Can anyone here hang a hawk for me?

[Orion]

I have an SOG hawk with a broken handle. I contacted SOG and their customer service leaves a LOT to be desired. I will not be buying anymore of their products. I was going to try and replace it myself with a wooden handle but it didn't take me long to figure out I didn't know what I was doing. I can mail the head to anyone willing to put a handle on it for me. If you can do it and are willing to, post an estimate and we'll go from there.

Thanks!!
Cam

 

[BitingSarcasm]

The problem with putting the SOG head in a wooden handle is that it will have to be split at the end and held on by screws, and maybe epoxy. Running a dado down the grain will encourage the wood to split there, and most of the striking force will be directed to the wood holding the screws. Wood compresses and it will make the fit looser and looser through use. It could be addressed possibly by collaring the handle from the top to below the dado, and maybe using bushings around the screws to spread the force over a larger surface area.

Given the problems, the best course of action is to just ditch it and get a slip-fit tomahawk. Or get a Cold Steel synthetic handle hawk, they actually sell replacement handles online without having to go through any nonsense. Once you start talking 2 way postage on a hawk to get it repaired, you are about a 3rd the way to getting a new one.

 

[Orion]

I have about 25 different hawks so I'm not really losing anything, I just hate to ditch it, especially since I did some custom grinding on the spike. I contacted SOG and they will not send me a new handle, they want me to send this one in. I don't want to do that because they will just send me a new one and then I have to regrind all over again. I can understand the problems you bring up, though. Thanks for the input.

 

[BitingSarcasm]

I have about 25 different hawks so I'm not really losing anything, I just hate to ditch it, especially since I did some custom grinding on the spike. I contacted SOG and they will not send me a new handle, they want me to send this one in. I don't want to do that because they will just send me a new one and then I have to regrind all over again. I can understand the problems you bring up, though. Thanks for the input.

Plan B would be to order a polypropylene trench hawk replacement handle and mod it until it fits. Polypro works easier than wood by filing, or you can sand it if the belt is fresh and crisp; old belts will melt it while cutting and get clogged. If the channel is too wide, self-sealing silicone tape can bulk it up a bit, and if it's too narrow a file the width of the tang will make short work of it. Line up the bottom holes with the head and handle, drill a new top bolt hole, cut off the swell at the top. Wrap the whole tang section in water-activated fiberglass tape, or Gorilla tape. It would be a hell of a lot easier than doing it in wood, without the splitting or compression issues. I, too, hate to lose the work I have put in on things I have changed to suit me.