Mod'ing The CS Trail Hawk

felixXJ said:
Hey Mr. Q. Where did you get that nice leather sheath for your trail hawk?
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A friend of mine named Brian made it bro. I asked him the other day if he was interested in making any more but he said he was too busy. :( Sorry 'bout dat.
 
That's too bad.:( Maybe someone around here has a template I can print out to cut leather with....
 
felixXJ said:
That's too bad.:( Maybe someone around here has a template I can print out to cut leather with....
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Brian probably made them without a template bro. The best I can do for you is to take a boatload of pictures and post them here for you. I'll try to do that soon. :thumbup:
 
I read this post beginning to end and then I went and ordered a Trailhawk. I will be modding it as soon as I get it.

Thanks a lot for making me spend more money. Bastids. :rolleyes: ;)
 
Ken C. said:
I read this post beginning to end and then I went and ordered a Trailhawk. I will be modding it as soon as I get it.

Thanks a lot for making me spend more money. Bastids. :rolleyes: ;)
Click to expand...

You BETTER be posting some picts bro! And soon! :grumpy:
;)
 
My CS TH shipped today. Here are my plans for the mod.

1. Strip it, blast it, and repaint it with Krylon's Hammr' Finish in metallic grey.

2. Reshape the haft. I plan on tapering it down toward the butt.

3. Sand, stain and seal the haft. The darker the better. Unsure as to what color yet.

4. Wrap the haft with grey paracord.

5. Make a custom sheath for it.
 
Just remembered something. Campmor sells a nice little replacement sheath for the Estwing Sportsman's Axefor $5.99. The best part is you can take your TrailHawk to Home Depot who sells the Sportman's Axe and dry run the TrailHawk in the sheath. If anyone gets around to doing this I'd appreciate knowing how it fits the TrailHawk. This may be a inexpensive but effective solution, eh?

81008_l.jpg
 
Quick question for you modders.....securing the head. I noticed there is a set screw in the head. Can this be modded to prevent the head from working loose? Adding another screw somehow?
 
I believe this question has been asked elsewhere. IMO, the best reply I read was to (1) file the inside of the eye to make it smooth and remove any excess metal inside the eye, (2) sand the haft to give provide an exceptional haft/eye fit, and then (3) drive the haft into the eye using a hammer (perhaps a heavy rubber mallet?). That's what I remember.
 
CitizenQ said:
...If anyone gets around to doing this I'd appreciate knowing how it fits the TrailHawk. This may be a inexpensive but effective solution, eh?
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Well I have both on hand right now and the answer unfortunately is no, the TH does not fit. The length from the edge-to-handle is longer (quite a bit really) on the TH compared to the Estwing. Too bad, it would have been a great instant sheath.:(



(In case anyone is wondering, a Frontier Hawk doesn't fit either, for the same reason.)
 
Ken C. said:
Quick question for you modders.....securing the head. I noticed there is a set screw in the head. Can this be modded to prevent the head from working loose? Adding another screw somehow?
Click to expand...

I've seen where folks have drilled completely through the head and pressed in a brass pin (tight fit). The handle would have to completely split apart before the head comes off with that arrangement. Being bound by the eye, that would take some doing. Even with such a through pin, I think I would still fit the handle as best as I could first.

From another thread:
Fit it
 
Just use the set screw that is provided... don't add another...
Heat the head before fitting (200 degrees for 20 minutes)... then follow the steps given above by CitizenQ: "(1) file the inside of the eye to make it smooth and remove any excess metal inside the eye, (2) sand the haft to give provide an exceptional haft/eye fit, and then (3) drive the haft into the eye using a hammer (perhaps a heavy rubber mallet?)."
 
I just got 2 Trail Hawks and a Rifleman's Hawk in - 2008 projects.

I will say that I'm glad I had been reading these threads before getting them in. Because, based on what I got, if I didn't expect it I would have been very disappointed.

To say fit and finish are fine would be a lie. Hafts were rough and ugly - neither of the THs had the axe head in the same place on the hafts. To say they had an edge would also be false.

I am honestly surprised that Cold Steel wants their name on the stock hawks. It would almost be better to sell them as pieces.

