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Beaver Bill Forging Works:
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"Beaver Bill" Keeler is a master blacksmith. I have a scalping knife (with sheath) and a trade axe that he made, and both are first rate. As noted on his website, he uses pieces of actual blackpowder rifle barrels as material for his pipe tomahawks, just as they did back in the Shining Times. I do think gun barrels were reserved for
pipe tomahawks, though, to take advantage of the bore for the pipe bowl. A back issue of the
Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly, from just a couple of years ago, had a little short article about an elbow pipe made from the octagonal section of a trade gun barrel. It still had the little "Sitting Fox" impression on it. I don't know just how it was made, if it was heated and bent to a 90 degree angle, or if it was cut and the pieces welded back together at an angle. It was a pretty cool pipe, though.
I believe the regular trade axes would have been made of wrought iron, frequently with a steel bit welded in for a cutting edge. Some of the really old ones were just iron, though.
@Icemanxxxv's generous offer would provide raw material for a blacksmith, as suggested by
@Flintlock .
Best regards,
Notchy Bob