Mod'ing The CS Trail Hawk

Hey guys! I've had a Riflemans hawk that I modded a few years back, but I never held a trailhawk till last week. Finally got a couple, and WOW! do these feel good in the hand. Very light and fast, and I love throwing them too!

Well it didn't take long at all for me to decide to mod one. I was thinking it would compliment my modded Laredo Bowie ...well anyway here it is...

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I started by sanding down the head, then did some basic filework, stained it with gun-blue, then convexed the edge to a nice hair splitting shine. :)


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...sanded the haft, then burned in the design with a cheap soldering iron. (the design was inspired by the hawk used in the movie The Patriot) ...had trouble with the staining, but after like seven coats of three different colors that I tried I finally said screw it, good enough!

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^ Then I used solid bronze upholstery tacks to sort of cap-off the ends of the haft. FYI they are an EXACT fit for the machine marking on the bottom of the CS hafts! ....I like the look, and I figure they'd give a little extra sting when thrown.

...Soon to come, custom sheath courtesy of Goose 52.
 
" good enough " ha ha, much more than that!

Excellent work top to bottom. How did you form the convex edge, what tools etc? I love the tacks, nice touch.
 
johnbar said:
If you want to save yourself hours of work get a 4 ½ inch angle grinder & a flapper disk.
My angle grinder cost $25, I have recently seen them cheaper at OHS & home depot.
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I was poking around the hardware store the other day and saw multiple tools that could fit on the end of my cheap0 drill. A forward-pointing wire wheel, round sanding bit at 220 grit. Next hawk I mod I'll try a couple of those things just to get the steel down to a smooth pit-less surface.
 
pullrich said:
" good enough " ha ha, much more than that!

Excellent work top to bottom. How did you form the convex edge, what tools etc? I love the tacks, nice touch.
Click to expand...

Thanks! :)

I sanded the paint off the head with 120 grit sandpaper, I wanted there to be some pitting left in to give an "old timey" look. Good luck getting yours all the way smooth, that's a tough one.

I started reprofiling the edge with a 12" mill bastard file, Then went to sandpaper on leather backing, working from 120 up through to 2000 grit. Finished on a strop with black then green compound. This steel takes a wicked edge pretty easily. :thumbup:
 
After just improving two Norse's, my next will be a Trail Hawk. Maybe the design will really get to me more after I fancy it up a bit.
 
This is my first attempt at modding a trail hawk. I couldn't resist any longer after stalking this thread so long! It's a work in progress and i'm not sure i'm happy with it. I am sure that I had a great time with my 12 year old son working on it though. :D
We got a little tack happy, sorry for borrowing your end tack idea BryFry :o
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Hey BryFry and OldSarSwmr, You guys are kicking butt with finishes that look natural. American Indians used tacks of all sizes and metals to decorate their weapons. Look up some of the rifles and hand weapons and see the patterns. Keep the ideas flowing and
enjoy the creativity of our fellow hawk men.
 
This thread made me get a trail hawk which made my friend get a trail hawk. I just sharpened it up and cord wrapped it but my friend stained his handle. I'll see if I can't get pics up some time.
 
I don't know about the rest of you guys but I gotta get me some brass upholstery tacks!
 
Thanks for the words of encouragement. This is my favorite thread on BF. I liked modding the TH so much I bought my buddy one so he can show me up with his.
 
Here's my first hawk mod. Thank you to all here who gave direct info to my questions and to everyone posting their experiences here. Special thanks to Mike Forti for correspondence re: etching techniques: http://www.m4040.com/Knifemaking/M40Bowkri.htm, and another pro hawk maker who was forthcoming with tips to a noobie.

Summary: CS trailhawk. All hand tools. Head stripped with paint stripper. Sanded with 150, 220, 400 grit paper. Filework with a 12" bastard file and a set of jewelers files. Set screw hole filled with JB weld. Etched with ferric chloride 'etchant' from Radio Shack. For etching I used paper stencil cut from photocopy I made from book of celtic lettering. Licked it, stuck it on where I wanted it, spray-painted the head, leaving metal bare under stencil, then applied etchant. Used Birchwood casey plum brown to raise a patina. Haft sanded with 220, 400 grit paper, buffed with 0000 steel wool, knotwork pattern drawn then burned on with a $10 soldering iron, stained with miniwax Golden Pecan, coated x2 with polyurethane. Friction fit head. Handle wrap is hemp cord.

Thoughts and lessons learned. Next hawk will sand more, with rougher grit, to reduce pitting on the head, would like smooth finish for etching and browning. I may do another run or two of the browning solution.... I'd like more brown. Need to experiment on getting deeper cleaner etches. Etching PLUS browning is tricky. Next haft stain may be darker, and pyrography thicker lines to make design stand out more. Still working on a satisfying handle wrap. Looking for retail source for leather cord, and would like to make the wrap a fancier 'turks head' pattern or something like that.

But on to pics. Here are a couple of the browning process and finish, then final products.

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Geez Louise...it just keeps getting better and better! We aughta hava Mod Hall of Fame!
 
Holy moley! You brought many techniques together for a mean hawk. That's not newbie... its well thought out and excecuted.
 
Man, so many great ideas in this thread! One of my all time favorites on BF. Good looking Hawks guys.
 
Pullrich, WOW! Clap.........Clap........Clap...... That hawk is worthy of the "slow clap". Awesome job. One of my favorite mods so far.
 
Thanks to all for the kind words. Current project underway is a norse hawk. Etching is more elaborate so I think I am going without a patina, certainly not the browning I did on the TH. Unless I can find a patina that will enhance the etching (any ideas?). I'm going to burn some knotwork designs on the norse haft, and also I'm thinking about inlaying some silver/pewter bands.
 
OK guys I have a Trail Hawk coming my way. Bought it from the same ebay seller I bought my last Norse Hawk from.

He ships fast so I should have it by wednesday. :cool:
 
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