Copper celt and adze - mound builder style

[swamp monkey]

I have been making a series of copper tools in line with the mound builders of North America.  I posted a thread on a woodpecker effigy celt or war club and the methods i used.  Again I need to Thank Mr. Stover and his two metal shop students Chandler and Dillon for their help in making this happen.

Here are the tool specs:

Celt:  635.02 g, 17.7 cm long, 7.0 cm wide at blade, 4.8 cm wide at butt end, 0.8 cm thick in fact all of my blades were that thickness because I used a basswood board for making my models for casting.  The handle is musclewood (AKA blue beech) and using it is an experiment.  I have no idea how well it will work for taking an impact.  The musclewood was roughly 10 years old but a small check started after I started to craft it into a celt handle.  I added designs crafted out of copper by the Hopewell people of north America.  I have no reason to thing those images decorated their celts.  It just appealed to me.  As thick and wide as the blade is I could bend it slightly immediately after casting.  After some tool hardening on the anvil, it was stiff and un-bendable. 

Adze: 214.2g, 8.4 cm long, 4.4 cm wide, 0.8 cm thick  I crafted the handle from white ash wood and wrapped the grip in leather.  The blade was bound in place with rawhide.  The blade design was similar to s smaller adze blade.   An interesting note about copper adzes.  I don't know if they have asymmetrical cross sections like igneous blades.  Copper tools, from what I have read, need to have a balanced bevel for cutting and especially for taking an impact.  So that is how my adze is made.  I have not seen a prehistoric copper adze face on to know how the blade was shaped. 

I have copped a few limbs as test runs but have my eyes set on a bigger project. 

Below are images I grabbed off the web for inspiration.  Blade length and width were researched in Archeological journals. 

[swamp monkey]

Here are my blades. 


BTW The axe looking item is intended to be a bannerstone.  Jack Crafty turned me onto this artifact.  I will post something on my replica when i have something to report.  thanks for looking.

[swamp monkey]

Moving things along.  First I tool hardened the copper then I began to file it.  The coppery color was underneath the grey patina.   After filing I started sanding. 

[swamp monkey]

Now for the celt handle.

[swamp monkey]

Here is the adze with handle.  The rawhide was still wet when the picture was taken.  I have seen reports of other replicas with leather used to bind the blade in place.  If rawhide isn't working, then I will have a leather strip ready to go.

The last two images are misnamed celt when they are adze images.  I noticed that after the post was up.  Sorry about that.

[Pat B]

Very nice work. Are you sand casting?  Is that how they were made in the past?

[swamp monkey]

Pat.  I am sand casting, yes.   Is that how they did things back then?  Likely not.  I have read a few articles that calls that into question but most archeologists can't find evidence to support that. I am not weighing in by doing this process.  I simply had a supply of scrap copper and sand casting was the easiest way to get my tool blanks.  I have a project in mind and the end result was what I needed. 

Experimental archeologists have done what is called copper annealing and tool hardening to get almost identical results for most copper items made prehistorically.  Tool hardening is pounding the copper with a hammer rock until it gets hard. This also modifies the shape.   Then the copper is heated to a dull red in a camp fire.  This softens the copper - i.e. annealing.  Then you can pound it into shape some more.  Once hard - fire again.  Rinse and repeat so to speak until you get your desired shape.

I am working on a knife using the prehistoric method.  It works pretty well.  I will post more on that when done. 

[Pat B]

Pounding is what I thought but wasn't sure. With the exposed copper deposits in the northern US I can see that being the obvious method and smelting came later. Anyway, nice work. I always enjoy your posts.

[stickbender]

     Nice!  Why is the celt so low in the handle?

                                    Wayne

[swamp monkey]

     Nice!  Why is the celt so low in the handle?

                                    Wayne

If I understand you question you are asking why the blade isn't farther forward on the handle.  I modeled my celt after monolithic celts- which show a complete celt with handle.  Admittedly those celts were never used for chopping wood.  On my handle, the wood in front of the blade and behind the blade take the brunt of the impacts.  So the front and back need to be beefy.  The side wood just keeps the front and back together.  The only way to keep the front beefy is to give it extra length.  Now did I add more than I needed. Well that may be the case and a celt expert may tell me so.  All I know is it works so far.

If I didn't address your question please let me know.  I want to genuinely answer your question.

[Stoker]

Well done.. Very cool..
Thanks Leroy

[swamp monkey]

A smaller adze.  I just wrapped it with rawhide this afternoon. 

[swamp monkey]

I cut a tree down recently with the large celt.  The maple tree was 3 inches in diameter and it took less than 5 minutes to fell the tree.  The blade showed no signs of damage. 

WOW.

[swamp monkey]

We did another pour last night.  Re-poured the flared bit celt.  much better results this time.  Andy Stover is a pro at this.   He was meticulous in working the sand mold and the pour.  Nice even flow.

It was open shop night and Mr. Stover had just under a dozen boys in that shop working independently.  Most of them were the students who just enjoyed their projects.  It was great seeing youth work hard without being told to do so.  What a great learning environment.

[Patches]

I am glad this pour went better. I look forward to seeing these in person at some point.  I was surprised to see that the ax did not even dull or suffer any damage when you cut down the tree. Are you making  a moundbuilders bow with that tree?

Cool work! 

Neal