Mod'ing The CS Trail Hawk

[BryFry]

This is my pipe hawk. I had posted it before, but wasn't completely happy with how it turned out, so I got another haft and finished it differently. Also re did the patina the head, much happier with how it came out. For some reason it's looks a lot redder in the pics.

Those look great! :thumbup:

I like the color of your hafts. I would love to know what type, brand and color of stain you used.??

 

[CA_DUDE]

Those look great! :thumbup:

I like the color of your hafts. I would love to know what type, brand and color of stain you used.??

Thanks! For the hafts I used some Fiebing's medium brown leather dye. Did one coat, lightly sanded, then another and didn't sand when dried. Then I did multiple think coats of linseed oil over the next week. When you do the first couple coats of linseed a lot of the excess dye comes off (use some gloves or a rag or your hands will turn yellow, don't ask how I know). I like the way it makes it look more rustic I guess. It doesn't normally appear so red, I think it's the way the evening sun was hitting it.

 

[paleosteveo]

that is just straight up beautiful

 

[jagtech]

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Use the fourth Photobucket URL, with tags around it.

[ IMG ]http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g341/jagtech1/IMG_1673.jpg[ /IMG ]

[IMG]http://i1097.photobucket.com/albums/g341/jagtech1/IMG_1673.jpg

 

[Zanuha]

Took me a while to get the picture up, but here it is. It was relatively easy and the hawk looks 10x better now. Works better too, first time I took it to the bush, the overstrikes I had would have broken it already.

 

[pullrich]

Looking good, Zan. Sweet knife, too. What can you say about it?

 

[Joe Grimace]

Took me a while to get the picture up, but here it is. It was relatively easy and the hawk looks 10x better now. Works better too, first time I took it to the bush, the overstrikes I had would have broken it already.

I just pick up a Rifleman Hawk and planned to do along the same mods you've done. It looks so much better then mine.

May I ask what all you did to get it to that point?

 

[Zanuha]

Looking good, Zan. Sweet knife, too. What can you say about it?

It's a handmade puukko I bought direct from its maker at a country fair or something. I should have asked what the HR on the blade meant. 100 euros, got it for 90 because it had a small crack in the handle and I only had 90.

 

[Zanuha]

I just pick up a Rifleman Hawk and planned to do along the same mods you've done. It looks so much better then mine.

May I ask what all you did to get it to that point?

Removed the paint with paint stripper and a wire brush, put a patina on it using a towel soaked in vinegar, stained the handle and wrapped it with paracord. I also deburred the inside of the head and the handle to make for a better fit. When you stain the head, if you start to get some green buildup on it, let it dry and wipe it with your vinegar rag. It'll ruin the rag, but the haft will look great.

 

[snowball_iv]

I am have been reading this thread for the past two days, and it has made me join the forum, to get some tips of the trade. All these mods are awesome, and make me want to do this myself. My cousin's birthday is coming up in July, and he has mentioned that he wants to get a tomahawk and some throwing knives, and start throwing them. So i stumbled across this thread and I thought it would be a awesome present to get him a tomahawk and try to mod it before July. He has helped me with building my box to hold my projector and the projector screen, so I thought I could try to return the favor by making him a awesome hawk.

I just thought I would be able to get some tips from everyone. The bad thing is, I don't have many tools, so it might be hard to do, alot of the things required. From what I have read, I need to file the "eye" of the blade, so it has a better fit on the haft/handle, and soak it in something to get the paint of the blade, and then sand the haft down, and apply some kind of finish to it. I love the burnt look that alot of people have done, but I wouldn't be able to achieve that effect. I would like to put a etching on the blade, or burn a etching onto the haft, I would just put some itintials onto the hawk somewhere. Which would be easier to do?

I wanted to spend around 50 bucks, what kind of tools (files, mallet, sandpaper, stain, vinegar) would I need to pick up, and do you think it can be done, for that price?
Thanks everyone that can help me.

 

[pullrich]

I don't have many tools, so it might be hard to do, alot of the things required. From what I have read, I need to file the "eye" of the blade, so it has a better fit on the haft/handle, and soak it in something to get the paint of the blade, and then sand the haft down, and apply some kind of finish to it. I love the burnt look that alot of people have done, but I wouldn't be able to achieve that effect. I would like to put a etching on the blade, or burn a etching onto the haft, I would just put some itintials onto the hawk somewhere. Which would be easier to do? I wanted to spend around 50 bucks, what kind of tools (files, mallet, sandpaper, stain, vinegar) would I need to pick up, and do you think it can be done, for that price?
.

Most of the info youre asking about you can find by picking through the entire modding CS TH thread' but I'll speak to a few points.
I'm like you without a lot of tools or a proper shop, or any background skills of any sort but so what?
Do it anyhow, you'll end up making a cool hawk that will blow him away.
Here's a short list of items to get that I prepared based upon the limits you indicated:
1) small can of paint stripper
2) a round file, about 1/4 inch diameter
3) 200 and 400 grit sandpaper
4) a soldering iron
5) Cheap little can of combination wood stain and sealer, shellac/varnish
6) a lighter


Here's what you do:
Head
1) strip the paint off the head with the stripper.
2) use round file to smooth out eye to fit haft better
3) could also use round file to make some cool designs on the edges of the axe.
4) soak it vinegar or mustard for patina, google 'knife antique patina mustard' or similar for guidelines. Easy.
5) Use the sandpaper to sharpen it. Maybe pick up some needle files to help with that.

