CS Hawk mods

H

hatchetjack

Joined
May 24, 2005
Messages
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Here are some Cold Steel home brew projects I did over a few weekends. I bought my first Trail Hawk last year and after beating it up a little, decided to see if I could trick it out some. Since then, I've done a couple more. I also improved the fit of the head and handle on all 3 which has solved the slippage problem common with these hawks.

Since I couldn't redaily throw down a large amount of cash for a custom, I thought I'd customize my own.

Let me know what you think...thanks! Hatchetjack

"I, Hatchet Jack, being of sound mind and broke legs, do leaveth my rifle to the next thing who finds it, Lord hope he be a white man. It is a good rifle, and killeth the bear that killeth me. Anyway, I am dead. Sincerley, Hatchet Jack."

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They look pretty good man. I don't know of anyone who can simply leave a plain jane hawk alone without customizing it...customizing is half the fun :D
 
nice, so im not the only one who has had a proble with the head slipping. Thanks, ill try you method.
 
you guys gave me some incentive to try and mod a CS hawk. so $24 later this is what i came up with. i recontoured the bottom part of the hawk and did some file work near the eye. i also had to heat it up and pound out the scoop the blade had in it. the thing was pretty crooked to start out with. then i took out the marks left by the grinder they use. and did a mix of browning and blueing to make it look a little more antique. stained the hickory handle after a slight bob of the end. finished it off with a leather sleeve like i see on all those really nice hawks. it looks pretty close to what i would want from a custom hawk but now i can bang this one around and not be worried. thanks for trying it first guys. i never would have thought of it.

--KJ

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Nice work man! And some say CS hawks are POS's! I like the step down on the blade you did from straightening it. Great leather work too.

I still think they are good basic raw material to build your own customization. Also nice to hear it put the bug in you to try it, that's where the fun and satisfaction come in.

My Trail hawk is my favorite thrower. It's fast and hits hard.

Let's see some more homebrew garage jobs!
 
Ok, you've got me ready to order a trail hawk to play with. What did you use to work the inside of the eye? I was thinking a Dremel, but maybe a round file would be better.
I really like what you are showing and I want to try my hand at customizing one.
Bob
 
i took the hard route and used a big flat nicholson for the area nearest the center of the hawk(whre the handle goes through). then a combination of half-round and dremel tool. if i had a grinder it would have been done in a matter of minutes. just draw a line with a magic marker and get to it. i used a $40 belt/disc sander to true up the flats. i used the dremel with the cut off wheel to start and then follwed up with a file to make the decorative cuts. i'm thinking of doing a CS Riflemans Hawk next but recontouring the hammer poll to a more pipe style. the leather coller thing was a lucky first try. i cut the leather to fit perfect and then drilled the holes for the lacing. then i soaked the leather in hot water and strethed it out as much as i could. then i laced up the leather(off of the handle). soaked the leather another time for good measure and blotted it with some paper towels. then i fit the sleeve over the handle. it made it most of the way down but i had to pound it down for about the last 4 inches with a piece of wood. i smoothed out the leather that took the wood beating and now it's dry and tighter than a frogs a$$. i like th burned handle look so i might try that as well as some brass tacks maybe. i will say that this took me a long time. much longer than i planned. i can just imagine how long it must take to forge a hawk from scratch. my hats off to all the skilled hawk makers out there.

--KJ
 
Hatchetjack, how did you go about wrapping the rawhide under the head? I just picked up some rawhide but don't know the proper way to put it on. Great job by the way.
 
I know how to tie the knot, but I'm not sure were to put it!!I can't see it inthe pic's..:grumpy: I must be retarded or something!
 
The cold steel trail hawks are marked aren't they?
Where and how deeply? How much metal would I have to remove to "erase" it?

Nice job on the customization. I'm thinking of doing something similarr to a head.
 
You mean the Taiwan stamp? Just sand it or use a Dremel and it removes easily. I then put cold bluing over it to match the metal color since I remove all the paint anyway.
 
Rocketmann- not sure what you mean by "where to put it". The wrap itself is the CR knot. I tape the locking loop to the handle then create the knot by wrapping over the handle. I trim the tag ends really close so maybe that's what you can not see?
 
I was refering to the pics of the hawk that Blaster4 has posted at the top of this thread..It is obvious that the leather is laced like a boot, but I thought that someone said that the end of the lace was terminated with a cris reeves knot?? I can't see it!! I must be mistaken:D thanks anyway..
 
to tell you the truth i had no idea what kind of lacing i was doing when i made that. i just tried to copy what i saw on others. as for the knot...well i'm not sure what you would call it. maybe the "a lot knot"...when in doubt...

i'm sure it won't come undone and i did tuck it under the leather when i was done. here is a couple of more pics. sorry i couldn't really help you out with the knot.

--KJ
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that is nice looking. just picked up a cs battle axe, gonna try to work on that and my frontier hawk.
 
Oh come-on Guys, Now you got me motivated again. Been putting off straightening out the garade . Now I got it straight and fix'n to start on my
CS . Really good work guys. That glove beneath the head is really neat.

Best
Dwight
 
Yeah, these get your wheels spinnin' again. I built up another one last weekend after cleaning my garage. I was getting set to buy a VTAC awhile back and then decided to do one up myself with another Trail Hawk and save myself a "C" note for a Ranger Renegade.

I posted this on another thread but here it is anyway. I already had a beater handle so I thought wrap and tape would be a quick way to spruce it up after fitting and pinning the head.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b185/t_reyes/1_7_06001.jpg
 
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