Mod'ing The CS Trail Hawk

Wonderful work, all of you.
Here is my CS spike hawk

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OldKnife007 said:
Wonderful work, all of you.
Here is my CS spike hawk

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That is a great looking hawk! I think I need to get a spike hawk next! :)

Love the color of your haft, that is what I was going for with mine but I haven't had much luck with all the stains I've tried.
 
How much of the spike is heat treated? I was thinking of getting one and cutting the spike off to make a poll (kinda like a trail hawk but with a larger bit).
 
pullrich said:
Bryfry that's a beauty, one of the top on this thread so far. Fancy but tasteful. That is a SERIOUSLY deep etch, and clean, well done. 12 hours you say? Wow What did you use for a resist?
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Thanks man! I just used masking tape and spray paint. The masking tape was to save time on paint removal, but it probably wasn't the best idea since the etchant tends to seep under some of the tape.

I drew my patterns on tape, then cut them out and stuck them on before painting. Knowing what I do now I think I would just take a poity little file and freehand scratch/draw the patterns into the paint next time.

Yeah, my first go at the etching I set the etchant bowl in a larger bowl of hot water to raise the temp, rinsed and re-filled the hot water every hour for the first 5 hrs. Then let it set over night for another 7-8 hrs.
That's all it took for the vine pattern, but the "F" didn't take very well, so I repainted and re-drew it before giving it another 12 or so hours in the etchant. .....It was kinda fun, and now I'm thinking of doing some etching on a bowie knife blade. :) ...we'll see....


......Oh, and I was messing with some cord wrapping last night, here is what I came up with: Just some tightly wrapped hemp twine with some double sided tape underneath to help hold it in place...
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This is the thread that keeps on going! :D

I have some pictures here of a short "hatchet" type curved handle I just finished. I spent a bit more time on this one (using only the trail hawk head) and it feels good to chop with. It's about 15" long and would work great more as a backpacking handle.

Here it is without sanding and I haven't cut the ends off yet...


Here is the final piece. As you can see, it has quite a curve which definitely helps strain on the wrist. It still feels good using the poll too.


I angled the edges of each end for a factory type finish and so the wood won't split when I hit it on something to seat or unseat the head. Head stills slides on and off like a straight handle. I may burn some designs on it, and stain it. I'll update this post if I do.
 
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That's a pretty cool handle Drummertist! I like the curve.
What can you tell us about the wood? What kind, and was it green or seasoned?

I want to try that, but I have trouble picking out good hardwood around here. :)
 
It was an older white ash sapling. After I cut it down, I left it outside for a few cold days (since I was busy with other things) and then started working on it. Usually Hickory, Ash or Oak are good woods to work with especially if they're freshly cut. What area do you live in?

By the way, your Pipe Hawk is fantastic! I need one of those along with a Spike Hawk. How did you engrave your haft with those swirls?
 
Drummertist said:
It was an older white ash sapling. After I cut it down, I left it outside for a few cold days (since I was busy with other things) and then started working on it. Usually Hickory, Ash or Oak are good woods to work with especially if they're freshly cut. What area do you live in?

By the way, your Pipe Hawk is fantastic! I need one of those along with a Spike Hawk. How did you engrave your haft with those swirls?
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Thanks!
I live in Iowa, and I'm not the greatest when it comes to identifying trees :o ...need to work on that!

I burned the design on my hawk with a cheep electric soldering iron I bought at a local craft store. I think it helps to draw it on with pencil first, then burn it with the iron. :thumbup:

Can't wait to see what you do with your handles, keep up the good work!
 
paleosteveo said:
i live on long island where maples are rampant. are those good for hawk handles?
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Maple is decorative wood with a nice grain and so it is used a lot in furniture, etc. I don't see why it couldn't be used but I don't know how it would be to work with. Give it a try.
 
paleosteveo said:
i live on long island where maples are rampant. are those good for hawk handles?
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FWIW, I've seen a lot of custom makers use curly maple on their hawk handles, it was also very popular for gunstocks in the old blackpowder days.
 
