Ccf hawk whittles hair!!!

Md 25v

Md 25v

Joined
Jun 11, 2008
Messages
1,409
I've been watching a lot of sharpening threads lately. I can get most of my knives to whittle hair so there is not much left to impress me. Having been recently inspired by a thread on refining polished edges, I decided to try to get one of my hawks to whittle hair. I tried first with a cold steel spike hawk (CS hawks are easier to grind.sharpen) but couldn't get it past shaving sharp. Lots of guys here make their hawks shave so that just wouldn't do. Then I decided to try my handforged hawk from Coal Creek Forge. It took a lot more effort to refine the edge (much better heat treat and durability) but the screaming sharp edge I ended up with was able to whittle a hair!!!

Here is the hawk

013.jpg



Here is the edge

tomahawkedge008.jpg



Here is the hair

hawkwhittlehair010.jpg

hawkwhittlehair001.jpg

hawkwhittlehair007.jpg



Here is the video!!!

[youtube]jCwYK_21Er0[/youtube]
 
Thanks, I agree on the newer CS heads. I have four of them and they seem to get shaving sharp faster. The CS hawk I started with was a new spike hawk but it just couldn't get there. It was night and day when I started refining the edge on the Coal Creek hawk.
 
That's cool.

Would love to read a break down of how you got it that sharp.

If a video is easy for you to do, even better :D

I must have a mental block or something on the topic of sharpening because I've tried to follow the recs here and things just dont seem to cut it.
 
pullrich said:
That's cool.

Would love to read a break down of how you got it that sharp.
Click to expand...

No problem, here's my method.
NOTE- this is not the same method I use for knives

I didn't want to ruin the convex edge, end there is no way to put it on an edge pro so.......

Step one- I reprofiled it on a 1x30 belt sander (80 grit silica-zircon belt) to a slightly thinner angle, appx 40deg inclusive

Step two- Sharpen with 1x30 using silica-zircon belts (120-180-320)

Step three- Switch 1x30 sander to micron belts (40-20-25-9) try to split hair-FAIL

Step four- Check edge with 20x jeweler's loupe for inconsistencies, if none then move on

Step five- Polish with 1x30 leather belt, first green compound, then belt with no compound try to split hair-FAIL

Step six- Check edge with 20x jeweler's loupe for inconsistencies and bur removal, if none then move on

Step seven- mount lapping paper to heavy cardstock and polish through the finest grit paper you have SPLIT HAIR>>>>>SUCCESS!!!

Step eight- Now check with 120x microscope for consistent polish and for complete lack of bur. At this point 120x should not be able to see the scratch pattern ( I can still see the scratch pattern at 200x) .

Step nine- Shoot a you tube video....:D
 
Wow, sounds like you have some specialized sharpening gear! I'll have to struggle on with files and sandpaper for now I'm afraid. :grumpy:
 
I guess some of the stuff like lapping paper and micron pastes are pretty specialized. I have been inspired by the great sharpeners here at BF and have tried to learn from the great tutorials. One of the things I picked up early was that the DMT XXfine (finest that I had at the time) was not the finest thing out there. Lots of guys know that but I had no idea. I don't but that kind of edge on tools like hawks or hatchets because there is no reason to. I just wanted the challenge of trying to get a thick convexed edge, like the CCF hawk, to whittle hair. In the end I couldn't get all of the edge to whittle hair. You can hear in the video that I had to move down half an inch from where I started to get it to catch the hair.
 
Ya gotta love a fiend:D
Love the pic of the hair. Steve makes a super hawk, where is the old B***er.
Congrats on whittling a hair bud :D

Best regards

Robin
 
Thanks! This is my first proper hawk and I'm thrilled with it! Its edge retention and durability blew me away. I had only owned cold steel hawks before and had no idea what a real hawk was capable of. I like my cold steel hawks but in a side by side comparison they don't even come close in terms of edge retention. I can do several times the work with the coal creek before touching it up, I have a second hand forged hawk now and I can tell this is just the beginning! Bladeforum is an awesome resource and you hawk guys have infected me!
 
Md 25v said:
Thanks! This is my first proper hawk and I'm thrilled with it! Its edge retention and durability blew me away. I had only owned cold steel hawks before and had no idea what a real hawk was capable of. I like my cold steel hawks but in a side by side comparison they don't even come close in terms of edge retention. I can do several times the work with the coal creek before touching it up, I have a second hand forged hawk now and I can tell this is just the beginning! Bladeforum is an awesome resource and you hawk guys have infected me!
Click to expand...

Like you, Steve is a fiend. I have made quite a few sheaths for Steves hawks and he puts some serious steel into every one of them Plus a great heat treatment. I did a sheath for one of his Bowies and the thing was 3/8ths of an inch thick:D Plus he's a great guy.

Don't worry about the infection, there's a cure, Many more hawks.

Best regards

Robin
 
Speaking of sheaths..... my hawk needs some pants, can you help? Your right about Steve, great maker and a great Guy. I didn't really know what I wanted and he spent twenty minutes on the phone and emailed me lots of pictures to help me figure out exactly what I wanted. The whole purchase and communication made it a great experience. I'll be looking Steve up again when I'm ready for a nice poll hawk.
 
If you're gonna scalp someone one hair at a time, you have too much time on your hands.


But seriously, that's a great sharpening job. :thumbup:
 
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