Haft
1) Sand smooth with 200 grit and to make better fit with head. Sand with 400 to make it smooth.
2) Mark on the initials with the soldering iron or piece of wire heated on stove.
3) use light or a fire in your yard to burn the haft
4) paint the haft with the stain/sealant.

Might not even have to buy some of the above, drop it at yard sales and get some cheap files, wood stain, wood rasps, whatever. Steel etching is harder and you can find tutorials on that in this thread.

Finally, be sure to post your pics when done.

 

[Sword and Shield]

If I can make a recommendation, Citristrip seems to be fairly ubiquitous, and is excellent at removing baked-on coatings- I stripped my BRKT Necker and a Ka-Bar with it, about an hour each. No tools or special equipment other than a scraper blade.

Now what on Earth is CS doing with this set screw? No other hawk I've used has or needs one.

 

[hawkhead]

You've got some choices concerning the screw hole. 1. Do nothing... no. 2. Fill the hole by welding... it has been done by at least one craftsman in these pages. 3. Redesign the screw hole...turn it into something else. I have used pewter in my starburst design and then blued the head. These are two of mine from last fall. There are six more new hawks coming this summer.
Go ahead and let your imagination take you wherever it leads you.

 

[Ookami]

What hawkhead said, just let your imagination go wild!

I took a piece of aluminium alloy, crammed it into the hole and just peened it over:

Ookami

 

[snowball_iv]

Most of the info youre asking about you can find by picking through the entire modding CS TH thread' but I'll speak to a few points.
I'm like you without a lot of tools or a proper shop, or any background skills of any sort but so what?
Do it anyhow, you'll end up making a cool hawk that will blow him away.
Here's a short list of items to get that I prepared based upon the limits you indicated:

Might not even have to buy some of the above, drop it at yard sales and get some cheap files, wood stain, wood rasps, whatever. Steel etching is harder and you can find tutorials on that in this thread.

Finally, be sure to post your pics when done.

Wow! Thank you so much, that was more than I could have expected. I am going to place the order soon. Any suggestions on where to purchase the hawk from? I have a couple more questions, Do you guys have any ideas of something i can use to cut a stencil to put over the haft and burn just the cut out part? Also, do I do all the sanding and staining before puting the head back on the haft, and the best way to to get the head back on with a tight fit? How do you get the chrome look to the blade like the picture above?
Thanks everyone so much.

 

[pullrich]

On the first question it is forbidden to link or otherwise point out retail deals on these forums. That said, for finding CS Hawk sources, Google is your friend, as is a popular auction site. If you want to burn a stencil-based pattern or letters or whatever on the haft, I suggest using the stencil and pencil to draw it on the haft, then just burn where you've marked with a solder iron or hot wire from the stove. You should be sanding and maybe rasping the haft where the head fits on to help it make a tight fit. So while youre doing that the head is coming off and on. Just sand and test fit the head until you cannot see light between the head and haft, and it otherwise fits tight. The usual way to design these hawks is with the head being removable whenever the user wishes. Up-end the hawk with the head on and tap the top of the haft on a solid surface to wedge the head down on the haft. To remove head tap the butt of the haft on a solid surface.

Yes, sand and stain the haft while the head is off.

The polished look to the metal can be done with progressively finer sandpapers. After you get the paint off, you can start with 200 and then go to 400, maybe higher. I'm not the sanding/polishing expert but for some reason you get more shine with the higher grits if youre sanding in one direction. I've fuond this pretty difficult but it doesnt worry me much because I do an antique brown patina in the end.

Finally, I suggest you grab a beverage or two and read all the posts on this thread. It's fun and all the answers to your questions are there.

 

[GWashington1732]

Here's mine, I just finished it yesterday. Sanded that ugly black coating off. Sanded it by hand, it was a nightmare to get the little bumps out of it, it took all three extended Lord of the Rings movies and half of the first Star Wars movie (original, not the new ones) to do it . I sanded the blade smooth but left some of the little imperfections on the hammer side. I cut a series of grooves into the handle for grippiness (the rest of the Star Wars Trilogy), wrapped the handle under the head with leather and tied it off with cord.
View attachment 216277

And the etching, took about an hour last night, it's a screech owl, both sides of the blade.

View attachment 216278
The other side is the same but mirrored.

 

[pullrich]

Sanded it by hand, it was a nightmare to get the little bumps out of it, it took all three extended Lord of the Rings movies and half of the first Star Wars movie (original, not the new ones) to do it .

Brother that is why I bought a cheap angle grinder, and some sanding attachments to my cheap drill. Felt a little like cheating but I couldnt get the steel as smooth as I wanted. At the same time, watching LoTR while sorting out an axe head sounds like a good time to me.

 

[GWashington1732]

At the same time, watching LoTR while sorting out an axe head sounds like a good time to me.

And half of a Star Wars movie.

Next time I'll use a Dremel, that should make short work of it.