Mod'ing The CS Trail Hawk

[jagtech]

Here is my trail hawk out of sheath. Beard is sharpened,edge convex,head cold blued and cured in Breakfree. 1/4 brass pipe inserted in lanyard hole. I'm hoping this will turn out to be a great multipurpose lightweight hunting hawk. I have taken it camping once and am impressed with it,s cutting and chopping.

 

[jagtech]

[/IMG] Here are both of my hawks. I used a dado blade on my Spikehawk to remove a little wood where I did the cord wrap.This was to keep the cord in place and keep handle size down. So far I'm happy with it and handle is still plenty strong.Both of these we're fun projects but I'll definitely get more use out of the Trailhawk.

 

[pullrich]

Great looking hawks!

 

[jagtech]

Thanks pullrich.

 

[Widerstand]

Here are my mods to the trail hawk.

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[youtube]jNDmAo5FzY4[/youtube]

 

[jvsanywherebuthere]

Finally got some pics of my modded hawk.

I painted the handle satin black with about 5 coats, and than five more coats of some satin stain. It really came out the way I wanted and it's pritty durable too with all those coats, no chipping yet. The head is colored with silver bake on Gunkote, a semi sharp convex grind and there's a mirrior finish on the hammer. I followed the directions of the members here to get that polish.

Am i right in assuming that the paracord up top is the keep the blade from slipping down the haft?

 

[pullrich]

It's an overstrike guard, JVS. So the haft doesnt get too banged up when hitting things.

 

[jvsanywherebuthere]

oic thx, im kinda new to the whole hawk modding thing, and trying to learn as much as i can about it

 

[snowman5ms]

Very cool...I Like the gun blue idea. Nice thread

 

[Seanski]

Absolutely a great thread! I am going to go grab some CS 'hawks tomorrow from the store. They have the full CS lineup and that allows inspection before purchase
which is kind of nice. Some of the modifications on here, goes without saying are fantastic, and I'd like to have a hand in a few that I've seen along the way.
Mine would be users.
I did make a few homemade throwers a few years back and enjoy being out and about with them occasionally.
Thanks.

 

[Menace]

Here is my trail hawk out of sheath. Beard is sharpened,edge convex,head cold blued and cured in Breakfree. 1/4 brass pipe inserted in lanyard hole. I'm hoping this will turn out to be a great multipurpose lightweight hunting hawk. I have taken it camping once and am impressed with it,s cutting and chopping.

quike question about your leather wrap. Did you put it on and tie it dry or did you soak it before hand?

 

[Longtrang]

Ya'll talked me into a Spike Hawk. It's going to be a project, I'll post pics when I get started.

 

[HoosierGuy]

I went with the Rifleman's Hawk due to it's added weight and I liked the design of it. Just like many CS hawk owners, I quickly went to work modding my hawk and the end result was was satisfactory to me. Here is what I did

1- Took the crew out and tossed it in the can.
2- Removed the head, stripped off the black pain, sanded down the head.
3- Sanded down the handle, stained, repeated both three times.
4- Used Rustolium Silver Hammered spray and gave it two coats.

It's not much, but this was the end result:

The Rifleman's Hawk throws pretty well despite it's weight and you get used to it pretty fast. It's now a frequent companion in my outdoor adventures.

I have a few more pics posted in my blog (see sig for URL) Have a great day all!!!

- Bill
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My Site:www.hoosierbushcraft.com
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[hawkhead]

At last another hawk is nearing completion. It is a Trail Hawk. It has been substantially lightened and modified by changing the edge to convex, my star logo, tapered and rounded spike. The finish will be acid blue, the star will be pewter and there will be a rawhide wrap for overstrike . The haft is the original hickory, the finish is still being applied and rubbed out and it should turn out a dark honey color. This year has not been a good year for me as far as the hawks go due to work and family. There are still six other hawks nearing completion and another eight I have not started.

 

[The Warrior]

Beautiful work my friend.

 

[HoosierGuy]

I agree, looks amazing!!

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www.hoosierbushcraft.com
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[MRpink]

Very clean hawkhead!!

i've always wanted the CS trail hawk and don't know why I put it off this long but I finally placed my first order for 1x trail hawk! It hasn't even been 1 hour yet and I already want to order another trail hawk and spike hawk.

Edit: I broke down, before my trail hawk even shipped, I ordered a spike hawk too!! Can't wait for them to come in!!

 

[jagtech]

quike question about your leather wrap. Did you put it on and tie it dry or did you soak it before hand?

I used a product at my work called Hide Food. It is kind of a leather softener. It may be like saddle soap. We use it on leather car seats to keep leather supple so it doesn't crack and dry out.

 

[MRpink]

Working on my first mod. The handle came really terrible from CS. As you can see from the pictures, it's still biting on the sides and back and literally falls right off. Before I continue to sand, should I radius the top hole of the head so it conforms to the haft better or just keep working on the haft?

 

[hawkhead]

By the time you get the head fitted , you will be at the end of the haft. Some of my hawks came that way so I bought new hafts and fit those. The other choice is to add wood. That will work although my personal preference is new wood.