52100 Forest Hawk--Testing to destruction

Thanks for the interest!

My goal with these Hawks is simple, cut no corners and make the absolute best tool possible.

There will be no list for these. This is my first run as a maker and Im not sure that I have the logistics worked out well enough for a list and do not want to cause disappointment or long waits. (may not have enough of a certain handle material, could lose one in HT etc...) When these get back from HT in a couple weeks I will be finishing a batch of these every few days and will post them for sale on the forum. I will post a picture of each individual hawk so you know exactly what you are getting.


Thanks again for the interest and kind words! This is a project that has been 6 months in the making and Im ecstatic to see the results.
 
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Got these back from HT a couple days ago and have been extensively testing since then. Here's a crudely finished test model.

Here's the specs

Steel- 52100 with Clay coated differential HT. 58RC edge and poll. 45RC body

OL length- 12.25
Bit length- 4.25
Head width 6.1
Weight- 26.5 ounces with Micarta
thickness .200

I'm extremely happy with how this model turned out. Its absolutely tough as hell while being great for utility and having awesome edge retention. Feels solid in hand and has forward weight while still feeling lively. Here's some test cuts. I did all of these cuts without touching up the edge. It never stopped shaving.

Here she is

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now for the fun stuff

chopping cans
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copper piping
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slicing fruit- because a utility hawk should be able to do it all

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using the hammer poll to bust up rock. No damage at all after about 30 strikes. broke off a good bit of the rock.

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chopping and smashing coconuts
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And she still shaves. Im really impressed with the HT on this steel. Peters nailed it.
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The hawk finally met its match with a cow femur. Took 5 chops to get through and I ended up with a little bit of rolling and one chip.

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Heck of a thread update!! Looks fantastic - Looks like a great working piece. Please put me on the list.
 
Can't argue with the results. Nice hawk! I was surprised how well the poll held up to that rock.
 
I posted the first one for sale in the Fixed blades for sale area. Check it out and if the handle doesn't float your boat there are many more awesome handle combos to come! :D
 
Figured I would post these pics. I know destruction testing can be controversial but this isn't a fillet knife. Its an impact tool that is meant to do dirty work, take abuse, and keep on ticking. I think its important to test a tool beyond its limits to see where failure occurs. I had throughly tested the hawk for durability through normal use and abuse. I was initially concerned with the duribility of the beard but after extensive throwing, rock chopping, and trying to break it with prying I think the beard would never break or even deform majorly during abuse. My next point of concern was scale durability. Even though this isn't a splitting hawk and does not excel at it, I needed to make sure the scales could stand up to being pounded through wood. I could not get the scales to come of by splitting wood: even with huge pieces and using a sledge hammer to drive it. So with this testing, the two weakest points on the hawk stood up to everything I could throw at it. I finally decided it was time to see how failure could be induced.

I started by putting the hawk in a vice and seeing if I could pop off the scales with a dull chisel and a hammer. I put some dents in the scale but was unable to get a delamination with only a small hammer.

I was able to break the scales by hammering the head of the hawk into a log and then bracing the butt of the hawk on another log and hitting it with a sledge hammer. This didn't take long. About 4 swings from the hammer broke one of the scales. However due to all the pins in the handle, the broken scale didn't fall off and was still perfectly usable. I went back and split a few pieces of wood with the hawk, driving it with a sledge hammer the whole time. Even with the scale broken in the middle, it stayed attached through this process.

Next I decided it was time to see what kind of damage this hawk could really take. I hammered it into a fallen tree so that the tang was sticking out, picked up an 80lb log and threw it at the hawk about 30 times. That didn't work so I gave it about 6 blows with a sledge hammer. With this the other scale broke and came flying off but still no failure. Finally I repositioned the hawk, hammered the entire head into the tree and threw the log at it. After about three impacts the hawk finally snapped.

Failure occurred right where physics would suggest it would, the weakest point. A jagged break occurred around the skeletonizing hole. The scales also broke around the pin holes where there was the least amount of material. I have taken away some valuable knowledge and will be incorporating it into my next designs.

Is the test I performed anything that would occur during normal use? No. Is this testing the measure of a good tool? Absolutely not. While this testing is valuable, a hawks ability to be hit over and over again by a sledge hammer does not make it any better to the user. A good hawk MUST be tough. It must stand up to abuse. But it needs to be good at chopping, carving, throwing, hammering, etc... or toughness is completely inconsequential.

After all this testing I'm really happy with this hawk. It was made to be a compact tool for utility. Light and small enough to carry all day, big enough to chop, comfortable enough for extended chopping and carving, tough enough not to fail, hard enough to hold a good edge, and thin enough to slice well. I wanted this to be a hawk that could take the place of a knife if need be. And after alot of use, I think it does a good job of fulfilling that role.



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that's a beautiful Hawk. Have you considered making one without the skeletonizing?

Not trying to be a back seat smith here, but since that's where it broke, perhaps offering some that are not skeletonized would be good
 
That's some impressive abuse in my opinion. Well beyond what I would ever put hawk through for my needs
 
Wow! You did an awesome job on these Hunter. Your destruction testing says a lot but all in all in regular use we both know your hawks won't fail as is. Keep up the good work my friend.

Jim
 
Jim,

Thanks for the kind words. Im looking forward to seeing more of your work!

Beprepared,

I'm not at all concerned about the skeletonizing causing weakness. In order to break at one of the holes you have to break both handle scales first and I couldn't do that without hitting them with a sledge hammer. 3/8th micarta is some tough stuff. And if you somehow manage to break both scales the tang is still very strong. It can support the weight of a grown man rocking on it no problem.

Another cool thing I noticed with this test is how strong Gflex epoxy is. You can see in pictures that in many places the micarta delaminated before the epoxy failed. G Flex is some strong stuff. :thumbup:

Here are a couple pictures to show how the testing went. I wish I would have had someone with me to film it.

Here's how I conducted alot of the test. I hammered the hawk into this big tree trunk and then threw another log at it from a distance of about 10 feet to break it. I threw the logs from multiple angles.

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Here's a pic of one of the logs I used. This one actually broke the hawk. I definitely got my workout in for the day throwing that beast.

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I totally see what you're saying. You don't actually need to make a hawk that can survive a nuclear blast and what it took to break that one is about 50 times what it would every encounter in the worst situation in the real world
 
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