A few of my Coal Creek Forge Tomahawks, for your viewing pleasure

Ranger1

Ranger1

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Oct 16, 1998
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Since I see that Steve is offering up some more beautiful examples of his work, I thought I would post up my "family", some hawks built by Steve after many e-mail and telephone conversations. Remember, these are my perceptions of light and fast tomahawks, executed by Steve.

Personally, I believe that a Tomahawk that may be used as a defensive weapon gains much from a longer handle.

The ball pein hammerhead handle was crafted by Steve and refinished by me by using a propane torch and many coats of tru oil. The other two use gorgeous pieces of maple (provided by Steve...) that are whittled down with a plane and hand tools only, then finished with scrapers and finally rubbed with rough leather. I make no effort to finish the handles down to a ultra smooth finish, I like them to look like a piece of well cared for but ancient furniture. I then stain in the traditional method over heat using aqua fortis.

Steve is a great craftsman and I have a few more future ideas that I will trust him to bring to fruition.
 
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Fantastic collection you got there! I have been thinking about the aqua fortis stain for my hatchet. Something about using it on a nice piece just seems right. Do you mind sharing your recipe? It looks like you have it down!


-Xander
 
fast14riot said:
Fantastic collection you got there! I have been thinking about the aqua fortis stain for my hatchet. Something about using it on a nice piece just seems right. Do you mind sharing your recipe? It looks like you have it down!


-Xander
Click to expand...

Thanks everyone for the kind words. It really is satisfying to carve out a raw handle and then see it turned into a heirloom-like piece of wood. Using aqua fortis is straightforward. This is the exact brand that I use... "WAHKON BAY AQUAFORTIS STAIN" from the good folks at The Log Cabin Gunshop in Lodi, Ohio, but you could probably get it from anyone who sells black powder shooting supplies. Here is a good description of how to use it from Track of the Wolf... http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/partDetail.aspx?catId=5&subId=66&styleId=225&partNum=AQUAFORT-2

I do my staining in the kitchen using the electric stove as my heat source. This way, I can run water over the handle, then run it back and forth over the heat source to raise the grain, then I use 0000 steel wool to remove the whiskers. I know I have removed all of the whiskers when I can run a cotton ball over the wood surface and nothing catches.

I apply the aqua fortis using a cotton ball held in a hemostat. When I have achieved the appropriate color, I use a tablespoonful of baking soda in a pint of warm water, stirred well and then slowly poured over the handle to neutralize the acid.

For a finish, I hand rub many coats of Tru-Oil. When I set the head in place on the handle, I soak the area that will be beneath the head with more Tru-Oil and then set the head with a small sledge. The oil acts as a lubricant and a sealant.
 
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Very cool but now I may need to buy me one. Dang it! Seriously, those are awesome.
 
Here is an illustration as to why I like the longer handles... These are line drawings from the book "Get Tough" by Capt. W. E. Fairbairn. In a pinch, I think the longer handles allow you more "options" then a shorter handle does, but of course, this is completely dependent on how you utilize the tomahawk. The tomahawk is an amazing weapon, especially when you realize that its utility, especially with the longer handle, is near limitless. Of course, this is dependent on you carefully training and understanding where that razor sharp edge and or spike is at all times. This is one of the reasons I love the "locator" handle on the ball pein tomahawk: there's no question where that edge is.
 
ok I want in on this......[video=youtube;1FNv1sjqiAw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FNv1sjqiAw[/video]
 
Very nice collection you have there.

I agree...Steve does amazing work and I will definitely be getting with him again on a future project.
 
Great looking collection you have started there....Steve does nice work !
Really like the finish on the hafts....
 
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A few more photos, notice that I modified the eye (which means I spent ALOT of time grinding...) on the head on the short spiked hawk, which allowed me to use a larger, more handfilling handle. I talked to Steve about this option, and he said that he would have to make a larger drift. The larger handle is stronger and adds almost no weight, of course you have to make a custom handle for it since it has a much larger OD than the "standard" handle, but then if you do not throw your hawk, how likely are you to break a handle?
 
Those are all some very nice 'hawks. . .I especially like the file work on the two spike hawks!!! File work is something that I am really coming to have a lot of respect for because I now actually know and understand how hard it is to achieve such beautiful consistent work (I'm starting my second year as a toolmaker apprentice and have now taken an "Intro to Blacksmithing", "Intro to Knifemaking (ground knives)", and an
"Intro to Knife Forging" classes. . .so I've learned a lot about metal-working over the last year and the little details are really starting to catch my eye!
 
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