Cold Steel Rifleman hawk owners

upnorth

upnorth

Joined
Nov 25, 2006
Messages
7,038
I sanded down the handle and triple stained it in cherrywood. I also stripped the head bare with a wire wheel on a hand drill, then stained it with the first coat of gun blue. The head is sitting and drying as I type. I am of mixed feelings about the hammer head on the back of this thing and Im thinking about cutting, grinding it off. This hawk would be a lot more traditional looking with that blob gone and a smooth round finnish on the back of the head, or ground down to a spike. Has anyone modified a Rifleman like this before and does it affect the feel of the hawk much. Also, how many times did you apply the blue until it looked good to you.
 
I haven't tried to remove the hammer bit as I find it useful. In relation to the blue - I find that browning solution is a lot better. It is the stuff that you use on muzzleloading barrels. It is a lot easier to use and I think looks a lot better on a hawk. I have never had a lot of luck with cold blue.
 
i own a long discontinued hawk from cs called the plainsman which is a rifleman without the hammer head. it does have a hardened hammering surface though. the hawk is well balanced so i think you would probably be happy with the mod:thumbup:
 
Thanks guys. I finnished the hawk. So as it stands It had three coats of cherry stain. Head paint stripped and cold blued twice. I wire wheeled about half of the first blue off, then reapplied. I then put some dark coloured furniture tacks into the handle in a fairly simple and practical pattern. I also squirted a bunch of clear liquid silicone rubber in the handle, head joint. You cant see it. Now I see why people hammered big tacks into the handles back in the day, it stops the hawk from slipping out of hand. Dunno, just a guess. I also had to drill tiny holes about three quarters deep to hammer the tacks in as the wood is very hard. No dig. cam here, so will get picks when I have time. I feel just fine about how this first experimental hawk came out. My next project will either be, a trail hawk, another rifleman were Ill saw and grind off the hammer head, or just a higher end hawk to make all purdy like. :D I dont want wall hangers though, my hawks are going to get wood! :D
 
Try Oxpho-blue, a Brownell's product. It's the only cold blue I've tried that isn't totally useless. I have a Carbon V Trailmaster that I blued using this product and it came out looking great after three applications, and is getting better with age.
 
I used Casey's Cold Blue on my Rifleman, and it turned out pretty good, after much prep work. But I cycled it 4 times and let the solution "eat into" the steel 2-3 minutes instead of 1 each time. It came out quite black and uniform... too uniform in fact. I stripped it down again and I think I will try mustard blobs befroe each application, I got a nice mottled blue/black finish on my Master Hunter that way yesterday. It reminds me a lot of case-hardened steel.

I wouldn't cut the hammer poll off mine, because I use to drive tent pegs and break up ice on the sidewalk and whatnot. Buy a Plainsman and have it both ways.
 
I've got a riflemans hawk, great wood chopper, I find the hammerhead useful too, and it adds weight for a stronger blow.
I'm having trouble keeping the head in place though. I've got 2 wedges pounded all the way in but the head keeps sliding how the handle. how could I remedy this? Do I just keep adding more wedges?
 
NEVER NEVER NEVER put wedges in a hawk handle !!!!!!!! A hawk handle is not built that way... To tighten the head ,, Sand the handle untill you have a perfect fit in the head, you may need to sand/file the inside of the head to get good fitup then put the head over a vice or a pipe with the handle hanging down and smack the top of the handle with a 3-4 lb hammer untill it is firmly set in the head... You should get those wedges out first and put some good wood glue in the crack ( put the glue in the crack before you pull the wedges out) to repair the handle. Then when you drive the handle deep into the head it will hold the crack together untill the glue sets..after you do all of this soak the hawk head with the firmly set handle upside down in a container of oil (tung/linseed) for a few days..This will cause the handle to swell slightly and make it even tighter...The oil won't evaporate out like water will...good luck.. If the handle is beyond repair order a new on from crazycrow.com or dunn woodcrafts ... And do the same thing with the new handle..
 
upnorth said:
Thanks guys. I finnished the hawk. So as it stands It had three coats of cherry stain. Head paint stripped and cold blued twice. I wire wheeled about half of the first blue off, then reapplied. I then put some dark coloured furniture tacks into the handle in a fairly simple and practical pattern. I also squirted a bunch of clear liquid silicone rubber in the handle, head joint. You cant see it. Now I see why people hammered big tacks into the handles back in the day, it stops the hawk from slipping out of hand. Dunno, just a guess. I also had to drill tiny holes about three quarters deep to hammer the tacks in as the wood is very hard. No dig. cam here, so will get picks when I have time. I feel just fine about how this first experimental hawk came out. My next project will either be, a trail hawk, another rifleman were Ill saw and grind off the hammer head, or just a higher end hawk to make all purdy like. :D I dont want wall hangers though, my hawks are going to get wood! :D
Click to expand...




OK then PLEASE post some pictures of it! :)
 
repro said:
I've got a riflemans hawk, great wood chopper, I find the hammerhead useful too, and it adds weight for a stronger blow.
I'm having trouble keeping the head in place though. I've got 2 wedges pounded all the way in but the head keeps sliding how the handle. how could I remedy this? Do I just keep adding more wedges?
Click to expand...

Is the ax head sliding up off the handle, or sliding down toward the bottom of the handle? they are designed with a slip joint fit (so when you throw them and they hit handle first, the head simply slips down the handle) this saves the handle (as long as you remember to take out the set screw in the side......not sure if all CS hawks have this, but mine came with one, and I split a 75% of the way down because I hit handle first from a 30 foot throw....oops)
 
Hey Upnorth, you will have to let us know how the finish holds up to moisture and use. I would love to give mine a more traditional finish (although I tend to beat the handles up so much, I would hate to do all that work to the handle and then ruin it with the first bad throw)
 
Repro, you could also try a rawhide battle wrap if you wanted to. Some custom hawk makers do this (which involves wrapping the upper handle with rawhide with several loops over the head of the hawk and then let it dry and then watter proof it) kinda of involved. I tried the custom maker that I saw offering this, but drew a blank....anyway
 
Thanks for the advice Rocketmann, its a pretty good fit right now but I dont think those wedges are going anywhere. I'll try filling what cracks thre are with some glue and soak in oil.
Bigfattyt, its been sliding down the handle when I do heavy chopping, but the fit is loose enough for it to come off the top if enough force pushed it up that way, thats why i need to get it to swell up more, the hawkhead actually sits a bit higher than the top of the handle right now.. I think hawks are normally suppose to have like an inch of handle coming out the top?
I dont think mine is designed the way you described, no set screw.. I dont use it for throwing anyway. A battlewrap sounds cool, might get in the way of chopping though.
 
The measure l use to keep a 'hawk head from slipping down the handle is this:

After l pound the handle in as tight as it will go, l hammer in a 1/2" pin* directly under the head into the side of the handle.

Then l cut off the excess with a Dremel and remove the sharp edges.

(*The pin is made from a small nail cut in half.)

lf you look closely, you can see the pin directly beneath the 'hawk head.

ATCRR1.jpg
 
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