Am I Choosing The Right Items To Modify Cold Steel Hawks ?

2

22MEANTXGUNS22

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Jul 12, 2015
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Since Texas is legalizing the last of what are currently listed as prohibited weapons, tomahawks amongst other items, I decided to take advantage and begin a customization/mod project. Nothing fancy, as this is my first time doing something like this. I intend to remove the finish from the heads and just recoat the handles with some stain and sealant. Before purchasing the supplies, I wanted to ask people who have done this before if I am choosing wisely. For the handles, I intend to use Thompson's Water Seal stain and sealer, to strip the heads, I'm on the fence. Had both pure Acetone and Jasco epoxy remover recommended to me, but from people who don't know much about tomahawks, or Cold Steel, so I thought I'd ask which would be better to use by those who have done it before. Any ideas and feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
I've only used Kwik Strip, but this isn't magic and I'm sure about any stripper will work (that's what she said).

All I've ever used on handles is boiled linseed oil. Sometimes mixed with pine tar, sometimes mixed with a little stain for color. Get a few extra handles.
 
remember the handles have some thick cheap lacquer on them that is semi transparent ..... it will have to be stripped off as well before you can refinish the handles.

I used Kwik Strip as well on the heads, then blued them with some Birchwood Casy Cold Blue....they looked fantastic imho

Handles got stripped with Citristrip then hand sanded and blow torched, re hand sanded, stained, sealed, then leather wrapped the bottom 1/3ish of the handle with some thin leather straps I buy cheap from a supplier I will link below, I buy ALOT of their leather straps and use them on all kinds of projects...

wet the leather, that gives it just a touch of stretch so that when it dries, it holds very tight. use Firbang's leather dye on it to color... wrap the handle, and attach it however you prefer. Personally I use small black cut carpet tacks... they look very...... traditional..... to make the attachment top and bottom, then wrap the top and bottom section with about 1 inch of jute twine dipped in epoxy so that it makes a good bond. ( drill pilot holes for the tacks with your very small drill bit to keep the kiln dried handle from splitting, just a very small hole, not very deep )



end result looks great and holds up to the toughest abuse I've been able to throw at it yet.

This is the supplier for the straps.... you'll find a thousand or more uses for them.... buy em thick, thin, 1 inch wide, 3 inches wide.... just, handy stuff to have around...

The 3 and 4 inch wide ones make awesome instant sheaths for knives by simply cutting to length, folding the top into a belt loop, and stitching the sides together.

https://www.zackwhite.com/vegetable-tanned-leather-strips-xl-length

6 inch blade, cut the strap off at 18 inches.... fold the first 6 up onto the second 6, then fold the back 6 inch ear in half.... drill some holes with a thin drill bit, and sew it all together with some bank line.... takes like 10 minutes, quality leather sheath for a couple bucks..... /shrug, works for me!

FYI, I like the 3/4 inch or 1 inch for handle wraps...in a 3/4oz weight so it does not add too much width and bulk and is easier to work with.... YMMV

pics of the wrap before I twine wrapped the ends....



Once the edges are re sharpened, and the cold blue is taken off the cutting edge, and the twine wraps are done....they look really good.... I'm up to.....5 or 6 now I think, counting the Cold Steel Warhammer as well.... that top axe is a Rinaldi and its a beast!

I kinda went thru a Viking phase LOL....
 
Last edited:
ScottB65 said:
I don't like wraps on tomahawks, as it takes away from some of their functionality, but that's me.
Click to expand...

I've heard that a lot over the years, but I've personally never found it to be true, at least for me.... /shrug

never been in a situation where I found myself thinking " jeez, I wish the handle didn't have this thin layer of shock absorbing padding and grip enhancement on it... "

Perhaps if you ever snapped a handle and had to replace it in the field.... but in that case you'll snap the wrap off as well and whats left of the handle will still slide clear to be replaced easily.

maybe I'm just not using mine right LOL .... I dunno.... just seems like a non issue to me......but admittedly I've never tried to remove the head and use it knifelike in the field as I always have another knife or two on me as well... YMMV
 
Hawgsnawt said:
remember the handles have some thick cheap lacquer on them that is semi transparent ..... it will have to be stripped off as well before you can refinish the handles.

I used Kwik Strip as well on the heads, then blued them with some Birchwood Casy Cold Blue....they looked fantastic imho

Handles got stripped with Citristrip then hand sanded and blow torched, re hand sanded, stained, sealed, then leather wrapped the bottom 1/3ish of the handle with some thin leather straps I buy cheap from a supplier I will link below, I buy ALOT of their leather straps and use them on all kinds of projects...

wet the leather, that gives it just a touch of stretch so that when it dries, it holds very tight. use Firbang's leather dye on it to color... wrap the handle, and attach it however you prefer. Personally I use small black cut carpet tacks... they look very...... traditional..... to make the attachment top and bottom, then wrap the top and bottom section with about 1 inch of jute twine dipped in epoxy so that it makes a good bond. ( drill pilot holes for the tacks with your very small drill bit to keep the kiln dried handle from splitting, just a very small hole, not very deep )



end result looks great and holds up to the toughest abuse I've been able to throw at it yet.

This is the supplier for the straps.... you'll find a thousand or more uses for them.... buy em thick, thin, 1 inch wide, 3 inches wide.... just, handy stuff to have around...

The 3 and 4 inch wide ones make awesome instant sheaths for knives by simply cutting to length, folding the top into a belt loop, and stitching the sides together.

https://www.zackwhite.com/vegetable-tanned-leather-strips-xl-length

6 inch blade, cut the strap off at 18 inches.... fold the first 6 up onto the second 6, then fold the back 6 inch ear in half.... drill some holes with a thin drill bit, and sew it all together with some bank line.... takes like 10 minutes, quality leather sheath for a couple bucks..... /shrug, works for me!

FYI, I like the 3/4 inch or 1 inch for handle wraps...in a 3/4oz weight so it does not add too much width and bulk and is easier to work with.... YMMV

pics of the wrap before I twine wrapped the ends....



Once the edges are re sharpened, and the cold blue is taken off the cutting edge, and the twine wraps are done....they look really good.... I'm up to.....5 or 6 now I think, counting the Cold Steel Warhammer as well.... that top axe is a Rinaldi and its a beast!

I kinda went thru a Viking phase LOL....
Click to expand...

That modified viking hand axe is EXACTLY the look I'm aiming for ! As for the wraps, I personally consider it a life hack to just wear gloves when wielding, but if did decide to wrap the handle, I'd go with plain old grip tape, though that's just me. (No plans to use these for utility purposes).
 
Hawgsnawt said:
I've heard that a lot over the years, but I've personally never found it to be true, at least for me.... /shrug

never been in a situation where I found myself thinking " jeez, I wish the handle didn't have this thin layer of shock absorbing padding and grip enhancement on it... "

Perhaps if you ever snapped a handle and had to replace it in the field.... but in that case you'll snap the wrap off as well and whats left of the handle will still slide clear to be replaced easily.

maybe I'm just not using mine right LOL .... I dunno.... just seems like a non issue to me......but admittedly I've never tried to remove the head and use it knifelike in the field as I always have another knife or two on me as well... YMMV
Click to expand...

Sorry, didn't realize my post would cause so much butt hurt.
 
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