Mod'ing The CS Trail Hawk

HandAxeProMan said:
Great hawks! Everyone that enters here gets the bug.
Click to expand...

That's an understatement.....

82 riviting pages on Sunday and I got 2 trailhawks in the mail today.

If someone could answer an etching question...
I'm wondering if one could remove just some of the existing paint with a dremel, then etch the site with removed paint, then completely strip and smooth the hawk?
Has anyone tried this?
It seems like the process would be easier than stripping paint, finishing, painting, etching, stripping again.

Thanks!
~Smitty
 
Uuhhhhh.....


...that's a dang good idea. I'm no artist, so being able to cut out a sticker and use it as a masking device to create my etch pattern has worked well, but if you were doing scrollwork or initials, etc. then the dremel-thru-factory-paint thing would be great.
 
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At this point it will be initials and a "paddle man" petroglyph.
I may not be artistic, but I feel confident I can handle letters and a stick man. At least I hope I can....:rolleyes:
Hoping to give one to my brother for his birthday.

Thanks!
 
Difb we discussed that here once and I expressed the concern that it is unknown whether the factory paint will withstand the etching solution or peel off. Also, one reason for stripping it all initially is to let you get at the steel underneath.... to smooth it out with a sander or whatever. If it's not smooothed you have lots of pits and that detracts from your etch. If you etch and THEN smooth, the action of smoothing the steel may compromise the etch. Having said all that, I've thought it might be interesting to see results of a method like you described.

If I were going this route I might add a coat or two of paint to the factory layer (why not), let it dry a few days, dremel out the design, etch.
 
It became clear once I had it in hand. Last thing I wanted to do was etch "TAIWAN" into the hawk or etch the blade edge.

I went with the usual strip, finish, etch method. I shouldn't complain since it made for a fine project day.

Here is the 1st one. This was my "test bed" before I made the one for my brother.
Stripped, lightly sanded, but leaving some of the rough finish, etched, sharpened etc.
I'll end up giving this one to a co-worker who is an avid trapper.
Sorry only cell pics right now:

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I'm ok with metal, but brand new to working with leather. However, I found some deer hide scraps in the basement and said to heck with it...

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I know that it was discussed in here earlier, but it's hard to go through 83 pages of posts looking for a post without a picture. . .

. . .which type of paint should be eased for the etch, or does it matter?

If I recall, it should also be allowed to dry for a couple of days as well, correct?

Thanks!
 
I used some generic blue rustoleum I had sitting around. I let it dry for about 6 hours before etching.
After about 2 hours of etching it was starting to lift, so the etch isn't really deep because I pulled it at that point to prevent the etch from bluring.

I got discouraged with the PCB etching dip and tried electrically etching the next one. It went nice and deep but wasn't as even. (pics to follow at some point when I complete the handle)

I'd like to try nail polish and PBC etching dip on the next one.
 
Dfib- I was gonna do the same with the leather around the head..... I still might so don't get upset if I copy lol
 
Go for it!

It's not "copying" it's learning from each other.... ;)

Here is the one for my brother...

I am less than pleased with the electrical etching.

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Dfib! Looks good my friend! I promise I'm not following you...it's just a small world I guess.

I wanted to thank everyone here for so many great ideas. My 15yo son wanted (and will be getting) a Trailhawk for Christmas this year and I wasn't happy with the set screw and so forth, so I figured I'd mod it and started digging around to see if anyone had a slick idea. I wasn't ready for what I found!

I'm going to go ahead and fix the sharp edges on the head and clean up any marks on the haft for him ( I think these are simply required rather than personalization) but after that, I'm going to turn him loose on it. He's in process of building a fixed blade knife and absolutely loves it, so this is a good, economical way to keep him moving.

Looks like I should've ordered two of them, I'm itching to do one myself.
Thanks again to everyone for their willingness to share these mods, I look forward to posting up Jr's modded hawk in the future.
 
Thanks milq!!!
I had a slight WFT moment when I saw you were the last reply. Small world indeed!

Looking forward to see what your son does. Even better will be some "in the field" pictures next fall!
 
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I've been itching to finish these two Xmas gifts - one for my mom and one for dad.

These are my first mods, so they aren't perfect (in particular my first acid etch) but I'm pleased with the outcome. Any criticism to fancy them up is appreciated and welcomed! :thumbup:

For my dad I wanted to engrave his company logo on one side and his initials on the other, neither came out very sharp and resulted in me trying to re-etch a few times. I decided not to push my luck once his logo became evident enough. The pole was reshaped as a window smasher/dull spike. I blued the blade, added a few decorative file marks along the top, shortened the haft, black coated, cord wrapped and added black tacks.

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For my mom, I acid etched a Fleur de Lys to represent her French Canadian heritage and her initials on the opposite side. This etch came out nicely. I finished the blade with a vinegar patina (the flash makes it appear rusty, but it isn't). As you can tell I slightly reshaped the pole and blade. The haft was finished with an oak varnish and twine wrap. A few brass nails and tacks were added for decorative purposes.

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Hi guys!

Not beautiful, but it works:

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I changed the handle. During light lumberwork it´s bad to have such a slim handle, so I added a handle of a hatchet. As I told you - not beautiful but practical.

Kind regards
Andi
 
Ok guys,

I'm new to writing in the forum, but not new to reading it. I've read every line in this thread and have just been waiting for the free time to mod my hawks using the information I've learned here. I wanted my first post to be of my modded axe.

So I've started with my Norse hawk because I haven't seen too many on here and I love the design. I used all of the posted paint removal using Jasco, and etched the design with radio shack ferric chloride. Etching was done overnight, I'd say about a good 15 to 16 hours. The design idea came to me after seeing pictures of old viking ship prows. I looked through other designs but dragons and wolves are harder to make, and I figured this would look more abstract. I then used gun blue on the head, then used super black gun blue pen to slightly darken the inside of the design a bit more to make it stand out. Anyhow I like how it came out. Following tradition I have a pic with my handmade knife and sheath. Knife made by Bill Addison of Nueces River Knives Texas, and sheath made by myself. I'm going to make a sheath for the axe next. My next project is my pipe hawk. I'd like to thank everyone on this thread for starting another addictive hobby of mine!

Justin
axemask.jpg

prow1.jpg

axehead.jpg

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