Thanks for this great thread. It inspired me to buy and modify my own hawk.
I started with the Rifleman's hawk as i wanted a slightly larger head than the Trailhawk, for processing firewood. Out of the box it weighs 36.8 oz (1042 g). That's a bit much to carry in my daypack. I don't plan on throwing this hawk, but rather use it to make campfires along the trail, and for building shelters. I decided I'll never use the hammer head, so off it came.
After an appointment with the hacksaw, and much reshaping time on the belt sander, I ended up with this. This is rough finished to 120 grit. I had to leave some pits, and deep scratches as I didn't want to remove that much metal. The plan was to hot caustic blue, so I finished it to 600 grit, and started to polish it on my buffing wheel. It looked horrendous, I almost threw up. The polish brought out all of the flaws, and some I hadn't even noticed. Hmm, now what? I left it for a day to think about it.
Plan B. I went back to 400 grit, and then I glass bead blasted it. Yup, that hid the whoop de dos, and pits. Hey, I can even see the hamon line now. I was wondering up until this point if mine had one. I want to remove the head for storage in my pack, and also to have the option of making an emergency haft in the field if necessary, so I filled the set screw hole with a 3mm bolt, and then cut it off. I wish now I had welded the hole shut. It would have looked cleaner.
45 minutes in the bluing tank, and here's what we have. That should provide a bit of corrosion resistance.
I sanded and stained the haft, and drilled in a lanyard hole. Total weight now 30.5 oz (865 g). Next up, my first leather sheath project. My leather work skills are in the same league as Homer Simpson's birdhouse building skills, so it should be interesting.
BB
I started with the Rifleman's hawk as i wanted a slightly larger head than the Trailhawk, for processing firewood. Out of the box it weighs 36.8 oz (1042 g). That's a bit much to carry in my daypack. I don't plan on throwing this hawk, but rather use it to make campfires along the trail, and for building shelters. I decided I'll never use the hammer head, so off it came.
After an appointment with the hacksaw, and much reshaping time on the belt sander, I ended up with this. This is rough finished to 120 grit. I had to leave some pits, and deep scratches as I didn't want to remove that much metal. The plan was to hot caustic blue, so I finished it to 600 grit, and started to polish it on my buffing wheel. It looked horrendous, I almost threw up. The polish brought out all of the flaws, and some I hadn't even noticed. Hmm, now what? I left it for a day to think about it.
Plan B. I went back to 400 grit, and then I glass bead blasted it. Yup, that hid the whoop de dos, and pits. Hey, I can even see the hamon line now. I was wondering up until this point if mine had one. I want to remove the head for storage in my pack, and also to have the option of making an emergency haft in the field if necessary, so I filled the set screw hole with a 3mm bolt, and then cut it off. I wish now I had welded the hole shut. It would have looked cleaner.
45 minutes in the bluing tank, and here's what we have. That should provide a bit of corrosion resistance.
I sanded and stained the haft, and drilled in a lanyard hole. Total weight now 30.5 oz (865 g). Next up, my first leather sheath project. My leather work skills are in the same league as Homer Simpson's birdhouse building skills, so it should be interesting.
BB
