Mod'ing The CS Trail Hawk

CitizenQ said:
OK, here she is. I call her T-Hawk. Serial number Q00000001. ;)

Like I wrote before, I made some mistakes which I won't make next time. In addition, I think I'll try gun blue (instead of paint) for the head of my next T-Hawk. :thumbup:

The paracord is drying so the cord will lighten up in a day or so.

thawk06.jpg
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you can also soak the cord in a SLOW drying 2 part epoxy, and when your done wrapping it wipe off the excess and let it cure for sevral days. BOMBER finish, uber tight on the haft.
 
That's a good idea bro. :thumbup: Only downside I can think of is that such a method would be rather PERMANENT, eh?
 
As noted with my pics earlier in the thread, I did mine up by wrapping it wet, letting it dry, and then soaking the paracord in super glue. Roughly the same effect, and drying time is only a couple of minutes.

:D:thumbup:

Very tough, very grippy, and pretty darned abrasive to human skin. :/ Had to add a layer of tennis racket wrap to keep it from drawing blood on the wrong end.

I have used epoxy before, and I had problems with getting it to soak into the paracord properly. The superglue, of course, is just a bit thicker than water, so no problems.
 
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ok found this thread and ordered a few to do myself. wondering if gun snob offers this service of blasting and parkerizing?
 
Hawkers;

I have sent an e-mail to 'Contact us' (don't know if that is the right place but got to start some Ware) and asked if it would be OK to trade parking for hawks, handles and or other in this form. If the owners and mods will allow it I would be happy to help, but will not violate form rules out or respect to all and my self.

Y'all let me know what you think, park a head for a couple hafts (seem to break them pretty regularly) or a hawk? I could do it for money but that takes the fun out of it real fast. Not looking for a job if you know what I mean.

If any are interested and its OK we can work it out. Lots of hawks I don't have and several I think I can Mod with the right amount of cutting and grinding. Going to try and make a spontoon out of a rifle man tomorrow. Just 'cuz I can.

GS
 
hawks in and took out my dremel and filed down a little of the inside of hawk. anyone ever done this? i'm afraid i'll have problems from this, though the handles fit the same as before i did it.
 
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Here is my hafts? (handles) getting ink'd, i hope they like their tats its indian ink. (i think) sorry for crappy pics this is from a iphone, btw anyone ever used shoe polish?

hawk1ef2.jpg


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hawk4ry5.jpg
 
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I've never tried shoe polish but I used the ink like you're doing on this one. It seems to have worked out well.

hawk.jpg
 
Mine seemed to soak in pretty deep. I hit it with a coat of poly after it was dry too, to protect it.
 
tychoseven said:
I too shall play this game...

DSC00731.jpg



The head was stripped and etched in white vinegar, and I added some decorative woodburning at the crown. Ubiquitous paracord wrap for overstrike protection.
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The haft was stripped, sanded, and finished in tung oil. I also burned a 4-Directions/Solar symbol on the left side of the haft.
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To round it out, I added some paracord at the base to provide a reference point/stop for my hand so that I naturally grip it at the intersection of the first and second thirds, as vector001 promotes. I must agree that this is the optimal point of balance between power and speed. The wrap terminates in an adjustable lanyard loop with stopknot, so the lanyard won't pinch or cut off circulation to my hand.
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-Tycho-
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I just found this thread (even though it is sticked) and found there are some really great ideas.

Tycho - I like the looks of you hawk. I have gotten the same effect on long rifles with Tru-Brown. Has anyone on here used that for their mods?

I might try one of these projects if I can find a CS hawk locally. I hate buying from the internet.
 
brother diverdn -

right now is not a good time to buy CS hawks off the net IMHO - we only put Handpicked CS heads on our handles and CS has had a real problem with their QC heads which they probably have about solved right now, but ya want to be careful.

all the heads that we rejected in the last three months were perfectly functional, in Cold Steel's defense, but the grinds were just monstrous, to say the least - if you just want a good hawk at a decent price, by all means, order on line, but request a handpicked head maybe from whoever you go with - or like you said, find them locally.

food for thought.

vec
 
vector001 said:
brother diverdn -

right now is not a good time to buy CS hawks off the net IMHO - we only put Handpicked CS heads on our handles and CS has had a real problem with their QC heads which they probably have about solved right now, but ya want to be careful.

all the heads that we rejected in the last three months were perfectly functional, in Cold Steel's defense, but the grinds were just monstrous, to say the least - if you just want a good hawk at a decent price, by all means, order on line, but request a handpicked head maybe from whoever you go with - or like you said, find them locally.

food for thought.

vec
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Thanks for the feedback Vec.
 
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plumbers torch flame burnished shafts, sanded down afterwards with 600 grit wet/dry and linseed oil, then sanded down further with linseed oil and 1000, 2000, 4000 grit 3m. The wiped clean with fresh linseed oil, and soaked for several weeks in tung oil and a bit of turp to make it thinner. Final coating was 3 coats of linsed oil, dired to tack phase and then reoiled. Heads were stripped with "strippen fuel" some old german chemical stripper i had laying around the house. (best done outdoors, or hazMat will be called due to the rather noxious odor.......think gun oil, cutting fluid, sulphur, spent cordite, xylene, toulene, acetone, battery acid, and ammonia all mixed together.......)
 
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I've had a quick spin through the thread but..

How exactly do you take apart and assemble the axe head?

A few things I picked up from the thread is that you can put the axe bit it in an oven to expand the metal (when youput it back on) and also to use some sort of adhesive to ensure a secuire fit to the handle.

Do you just pound off the axe head with a rubber mallet?

I know the basic theory behind rehandling an axe with a wedge then soaking the haft end in linseed oil to expand the wood etc...but with a tomahawk I don't see the need for a wedge on a thinner diameter haft.

Do you just pound on the head through the single tapered handle? i.e. you push up the axe head from bottom of handle to top until it is secure. :confused:

Any good instructions or further tips will be appreciated :)
 
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