What I am looking forward to is the modifications.

I had thought about the parkerizing awhile back - a good friend has a set up and we should have time. I am also thinking about a bake on finish on one of them after parkerization.

I'm not sure which way I'll go yet - need to not be so work loaded...

Anyway, if it was going to stay stock I would be mad but thanks to these threads I was ready.

This though is all prefaced by the fact that my Gransfors Bruks Hunter's Axe got here first. I may try to get a picture of it up by the weekend. What an axe!

One question - which grit of sandpaper did you start with first on the eyes and which on the hafts?

I'm getting ready to round the eyes as well - one of the stock haft's had quite a bite in it from the factory install.
 
Crap... I accidentally uploaded this with the same name as the image of my other hawk.

Not the point. The point is, here is the hawk with the black dyed handle.

hawk.jpg
 
cmdr249 said:
I just got 2 Trail Hawks and a Rifleman's Hawk in - 2008 projects.

I will say that I'm glad I had been reading these threads before getting them in. Because, based on what I got, if I didn't expect it I would have been very disappointed.

To say fit and finish are fine would be a lie. Hafts were rough and ugly - neither of the THs had the axe head in the same place on the hafts. To say they had an edge would also be false.

I am honestly surprised that Cold Steel wants their name on the stock hawks. It would almost be better to sell them as pieces.

What I am looking forward to is the modifications.

I had thought about the parkerizing awhile back - a good friend has a set up and we should have time. I am also thinking about a bake on finish on one of them after parkerization.

I'm not sure which way I'll go yet - need to not be so work loaded...

Anyway, if it was going to stay stock I would be mad but thanks to these threads I was ready.

This though is all prefaced by the fact that my Gransfors Bruks Hunter's Axe got here first. I may try to get a picture of it up by the weekend. What an axe!

One question - which grit of sandpaper did you start with first on the eyes and which on the hafts?

I'm getting ready to round the eyes as well - one of the stock haft's had quite a bite in it from the factory install.
Click to expand...

I would use whatever big bastard file you had laying around on the eye. Just watch the corners of the file.
 
cmdr249 said:
I just got 2 Trail Hawks and a Rifleman's Hawk in - 2008 projects.

I will say that I'm glad I had been reading these threads before getting them in. Because, based on what I got, if I didn't expect it I would have been very disappointed.

To say fit and finish are fine would be a lie. Hafts were rough and ugly - neither of the THs had the axe head in the same place on the hafts. To say they had an edge would also be false.

I am honestly surprised that Cold Steel wants their name on the stock hawks. It would almost be better to sell them as pieces.

What I am looking forward to is the modifications.

I had thought about the parkerizing awhile back - a good friend has a set up and we should have time. I am also thinking about a bake on finish on one of them after parkerization.

I'm not sure which way I'll go yet - need to not be so work loaded...

Anyway, if it was going to stay stock I would be mad but thanks to these threads I was ready.

This though is all prefaced by the fact that my Gransfors Bruks Hunter's Axe got here first. I may try to get a picture of it up by the weekend. What an axe!

One question - which grit of sandpaper did you start with first on the eyes and which on the hafts?

I'm getting ready to round the eyes as well - one of the stock haft's had quite a bite in it from the factory install.
Click to expand...


we hand-pick our Cold Steel heads, and send the rest back.

some internet-stores seem to give you the duds, but Cold Steel has been a joy to deal with since we started to do so this year. - very few duds.

in their defense - in Lynn Thompson's Fighting Tomahawks series of videos, he emphasizes that the hawks are sold with modification in mind, and the practice is encouraged by him.

for the price, i think they are great stuff - i pay for the forging, not the cosmetics.

....i slap a composite handle on a Trail Hawk, and they don't usually get mailed until my erica can catch me on my just-made-a-composite-handled-hawk-happy-dance.

she is getting really good at de-fanging the snake, let me tell ya, fellow-babies...!!!

my next trick is to always camo the hawks, so she can't see 'em.
3sizeMulticam.JPG


i shouldn't've gotten her those thermal binoculars for Christmas, come to think of it ...dang it....


....har...!

YMMV.

vec
 
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