Forged or Casted Hawk?

Yes - a forged hawk is going to be much stronger. A cast hawk if done right will take a lot of abuse, but not like a forged hawk will.
RMJ
 
Depends.

Generally, it's true that a forged tool (hand forged, or machine forged) will be better. But if the casting is done right and there's no voids, and a good heat treat is applied, they can be quite good.

Unfortunately, most cast hawks are cheap crap. AFAIK, the only really good cast hawk are from 2Hawks. They are nice, but not really any cheaper than a decent hawk made by one of the fine makers here and elsewhere.
 
and we get to the heart of my question, im basicly trying to decide between a 2Hawks and a Craig Barr hawk.
 
I may not explain this to well, but..., I have some old billhooks from england and one of them says cast steel, it is plenty sturdy. I was talking to someone trying to explain this to me and way back when they would cast some tools for a quicker way to shape them and then take them to the forge to refine the shape and temper them properly, Today's manufacturing? I have heard that these are plenty tough and will last you well, but to me a forged tool would seem more durable for rugged use.
 
Vaunripped said:
and we get to the heart of my question, im basicly trying to decide between a 2Hawks and a Craig Barr hawk.
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Well, IIRC 2 Hawks (and now his apprentice Devin that runs the place now) use cast heads because they can get very consistent density and weight for making matched sets of throwing hawks -- MUCH harder to do with a forged hawk.

I had a 2Hawks Voyageur hawk and it was very well made, finished and balanced. I can't say anything bad about it.

Looking at the Barr hawks on eBay (his site says that's the only way he sells them right now) they look nice, and I certainly won't complain about the fact that he uses 5160 steel. They are of a very different design from 2Hawks. Only downside is you have to buy and fit the haft yourself.

Between those two,, I'd buy the one that you like the looks of better.
 
I have 2 Barr hawks (1) 5160 and (1) 5160 Damascus and the workmanship quality is out standing. I have not used them much but they seem very tough from what I can tell so far. I like mine.
 
thanks for all the info, in the Barr hawks what the difference between the 52100 and the 5160? is the a point in going with one over the other?
 
I too have a barr Damascus hawk and was very pleased, there were no fitting issues with getting the handle he has his own handle code with house handles and it fit perfectly
 
Forged steel has a lot of advantages over cast in just about any steel tool. It's more expensive though.
 
omniviking said:
I may not explain this to well, but..., I have some old billhooks from england and one of them says cast steel, it is plenty sturdy. I was talking to someone trying to explain this to me and way back when they would cast some tools for a quicker way to shape them and then take them to the forge to refine the shape and temper them properly, Today's manufacturing? I have heard that these are plenty tough and will last you well, but to me a forged tool would seem more durable for rugged use.
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Cast steel had a different meaning then. You find that on a lot of old tools. Back then it meant crucible steel. Rather than iron.
 
You see old blacksmithing books and manuals talking about using cast steel all of the time. Like Garry3 said, it is crucible steel, which replaced shear steel. The casting was part of the refining process, then products would be forged from it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucible_steel

These days, though, the cast tomahawk heads would actually be cast to manufacture them, not just the material. Good quality casting can be done, but I suspicion that many of the cast 'hawks are done that way to make them cheaply, not because it makes a good product.
 
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