Full tang solid steel tomahawk

W

walkbyfaith777

Joined
Dec 8, 2010
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Just wanted to share some hawks Brian just finished. The head and handle are hand forged from one solid piece of 5160 steel bar stock. NOT two separate pieces of metal welded together. The head is 1/2" thick while the handle metal is 1/4" thick with a distal taper. This design creates a greater difference in weight between the head and handle which promotes better chopping and balance than solid steel hawks with only one thickness throughout. The metal portion of the handle is finished off with some nice maple slabs. The wood is epoxied to the sides and riveted through the metal to form a beautiful and comfortable handle. We would love some feedback on these. Here are some photos:

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Looks good, although with such a thick head compared to the relatively thin tang, I'd wonder how lively it'd be. To me, a tomahawk means lighter and more maneuverable than an axe, but that's just me.
 
I really like the shorter version. The transition from neck towards the head is smoother with a large fillet compared to the longer version.
I reckon it's about 15-18" in length for the short one?

I have a strong feeling this will be a cult :thumbup::D
 
JayGoliath said:
I really like the shorter version. The transition from neck towards the head is smoother with a large fillet compared to the longer version.
Click to expand...

I could not agree more!:thumbup:

The shorter one just looks nicer and the design is more fluid.......I look forward to seeing the final article.

Steven
 
Thank you for your comments so far.

For those of you who have asked, here are the specs for these 2 hawks:
Longer one: 27 oz, overall length 18 1/2", overall head length 7 3/8", cutting edge 3 3/8", handle to cutting edge 3 1/8", spike to handle 3 1/8"
Shorter one: 26 oz, overall length 15 1/2", overall head length 7 3/8", cutting edge 3 1/4", handle to cutting edge 3 1/2", spike to handle 3"

Regarding the difference in thickness between the head and handle, we have made full tang hawks with a uniform thickness to the head and handle but found them to be less effective at chopping than this design.
 
walkbyfaith777 said:
Thank you for your comments so far.

For those of you who have asked, here are the specs for these 2 hawks:
Longer one: 27 oz, overall length 18 1/2", overall head length 7 3/8", cutting edge 3 3/8", handle to cutting edge 3 1/8", spike to handle 3 1/8"
Shorter one: 26 oz, overall length 15 1/2", overall head length 7 3/8", cutting edge 3 1/4", handle to cutting edge 3 1/2", spike to handle 3"

Regarding the difference in thickness between the head and handle, we have made full tang hawks with a uniform thickness to the head and handle but found them to be less effective at chopping than this design.
Click to expand...

I see. What is the primary purpose these were designed for?
 
They look like breachers to me. Fantastic job on them! Love the handle shape.
 
They were designed to be great wood choppers. They hold an edge VERY well. We envision them being used for camping, hiking, backpacking, hunting, etc.
 
A few points i like to add:

1. What if the handle is made wider and not thicker to accommodate the palm grip?
2. The edges on the handle could use a larger fillet?
3. The spike as seen is quite blunt. Is it made for a reason?
4. Say you want a finer work/choke up, would it be easy to use the hawk in this case?

I have no doubt this will be an excellent choice for light breaching, throwing and probably even fighting (that's why i opt for shorter version with a full length scale).
 
JayGoliath said:
A few points i like to add:

1. What if the handle is made wider and not thicker to accommodate the palm grip?
2. The edges on the handle could use a larger fillet?
3. The spike as seen is quite blunt. Is it made for a reason?
4. Say you want a finer work/choke up, would it be easy to use the hawk in this case?

I have no doubt this will be an excellent choice for light breaching, throwing and probably even fighting (that's why i opt for shorter version with a full length scale).
Click to expand...

1) We can and do make grips whatever size the customer wants.
2) These handle edges are semi-octagonal but that doesn't show up well in these photos. We make a variety of handle shapes per customer requests.
3) For safety reasons, we only make sharpened spikes on request. (Our stuff is VERY sharp!) The blunt point is useful for a variety of things such as digging.
4) No, these two hawks would not allow you to easily choke up. However, we can make ones with the wood extending up toward the head if a customer requests it.

Thank you for the ideas and questions.
Also, thank you to everyone on bladeforums for your comments and thoughts.
 
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