Hawk with Bill Moran handle wood

Stuart Willis

Stuart Willis

Joined
Nov 6, 2006
Messages
1,011
Here is the one I made with the W.F. Moran curly maple wood that Stacy Apelt sent to some of us.

Forged from 1 inch square 1045. Pour in place pewter. Antiqued patina finish on the head and pewter. Differentially heat treated

IMG_1883.jpg

IMG_1882.jpg

IMG_1884.jpg


Thanks again for the wood Stacy.
 
Stuart, Your hawk would make Bill very proud that he set aside that wood. Stunning job.
Stacy
 
Whew! That's a nice piece. The poured pewter fittings set it off nicely.

-d
 
wow thats nice
i know i have my work cut out for me when i can make the parts i have into a knife or somethign
 
Fantastic Stuart! Your hawks are works of art. What do you use to stain and finish the handle?
 
Thanks for the kind words everyone.

Louis, I have used 1045 for a couple of years now for most of hawks. It seems to hold up better than alot I have tried so far as chopping or everyday hatchet work. I have used some the higher carbon steels and they would stress crack close the eye. I have also had pretty good luck with 5160 and 4140 but the 1045 is easy to find in the 1 in. and 1 1/4 in square stock.

Mike. On the handles I have tried everything under the sun to get the stripes to pop out. I have on settled on sanding down to about 220 grit then burning lightly with a propane torch,I use a small pencil type torch around the pewter or it will melt. Then sand back down to expose the stripes and steel wool again and stain with the alcohol base leather dye. Steel wool again and use tung oil for the top coat,Three coats steel wooling in between. Then wax with a good paste wax
 
Stuart,
The hawk came in the mail today! I can't tell you how happy I am with it! I've already taken it around to show off! The pics didn't do it justice! Very nice craftsmanship, I'm very proud to be the owner.
Thanks also to Stacy for making this possible! A very nice gesture for sure.
Matt Doyle
 
Stuart, All you hawks are very consistent! Thats a sign that you know what your doing. Something I have tried to bring out more of the curl is to first dye it with black and then sand almost all the way off except to leave just a little color and then dye with a different color. Here's one from 3 or 4 years ago that I left kind of distressed and now I'm not sure if I even put on a second coat of dye on. I may have just sanded it down the first time and then put the finish on it: http://www.bladegallery.com/shopexd.asp?id=3788&photo=1&size=b
 
Thank you Raymond I appreciate It. That is a great looking hawk I have some black dye so I think I will try your method on the next one Thanks for the info.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top