearms were introduced they were no better than crossbows, often worse, but they were a lot easier to train people how to use

[HicklingStand]

Just a note - for axe hafts (handles) the grain should be aligned with the direction of the axe blade for maximum strength and to minimise damage. Hickory is the best wood for handles but when I saw the grain at around 6:20ish it’s basically the opposite of what I look for in an axe handle. It might not make much of a difference in the short term and on axes of this length, but for longevity and to avoid issues on any longer axes in the future I’d always try and get that grain in line with the axe blade.

[rosmundsen]

In the book The Odyssey, bronze was the material used for weapons. The phrase "the cruel bronze" is often used. That has stuck with me after reading it many years ago.

[taylorstumpp]

aluminum alloyed metals can change color with annealing. the spot is because your weld cooled at a quicker rate than the casting. If you anneal after repairing at 600-900 it should go away.

[jadenephrite]

Thank you for your video. For those who are unfamiliar with sand casting, the top half of the mold flask frame is called the "Cope", the bottom half of the mold flask frame is called the "Drag", and the sand packing tool is called the "Rammer".

[sinakaedwards]

The pour was so on point the lines from the 3D molds was even cast. Impressive.

[JoMcD]

Those cold forge marks are why I clicked. You definitely are right - they're cool!

[colbunkmust]

An appleseed edge is another term for a convex edge, where there's no discernible edge bevel as the edge is blended cleanly to its apex.

[jeffrowlette]

As an Aerospace machinist, I really loved watching this 👍

[JonathanFisherS]

As a casual observer, those casting molds and the results were incredibly impressive.