CS Mods - How do you deal with that nasty set screw hole?

S

survivalofthefittest

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May 26, 2009
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Hi all, would just like to say that you have given me the inspiration to start modding a frontier hawk and a pipehawk into an antique look. Im in Edmonton, Alberta Canada and there isnt much in canada (nevermind the west, have to make a little pilgrimage to the NE U.S soon) by the way of tomahawks for sale, so i took it upon myself to do a couple up, and its a great project. So far I've stripped the paint, sanded and stained the hafts and put some plum browning on the heads it looks incredible and was very fun to do, just put the heads in the oven at 270 and sponged it on its pretty neat (nasty fumes though) the look and finish is great. I am having a cross of lorraine water-jet cut into the heads for an authentic french look. Pic's will come as soon as i figure out how!

My question is this! How do you all deal with that gross and unnecessary set-screw hole to pretty it up a little bit? I am doing one of the hawks for a metis friend of mine and i want it to look spectacular for her, the tapped holes are quite the eye-sore! Thanks for your feedback and inspiring me to get this project underway!
 
I thought about using JB Weld on one, not sure you could get it colored to match the head though. Depends on how you are going to finish the head I guess.

I have also seen pics where someone file worked the hole up to look like a star burst. I thought that was a great idea, improved the looks and wasn't in the too hard to do column.
 
I've explained this one to a few guys already.


I epoxy in the set screw, being sure it doesnt stick out inside of the eye.

Then I dremel it flat and draw a design around it.

I cut a design into the head about 2mm deep.

Then I apply my patination mix (H2O2 + salt).

This browns it up nicely and you'd never know that screw and hole were there unless intentionally looking for them.

I did this with my current mod project - CS spike hawk, and I really dig the results. It looks great.
 
The Mod'ing trailhawk thread has a few accounts of how to deal with it.
hawkhead files the holes into very nice designs and fills with pewter, as I recall.

I've done JB weld but it didnt match the patina I put on.
For another I jammed a steel screw in the hole, broke it off and filed it down, that was a little better. Most recent ones I've just filled with pewter.
 
I put Blue Loctite on the threads, screwed it in till it was flush with the inside of the eye (not touching the haft), took a Dremel and cut off what was left sticking up on the outside. Ground and sanded over it until it blended in with the head.
 
I realize this responce is not helpful...but i can't resist making it...

How do I deal with the set screw hole? I ignore it completely.
 
thanks for the ideas, i messed around abit and i think i will loctite it in backwards, it makes kind of a cool little bump that doesnt look like a screw at all, and put some plum browning over that
 
You may need to soften the screw and peen it prior to blueing in order to hide the edges of the hole. Before I started making the pewter inlays, I used JB Weld. The photos show a cut made for the inlay and the other pics show the completed hawks.
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Hawkhead: Those look great!

Being a bit OCD myself, did you ever think of drilling the other side and having the inlay done on both sides of the head?
 
Here's a rough pic of the direction I'm heading with my next hawk's screw hole. Not sure exactly what I want in the end, was just aiming for a continuous channel from one side to other, in which I'll pour pewter. Needs a lot more file and grind work.
001.JPG
 
Hi BearKinder, Yes, but I did not want to get too fancy and take away from the simplicity of the blued steel, wood and a small unobtrusive inlay.
 
Hi Pullrich, Milling a channel would probably make it easier to pour a pewter inlay. Which hawk did you use?
 
I know very little about 'Hawks, but I have always wanted to take a Cold Steel and mod it. Those pics are of a CS? That looks awesome! But I have to ask, is the idea of a screw that goes through the handle a bad idea? If you predrilled the hole in the handle so that it would not split the wood, and drilled out the other side of the head for a matching hole, then attached the screws through both holes into the handle, would that not give it a very secure anchor?

Again, I only ask as I am not familar with these types of cutting tools.
 
I think the general consensus is that the friction hold on the tomahawk heads is more than enough for a positive lockup. The screw is pretty much unnecessary, and if the friction somehow loosened up, the screw would still be holding it and it would be wobbling all over. Not needed at all, Cold Steel are a fairly comical bunch so im not surprised they came up with something like this
 
The way a tomahawk seats the head, centrifugal force makes it tighter. So even if the head came loose, the worst that could happen is it'll slide down the haft toward your hand.

If you do a cord or rawhide wrap under the head, even that isn't a problem.

Besides, the one I bought had the set screw hole drilled too low, and if I used the set screw, the head would flop around, as it wasn't far enough up the haft to friction seat.
 
I've been thinking about drilling another hole on the other side of the head to match and then driving a bamboo peg through the hole to secure the hawk head the same way they secure the handles on samurai swords.
 
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