Mod'ing The CS Trail Hawk

[d762nato]

Thank you fellow Hawkmen. Keep on making hawks. 19 days to retirement, then it is full time hawks, bows, knives, hunting and fishing. Oops, almost forgot kayaking.

Really nice work Hh that spike hawk is beautiful but so are both of them. Enjoy your retirement i've still got a few years to go myself.

Doug

[WVHILLS]

Ok guys I've spent the last three days reading this thread and I had to try modding a Trail Hawk for myself, this was my first attempt.

First I sanded the haft and burned it with a blow torch, then I applied two coats of stain and three coats of polyurethane. I stripped the coating off of the head and lightly sanded it then etched a design with etchant from Radioshack.















And no I don't worship satan...I just thought the cross on one side and a pentagram on the other was cool.

[HandAxeProMan]

Nice work WVHills.

Howard

[pullrich]

I like it. Nice effect the way the cross lines up with the hawk angles

[WVHILLS]

Thanks guys, a friend of mine liked it so much I gave it to him. That just means that I get to do another one!

[chazmr]

Nice. Reading this thread has been adictive. I ordered my first hawk last weekend. It should be here on Tuesday. I can't wait to start to remake it.

[Ponsau]

Etch came out good wvhills! I think the axe handle turned out great.

[MRpink]

HandAxeProMan,
My spike hawk is actuallya CS Trailhawk and the hawk with skull crusher was a CS Pipehawk. I have eight more in the works, so stay tuned.

Looking forward to seeing them! Youre work inspired me to pick up trail and spike hawk. Both currently still WIP.

[SlipperyDingo]

Hi. I'm new to the forum... just found it a few days ago and began reading this thread. Very cool! My first trail hawk arrived yesterday, started mod'n today. The hardest part about getting started, for me anyway, was putting the thing down! I have a few questions, though. I know a lot of these have probably already been axed, and I apologize for that, but it would take me for ever to dig through nearly a hundred pages for the answers. Again, sorry for the redundancy. Feel free to link me to answers rather than answer again. I will, of course, keep digging. Might take me a year to get through it, though.

So far I've disassembled, cut down and sanded haft, stripped head and started reshaping. I've noticed that a lot of people cut their haft down to around 14". I went with 18". After wielding it for a couple of hours I noticed that the weight and balance were remarkably similar to my tool of trade... a straight-claw hammer, so I decided to match it's length since I'm already quite comfortable handling it.

Now the head. I've stripped the coating. Next I'm going to change the geometry. Hog out some excess steel from the bottom edge, giving it that concave overbite, similar to the spike hawk, rifleman's, etc. My question here is can I do it all with a grinder, or should I stop 1/2" or so from the blade and finish it off with a file to avoid overheating and fudging the temper?

Next, the top edge (spine) of the hawk head has a distinct bow to it. Can I hammer it straight, much in the same way one might straighten a 16d nail or recip saw blade, or will that risk breaking or otherwise compromising the steel? Do I have a faulty hawk, or is it just a result of the tempering process?

Cold bluing... Birchwood Casey? Is there anyone near western NC who would be willing to meet up and help me with the bluing?

I know these might sound like stupid questions... I'm good with plastics, great with wood, but have almost zero experience with metal (except dremeling out a few blades from bar stock years ago). And remember there are no stupid questions. Only stupid people.

Thanks in advance for the help. I will post pics soon.

[festerfromnzed]

Not really modded??...But carried and used daily at work....I love em!!!........FES

[Grease]

Time to add my own hawk to the mix...

Not that fancy of a mod, but I like it:





Handle was cut 4 inches shorter then wrapped in OD green 550 cord. Just below the head is a mod my grandpa always uses on his axes, basically a duct tape shock absorber - mine is 7 layers thick, then tightly wrapped in electrical tape for looks & longevity (duct tape wears down in water/heat. Electrical tape doesn't.) Top of the handle above the head is burned just a bit. The head itself is belt-sanded to strip away most of the paint, leaving a neat forged pattern.

[Wolf_1989]

I really, really like the CS Spike Hawk

[Grease]

I really, really like the CS Spike Hawk

It's like a blank canvas... And you sir, are an artist. That thing is awesome.

[HandAxeProMan]

Very nice Wolf! I'm with you on really liking the Spike Hawk.

[Wolf_1989]

I'm already checking out Cold Steel's new Pipe Hawk for my next project.

[SlipperyDingo]

Here are a couple pics of the progress on my T-hawk. Altered blade geometry and ground out the pitting. Still have to oil haft, a little more sanding on the head, and some file work before bluing. Can't decide between a carved friction grip or 550 cord.

[CShepherd]

Here's my recently completed Trail Hawk Mod.

Cut the handle down to 19" and added fitted it to the head. Also beveled the inside of the eye so it would fit the handle better. Cut some grooves with a chainsaw sharpener in the handle, stained it with some walnut stain. Stripped the head with Jasso, soaked it in a bucket of bleach water to rust (came out with some cool streaks) then darkened it with tomato juice and put a bit of cold blue to finish darkening it. I'm quite tickled with the look. Oh, also convexed the edge so it's a sharp sucker.




I did not do any grinding on the head after I stripped it. I liked the rough texture and figured it would add to the old look.

I'm working on a spike hawk. Just put the rust stripes on it and will blue it on Monday.

Thanks for looking,

Charlie

[HandAxeProMan]

I like the look Charlie. Put up pictures of the spike hawk when finished.

Howard

[SlipperyDingo]

Beautiful work, CShep. The patina you achieved is outstanding! I would like to try it on my next one... if you don't mind. I assume the tomato juice gave it the red streaks. Do you think using other organic acids, ie lemons, limes, etc, would have the same effect but with different colors?

Here is my finished hawk, with and without wrap.

[Misanthropia]

This thread is such an inspiration that I just bought a Pipe Hawk, Spike Hawk, Norse Hawk, and Rifleman Hawk (the last three were $13 each, I had to do it!). So far I only have the Pipe Hawk, and it's been a blast to modify. I'll put up pictures when it's finished, but so far I've learned this:

- Ignore the warnings on the wood stain container telling you to wipe off the excess. My handle wouldn't get darker, so after two coats following the directions, I decided not to wipe off the excess. The stain came out much darker (like the color on the bucket), but it was a little sticky. Some steel wool and denatured alcohol fixed that.
- I suck at filework. Not the easiest thing to get into, I recommend a lot of practice first.

I can't wait until my other three 'hawks come in, I'm going to have to come up with some new ideas for them. In the meanwhile, thanks everyone for such an awesome thread!