Does anyone here make their own composite handles. If so could you please post some pics of the making process. Maybe some pics of molds and the lay up process. What resin are you using type of cloth and weight. could a person use fiberglass if so How many layers of chopped or roven mat would be needed. sorry for all the questions but i am new to tomahawks and composites but still wanna try some things out. Maybe a aluminum core with kevlar shell or other combo any ideals? thank yall for your time
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kevlar or carbon fiber handle
- Thread starter mworley13
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- Aug 8, 2006
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Vec is your man!
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i don't want to discourage ya, brother, but right now i am trying to to teach an EXPERIENCED crew how to make my composite handles - i have worked with these guys for more than five years, and we all have about twenty years of protoype and aerospace composites experience, and they are just not getting the delicacy and timing of what it takes to lay up a proper tool handle. - not without a bunch of supervision on my part, at least.
the fiberglass handles that you see at Home Depot, etc. are usually pultruded and consist of weak polyester resins and milled fibers.
our handles are multi-endoskeletalized combinations of continuous strand, super-strong epoxy, proprietary slurries, coupled with strategically placed structural masses and voids for strength with relatively no weight - a different creature - and they get better every day we make another hawk - and there is a lot further for us to go, on just the Gen 1's.
anyone can make a good composite handle - they just need a lot of time, and maybe great teachers, like i had, and about $20K to sacrifice to the learning curve.
i am not kidding.
try it.
....and that is BEFORE YOU GET INTO CARBON FIBERS, GRAPHITES AND KEVLARS, not to mention direct push, vacuum infusion, hybrid resin delivery systems, and more.
and yes, there is a place for all of those expensive materials, but they are usually APPLIED INCORRECTLY. -i used to correct aerospace engineers' composite designs for a living - it's like they couldn't hold onto a thought or something, when it came to composites - which is okay, when you don't mind a graphite wing that has always worked, suddenly exploding....
the only reason i am doing composite handles is because i learned how to do it on some buddy else's nickel, and the handle technology for the Gen 1 design is the base test-technology for some greater things i have in mind for the future.
(that and i am a hawk maniac - har!)
so good luck, and i encourage you to try to make a good handle - you should get it eventually, or maybe you are a composite Mozart or something and can get it right away! :thumbup:
:thumbup:i am not one to laugh at other brethren, but the looks on my veteran-composite-buddies' faces has been pretty goldang hilarious, when their handles break in testing....
i can't imagine some one less experienced having better fortune.
these ain't no plastic poles, fellow-babies.
we should have some do-it-yourself handles out hopefully this year, and then you will have the strongest, lightest handle made (to my knowledge) for a price well below anything you can currently buy, that isn't near equal.
brother 7.62 Shooter was at my house last weekend and saw some new stuff - he can say whether or not i am full of BS, or on the money.
good luck, brother! go for it!
your bud,
vec
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- Apr 21, 2006
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- 850
Wow, my timing couldn't be better! Vec is not full of BS. Something else maybe, but not BS. I done seen things at his place that brought a tear to my eye. I am giddy with excitement for the future of Vec hawks. Imagine a hawk shaft that weighs virtually nothing and is stronger than hickory. I don't think I''m over stating that. I am going to need to clear wall space. And I can only think that anyone reading Vecs post should be able to see that he knows what he is talking about.
i am slowy learning the high cost of composite material. i have no one to teach that is why i was lookinh for some pics of molds and the layup process. for someone just starting out would just adding a couple layers of kevlar or carbon on a wood handle add any strenght or would it just waste time and money again thanks for your time
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- 1,745
i think it would be a waste of time, brother. - you'd have to neck down the entire handle uniformly - i am not saying it can't be done, but to do it properly with simple tools, i don't know how to do that on an organic lofted surface (like a hawk handle) except with step drills and cut-to-length dowels all over the handle, which would probably split if you worked on it at any decent pace....
just wrapping the handle would add weight ...and durability from strikes to the handle, but it would also actually weaken the neck/head juncture, believe it or not - there are a lot of surprises waiting to nail you in the striking tool/composite haft arena - especially when it comes to retrofits!
it sure would look cool though.
there is a third option, which i am working on - and will share with ya soon though, when i know i am not full of garbage on my theory ...
....keep thnking! i can sense your hunger, and i know you will do it, brother!
push on.
your bud,
vec
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2006
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- 850
This wouldn't have anything to do with all of those original Cold Steel hafts you had painted up would it?