Mod'ing The CS Trail Hawk

ok starting my hawk addiction with a rifleman's hawk bigger heavier. I'm not a little guy 6'5" 260lb and wanted a tool/ weapon with umph in it's blow.
started but cutting 5 inches off, and I am working on stripping rediculous base paint., planning for a dark red stain w/ charred stripes on handle. I'm not 100% decided on head finish looking like mustard patina, fine shined and oiled, or dura-coat with modified biohazard/fire/cross etching. plan to epoxy the head and paracord wrap, leather sheath with deer antler buttons.
 
Awesome thread guys I've actually gotten through most of it in my spare time. I mentally could never commit to gluing paracord onto the haft in case I ever needed to get the head off, but I'm pretty handy with a wood burner so I might try to use that to increase friction on the haft. I also loooooove the look of "tiger stripes" or any kind of torch burning for that matter on the haft.

Has anyone ever tried using truck bed liner? DIY archer enthusiasts swear by it as it's incredibly wear resistant, textural, flexible, and cheap. It has the most pleasant "sandpapery" feel in your hand without being overly abrasive. Plus it's extremely flat black so it looks badass. Would look good on a head or on an entire hawk. Hopefully I'll be uploading photos soon of my mods on a trail hawk, and for anybody interested in what the truck bed liner looks like, check out my recently modded bow & DIY stabilizer: https://www.behance.net/gallery/17412585/Bow-Stabilizer-Damper
 
I've been looking over the mods in this thread and contemplating one of my own. I love the look of the leather overstrike guard and would like to apply one to my eventual project. i have a couple questions if any of you could help; does the leather continue between the haft and the head, and if so how is this achieved? Will the compression of the leather over time effect the fit of the head? just want to get my plan straight before I invest the time and resources in the project. thanks guys.
 
The leather overstrike is just a little tube jacket that you slip on. Other than a lace/stitch in the back it should just slide off unless glued down!

My advice is start with the trail hawk. Its a lovely tool and a real blank canvas. Move on to a different modelmonce you've had a good shot at the first!
 
So I got my cs trail hawk in today. It's a piece of shit.....it's literally a joke. Even with the set screw in, the head wobbled like crazy, and when I took the head off it had been bashed on by whoever assembled it, ruining any hope of getting it to fit. After an hour of carefully sanding the haft and filing the eye of the head, I would say about 15% of the eye makes contact with the haft when I tray to mate them. I don't know what to do.... buy another haft? Epoxy and screw on the head to this one? Very bummed.
 
thanks for the help Samon. Im thinking of picking up a trail hawk next week. should be a fun project, just wish id thought to do this a while earlier as im headed for the mountains in a couple days. well, i'll have to get it together for my next trip.
 
majixmatrix said:
So I got my cs trail hawk in today. It's a piece of shit.....it's literally a joke. Even with the set screw in, the head wobbled like crazy, and when I took the head off it had been bashed on by whoever assembled it, ruining any hope of getting it to fit. After an hour of carefully sanding the haft and filing the eye of the head, I would say about 15% of the eye makes contact with the haft when I tray to mate them. I don't know what to do.... buy another haft? Epoxy and screw on the head to this one? Very bummed.
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Firstly, email cold steel and explain in depth your problems! They do listen to customer so they may help out.

Secondly, inspect the head of the axe and check for any forging faults/misshapen eye.

Thirdly, buy another handle.

In all fairness my two hawks didn't fit 100%, with carefully handle work you can get a better fit but as they rely on friction aslong as you give them a good thump, they should stay firmly in place.
 
Contacted cold steel they kind of said that's the way it is. With shipping handles are like $17 and the damn tomahawk was only like $23 so for now I've shaped the handle as best I could, I'll be putting it on firmly with a mallet, banging a nail in the top of the haft to make sure everything is tight, and then screwing in a screw in the set screw hole it should be all set. I've put a lot of work into it so far it looks amazing can't wait to have pics up soon!!
 
Finally finished customizing my trail hawk! Did some basic file work on the head and spent a good while putting a new edge on. Sanded the head down so the paint remained in the low spots, then gave it a vinegar/mustard patina bath overnight I love the finish. For the handle I sanded it down, put on some Minwax finisher/sealer, went a little crazy with my wood burner to give the entire haft an interesting "grain" patter with many hundreds of small lines, torched the middle section of the haft, and finished it with numerous coats of beeswax/citrus wood refurbisher. I then used E6000 for the head and screwed it in to make sure it wouldn't come off (awful fitting haft), and then to finish it off I gutted some black 550 paracord and did a traditional Japanese ito wrap. On each portion of the wrap I used the E6000 so it's cemented on there and feels incredible in the hand.

The sheath was made out of a broken piece of belt. I used E6000 on each size then reinforced it with archery serving string. The black and white cord is stretchy cable that Michael's was selling 16ft of for 50 CENTS!! I did a cobra weave that can wrap around the hammer for extra protection. I also used the stretchy cord for a fully adjustable wrist lanyard on the bottom of the haft. This was a very fun project and I love the end result!!

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Just ordered my new trail hawk and some birchwood case plum brown. cant wait to get started. i'll try and upload picks asap
 
Finished reading through most of this thread this morning, it's taken me a week off and on in my spare time haha! I ordered a pair of spike hawks for myself and swmbo last night, I might end up cutting mine down to a hammer poll like few others here done recently, can't wait to get started though I'm hoping they get here friday!
 
just got my new trail hawk in the mail. but don't ya know it, i cant start work on it because out of all the tools in my vast arsenal, the only one i dont have is a set of metric allan wrenches...gaaaah! heading to the hardware store asap.
 
Mine came in friday, I fitted the heads and cut 4 and 5 inches off the handles for mine and hers, Saturday we made a target out of 2X6s and threw them, didn't get any further than that with the modifications yet but we both have plans for them!

Question: The bottle of etchant that radio shack had in stock isn't very big, do people dilute that with something else?
 
I bought, modified, finished, and have used my trail hawk a bunch in the last month since reading this thread. Does any one know if you can upload pictures from an iPhone? If so, I could show you all a bunch of progress and finished mod pics.
 
Finally got around to taking a couple of pictures of the (mostly) finished hawk. I've been in the hospital, so haven't had much time to post.

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