Comments please on tomahawk grind

[kel_aa]

This is a Cold Steel Trailhawk. I filed/ ground some of the edge away. I recently use it to section a maple branch that we limbed from our yard. It tapers from 2 1/4 inch diameter to less than 2 inches. I made about 5 cuts through it. I would say it was decent (I have no comparison in terms of chopping tools), but fairly intensive for me swing that thing around. I would just like to hear how far is the grind from a decent utility hatchet. The wood around here is mostly some conifers and maple, although we have a birch tree on our property.



A SAK Huntsman mainblade is provide for reference.

I did roughly compare it to batoning a 6inch Schrade fixed blade and to a Leatherman saw. The times and effort were: Hawk << saw < batoning.

 

[littleknife]

As you experienced it too, the CS Trail Hawk is not a true woodworking tool. It would have done even less well as a splitting tool. It is OK for chopping or splitting thin (less than 1") kindling, but is not rerally good for more serious tasks.
A Wetterlings or Gransfors Brukls hatchet would easily outchop & outsplit it.

The advantage of the Trail Hawk is in its light weight/portability, the true hammer poll and the possibility to use it as a thrower or weapon too.
A similar weight machete or a khukuri would outperform it as a woodchopper and weapon.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I would just like to hear how far is the grind from a decent utility hatchet.

A hardwood chopping profile is basically a flat grind of 2" wide from 1/4" thick with the middle hollowed out. The edge is usually very wide and usually tapers from about 15 to 10 and then goes into the primary hollow. The edge apex is only < 0.025" thick. The apex angle is very critical, you can spent a lot of time on the metal behind it, I mean 10-15 minutes on a belt sander and not even significantly effect chopping ability and then a couple of minutes reducing the edge angle directly and increase it by 50%. These are general guidelines which need to be adapted to use/wood. Note that the common 10" bowie has the exact same general cross section, 1/4" by 2". Generally with the small knives you can shave a few degrees off of the edge, or treat them rougher because they impact with only a fraction of the energy of axes.

-Cliff

 

[kel_aa]

Okay, thanks. It is less than 1/4 in thick at 2 inches, but it doesn't have a hollow relief. I think I will try to reduce the edge angle directly, or if I get really adventurous, try my angle grinder handling skills.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Okay, thanks. It is less than 1/4 in thick at 2 inches, but it doesn't have a hollow relief.

The inexpensive tomahawks have grinds like machetes, usually flat stock with an edge bevel. The primary is thus fairly thin but they can have wedging problems on thick wood. They work best on woods which are either very soft and thus can't bind significantly, or are so hard you simply don't get deep penetration anyway, or are so small that you cut through directly.

-Cliff

 

[SlyOne]

I think the steel used by Cold Steel ought to be of a quality that lets you go pretty thin. I have a bunch of tomahawks- one I got really thin- theoretically a combat style- that I feel would easily take the arm off an opponent.
I would think a bevel where the base of the triangle is 1/4" and the legs of the triangle were 2" would be thin enough to do real work. I would leave it flat to put a little more steel behind the edge. Should work great on soft woods.
Years ago I had a Voyageur hatchet made by Northlund. I replaced the handle with a small 20" Hundson's Bay type and used the tool on the trail on softwood only. It only weighed about a pound but did a lot of work. A really thin bevel- I wouldn't use it on frozen wood.