Mod'ing The CS Trail Hawk

I have a feeling that when I get the Trailhawk (whenever that may be... lol) that I'll shorten the handle
One would think that a smaller head like the one the TH has would do well with a short handle, but we'll see once I can actually handle one
 
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Shaw I think you're on to something with the shortened handles.... at least that feels right to me.
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I find 19 inches to be quite unnecessary and 22" to be downright excessive (at that length the thing will be reaching down to my shin when it's hanging on my belt and I'm 6 feet tall!) 15-17 inches feels just about right.
 
ShawDAMAN said:
15-17 inches feels just about right.
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Yeah I think so too, even with the bigger hawks like the rifleman's:
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Yeah I think so too, even with the bigger hawks like the rifleman's:
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That's a nice hawk right there, I remember it from when I first pored through this thread :thumbup: forgive me for asking a question that was probably already answered, but did you use the oft-mentioned PCB etchant to put the designs on the head? And how'd you get that dark patina- the thing looks like it's hand forged iron, haha- very cool and traditional.
 
Stripped, thinned the bit/edge with a file, convex sharpened blade, sharpened the toe and heel/beard about an inch, sanded for about two weeks (the poll, blade, top and bottom to 2000, remaining 2/3 of the sides to 800) and shaved the front of the haft flat.

TH bottom.jpgTH top.jpgTH poll.jpgTH right.jpg

In wood, it's like a Sabretooth Tiger hunting in a tar pit. It bites deep, and gets stuck alot.
 
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I'm with you guys and always shorten the hafts. Just how long I leave it depends on the intended end use. Most end up in the 15-17 inch range. My first mod was to a spike hawk to use as a CQC weapon and I shortened the haft to 14 inches. Leebrewer, very nice looking work and I look forward to seeing pictures when you finish.

Howard
 
Finally got myself a hawk to modify, the cold steel pipe hawk.
Didn't do too much to it, just sanded, stained and oiled the haft, stripped and sharpened the head, gave it a mustard patina as well. Then I wrapped under the head with jute twine which I rubbed some sno seal into (it's mostly bees wax). It's not real fancy but I like it.

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Ya know, sometimes less is more
:)

I like the way it looks!
Interesting seeing what I assume to be the temper discoloration, to my knowledge, my hawk does not have that same discoloration
 
I do as well
I'm thinking that I'm going to need two more Cold Steel hawks, them being the Trail Hawk and the Pipe Hawk

I'll make the TH more for a fighter/tactical, and probably do the PH in a similar fashion as my RH
 
Tye Possum said:
Finally got myself a hawk to modify, the cold steel pipe hawk.
Didn't do too much to it, just sanded, stained and oiled the haft, stripped and sharpened the head, gave it a mustard patina as well. Then I wrapped under the head with jute twine which I rubbed some sno seal into (it's mostly bees wax). It's not real fancy but I like it.
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Nice mods! Where did you get those prints?
 
Thanks guys, it's going to be a user so I didn't want to make it too fancy. I might do a little woodburning on the haft at some point though.

TheAznInvazn said:
Interesting seeing what I assume to be the temper discoloration, to my knowledge, my hawk does not have that same discoloration
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I've seen it on a few other hawks but all of them were pipe hawks too as far as I can remember. A guy on bushcraftUSA seemed to think it was a spot where they ground down some excess metal or something. Hopefully the heat treat is still good, I haven't heard of one breaking yet.

Goose_52 said:
Where did you get those prints?
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They're from The Bay which is just the new department store version of the Hudson Bay Company, I'm not sure if you guys have that down there though.
 
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