How picky are you?

FortyTwoBlades

FortyTwoBlades

Baryonyx walkeri
Dealer / Materials Provider
Joined
Mar 8, 2008
Messages
25,979
With 'hawk handles how picky are you about grain orientation? I'm trying to add CS 'hawks to the site but the examples I get keep on having pretty much horizontal grain. How bothersome is that to you, and is that par for the course with these? :confused:
 
Full tang or hawks with haft?

Full tang it doesn't matter: i will opt for something softer- horsemat or G-10 but for wood i dig vertical grain, so when a nail/rivet goes through the scale and tang the stress doesn't propagate along it.
Same applied to haft.
 
Gavilan machetes involve very high minimum order quantities and involve importation headaches. But they're on the possibles list for later. ;)
 
A little picky. I like the grain to be 45* from inline or better. Perpendicular to the bit is a no go for me.
 
That's pretty much the same as for me. I trust those who have responded so far, so i guess I'll be sending the example in question back--again! Figured I'd make sure that I wasn't bering overly selective first. :p
 
That's a bummer about the machetes, really awesome brand and I haven't found any online dealers yet. That's a bummer about your cold steel handle. Looking at my CS hawks I must have got lucky, the grain is pretty much vertical.
 
PayetteRucker said:
That's a bummer about the machetes, really awesome brand and I haven't found any online dealers yet. That's a bummer about your cold steel handle. Looking at my CS hawks I must have got lucky, the grain is pretty much vertical.
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Yeah I plan on getting into importing stuff as soon as it becomes feasible but it requires more resources than I have as a startup company right now. I've found a pretty killer Italian company that makes axes with 'hawk-style eyes, for instance! :cool:

With regard to the CS 'hawks the one that I got in as a "test" piece had horizontal grain. After sending it back for replacement I got one with both horizontal grain AND a gimped-up top. It was like it had had a big piece sanded off the top at an angle. That one's DEFINITELY going back. Once I get some good ones in, though, I plan on thinning/convexing the edges before putting them on the site, just like I have been with my Tramontinas, Estwings, and Ontarios. :):thumbup:

church&son said:
Think of horizontal grain as "snap", long straight grain will bend before breaking...
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Yeah--that's what concerned me. Especially now that Cold Steel has increased the standard length of their 'hawk handles. While it's awesome that the handles are longer now (much more chopping ability for hardly any extra weight) it does mean that grain alignment becomes more critical. I'm generally much more lenient of grain deviation on short hafts as the forces involved are dramatically less.
 
I've used CS handles for a number of replacements because I've got to have a minimum of 20". Haven't had any problems with breakage.
 
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