My humble addition to the thread:

My CS Pipe Hawk and Condor Hudson Bay. This is my first attempt at anything like this so it was a learning experience, but it was a lot of fun. I wanted to keep it simple and just make it my own. I worked on the edge a bit with my coarse diamond stone and some sand paper on a mouse pad. Then I stripped with Jasco. I didn't do much sanding expect for the sharp edges and the eye. I forced patina by soaking in vinegar for a day. With the haft I wanted to give a little bit of traction, so I used the triangular file to do some notches in the front of it. On the back I just scored some lines. At the top of it I filed some notches around the head. Sanded, stained with some Minwax Red Oak, and a few coats of BLO.

For the Hudson Bay I stripped the powder coat with Permatex gasket remover. forced patina by soaking the blade in vinegar. Then I filed the notches in the grips, stained with the Minwax, and BLO.

On the whole I'm very happy with it. There was a couple spots on the hawk blade and the knife that didn't darken as much. I'm not sure why. I cleaned them really good with Flitz after stripping, then washed with hot water and soap, and cleaned with alcohol. I've actually Flitzed the knife blade and am soaking again to see if I can get it more uniform. I know it's not perfect, but it was not my intent to do it perfect. I wanted to put a little work in them and make them something unique to me.

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pullrich said:
A great looking pair. That's a beast of a knife!

Did the stone and sandpaper get the hawk pretty sharp?
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It did work pretty good. I didn't want to take too much off cause it's my first time reshaping an edge. I used a rough stone to remove some material from behind the blade. Then I increased the angle at the edge. Then I used the sand paper to blend the compound edge into a convex, and remove the burr. I was really impressed. I actually got all my knives out and stropped them that way and was surprised how much sharper they were.
 
So I just wanted to say thanks a lot you guys, I just got done reading all 61 pages of this thread and by page 20 I stopped, surfed over to a new page and ordered my first trail hawk (by the way, my wife hates you guys for furthering my addiction to pointy things).

Anyways, this'll be my first hawk and I think I have a rough list of what I want to do with it, but I have a few questions for the mod gods before I begin.

1) I want to strip the head and force a patina, I think I'm settled on a vinegar patina because I like the looks of the natural grey-ish blue. Which vinegar works best (cider or white) and do I let the head boil with the vinegar or boil the vinegar, remove from heat then add the head? How long do I let it sit in the vinegar?

2) I see the general consensus is to ditch the set screw and go with a proper friction fit. I want my head permanently attached, will a friction fit be able to do this? And if I understand the process correctly I just fit the haft to the head by sanding down the high spots until it fits snugly, then heat the head in the oven, drop the head on the haft and tap it into place until it fits snugly?

Is my thought process correct on this?

Thanks again for all your help
 
Menace you can sand the haft down to help the fit but if I were you I'd at least use a rasp. As someone once put it you can use a spoon or a shovel to dig a hole.
 
My haft fit pretty good. Cold Steel drove it on there pretty good. The top of the eye actually shaved a bit of material up. So I took it off and sanded the high spots and the areas that were shaved up. I sanded the inside of the eye to smooth out the rough spots. I also sanded the sharp edge of the top of the eye to allow to wedge better and not cut in as it was driven on to the taper of the top of the haft. After I finished the haft I put a very healthy amount of BLO inside the eye and around the haft where the head sits. I figure it would soak in after I drove it on and maybe swell a hair and really lock it in. To drive it on I went to Lowes and they have 2 foot 1 1/2" PVC sections and I got a cap also. I just slid the head on, than put the pipe over the bottom of the haft and rested it on the bottom of the head give some healthy raps on the cap of the pipe, and the head doesn't seem like it's going anywhere.

With the head Menace I just soaked it in some white vinegar for about 24 hours. I think the acidity of white and red vinegars is really close so it doesn't really matter. As far as boiling I'm not sure. It make be faster that way, but I don't think it's necessary. Just make sure when your done that you wash it in hot water and soap. If you just wipe it off the air may cause some red rust. After I wash it I go over it with alcohol, and then a good coating of oil, or even the BLO.
 
Anyone tried sanding the heads with a fine grit flap wheel? Worth doing or better to do by hand?
 
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