Anyone interested in a fairly cheap pipe hawk made from good steel?

T

the possum

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Jul 31, 2002
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Posted this in the Hatchet forum as well. Just seeing if anyone here is interested.

Hey there, guys. In this thread I was wondering about the steel used in several pipe hawks from RE Davis company.

Turns out they're made from 8620, which is a low carbon steel that can't be heat treated normally, or some are also made in 4140, which is used mainly for hammers. It could probably stand up to some amount of use, but wouldn't hold the best edge for woodwork.

But then, they emailed me back saying they could have a special run of heads made from 6150 steel if I order six at a time. This steel's performance characteristics are fairly close to 5160, and in fact I'm told leaf spring manufacturers often substitute the two steels without anybody knowing.

Would anybody here be interested in getting in on a group buy of such heads? I'm waiting to hear back from Tim on price & how long it would take, but I'm hoping they won't cost much more than their regular offerings. Probably in the $30-$40 range. (??)

I have been looking for something like this on and off for several years now. This is the first chance I've seen. With pipe 'hawks, it seems you either gotta pay several hundred bucks to get something worthwhile from a custom maker, or settle for a cheap decorator piece made from lower grade or pure junk steel.

You can see the styles offered by this company here. Personally, I like the looks & size of their "Fancy Pipe Tomahawk Head", item # 0317. But if the majority would prefer a different pattern, I'm flexible.

Any interest?
 
I sort of prefer the #305, but if you can get either in decent steel for $40 or less, Id be very interested. Do they have any deal on the handles?
 
I just heard back from Tim at DE Davis. The heads would be the same price as their regular offerings, ($28, plus whatever shipping costs/tax are involved) and it would take about 2 months to make them from the time of the order (if any).

Yeah, I wouldn't be upset if the majority preferred the #305 pattern. I think I could easily modify it for the little details that I liked about the 0317 pattern. These heads range in size from 5 3/4" to 7" (excluding the mini which is smaller) from bowl to bit, so keep in mind what size you're looking for too- don't let aesthetics totally control your choice.

I don't know much about the handles. I do know you can get pre-drilled handles for pipe hawks from several other sources as well if you need more choices. I planned to make my own. I figure the handles would be no big deal, if I could ever find a head made from worthwhile steel. If I were getting paid for all the time I've wasted searching for a pipe hawk that was both cheap & decent quality over the years, I could've bought a fancy presentation one from Joe Szilaski by now.
 
Possum I might be interested if the head could be used as a thrower ? Am I making you cringe ? Keep me on the list and we'll talk .
 
Since 6150 is supposed to be fairly close to 5160 in terms of performance, I'd think it could be heat treated for more impact resistance if desired. (the heads would come un-heat treated.) You'd probably want to heat treat the entire head for sure, and not just the cutting edge. (This is what I planned to do anyway. Don't want the eye socket to get bent/squished with rough use.) I might still be concerned about the stem of the pipe bowls though... Not entirely sure on that one. The "English" pattern pipe head #1011 seems to have the thickest base of those we can use.

By the way, I added this to the thread in the hatchet forum, but Tim emailed me back saying only three of the heads on that site can be obtained in this steel. Patterns 1011, 0488, & 0317.
 
Wow, $28 is about what I paid for my CS rifleman's hawk... and that's nothing resembling 5160, lol. If they afford to can sell 'em for that price, I'm kind of surprised they don't list them in the site. I presume they'd ship them seperately, so each would have the normal shipping charge... count me in for one. Again, I prefer the #305 style but the other two are fine, too.

PS I did a search here and found this link about 6150 steel: http://www.suppliersonline.com/propertypages/6150.asp ... sounds just about perfect for a hawk :thumbup: should be able to heat-treat it just about any way you want.
 
Gibsonfan-
Just wanted to let you know it looks like we have enough guys seriously interested to place an order.

We still need to hash out which pattern to get for sure, and how the order process will go. I've posted some updates in this thread.
 
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