Mod'ing The CS Trail Hawk

Here's what I do:
1) Figure out design, power sand the axe head
2) Spray paint the entire surface, 4-5 coats, dry between each coat. Let all dry 24+ hours
3) Draw design on paint using pencil
4) Cut design out of paint using dremel scribe-thing
5) Etch (get your etchant at radio shack or amazon on line)
6) Strip paint

Let us know how the battery method goes if you try that.
 
I'm looking to brown the steel of my hawk and I wanted to know if dipping the head in hydrogen peroxide and letting it rust would give the same result as the 'Birchwood Casey plum brown' stuff. I want a very even patina of brown similar to an aged manhole cover. I don't know very much about rust patinas and would like to know what to use to stop the rusting once I've gotten it to the level I wanted it.

This is the look I want: http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a...NGjZw0aA9vPhQ/cC/f=0/ps=50/r=0/rx=550/ry=400/
 
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I just might but I don't really know if I should bother ordering it if I can get the same effect with forced rusting. I tested a mix of salt and hydrogen peroxide on a piece of mild steel earlier and for some reason the rust that formed on it wiped off as soon as I ran it under water.

Well I did some research and decided to try my own rust blueing with a homemade mix of H202 and salt, after de-greasing the steel I boiled some water and poured it over the hawk until it was too hot to touch, then I swabbed the solution over the steel, it instantly began to react by fizzing and bubbling with red rust.
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However the blade started get these very dark dots all over it, like mold, presumably where some pitting was. So right now my frontier hawk looks a little more like a cheetah than anything else. I have it hanging outside and will see how the rust looks tomorrow.
 
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Looks like a fun experiment .... will be great to see results. Wonder if vinegar needs humidity, more time before wiping off, and many many repeated applications. Just guessing.

Myself I settled with the birchwood casey after communicating with a high end pro hawk maker. He said he tried all sorts of things to get a brown patina and finally settled on the birchwood casey stuff. That was good enough for me. That said, there has to be another way. It's been a while since I read up on that but there are procedures written up in bladesmithing books and such, and gunsmithing circles, I think. I recall that urine is often a key ingredient in homemade rusting solutions. Anyway my only tip is Google something up with 'gun barrel' in the search, there's more in that world than the blade world on these techniques.
 
pullrich said:
Ha! Brilliant. Well done atomic. So looks like the active ingredients are sodium nitrate, potassium chlorate, copper chloride, and nitric acid.
Click to expand...

Gives you the relative percentage by weight also. . .now you can make your own (assuming you can get all the chemicals. . .I know you can get nitric acid, copper chloride, and sodium nitrate, but I don't know about the potassium chlorate).
 
I think Potassium chlorate is what's used in some fertilizers. I'm not experienced enough with such things to go making a mess with a batch with a bunch of chemicals though so I'm just going to see where this rust goes, hehe. Besides the cost of all the raw ingredients together would probably exceed the cost of a bottle of Birchwood Casey. Sure would love to see someone try their own though.
 
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My Pipe Hawk I've been slowly workin on for a few months. I'll eventually finish sanding the sides. 34" handle helps walking and makes it float like a Butterfly but bite like a Alligator Gar.

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Modded Frontiers Hawk. Made some mustard patina on it. The haft broke during throwing, in the fields. So I made one within about ten minutes, using the Mora 711, wich rested on my belt.

Kind regards
Andi
 
My homemade rust-browning pretty much failed. None of the rust penetrated deeply enough to actually stain the steel, the result was the entire patina coming off with a light sanding, I was able to completely bring back the luster with a little vinegar and steel wool.:(

Guess I'll just have to buy a bottle of Birchwood Casey like everyone else.

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Tetanus Axe
 
:eagerness: Aaaaaahhhh!!!!!! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!!
I've been following this thread for WAY too long to not have already tried this (been following it since it almost came out :shame:)!!! But now I've started... ha ha haa :devilish:

Got a CS Pipe Hawk from my girl for christmas, and have put it through WAY too many destuction tests for the past 5 months!!! Started throwing it in the backyard about 20 mins. after I opened it. And even though my handle isn't one of the best (the wood grain is almost horizontal to the blade) it's certainly not the strongest... BUT.. damn this thing is almost indestructable IMHO. I've even stuck it handle first through a fence throwing it. So after seeing all of your guys' masterpiece's :D.... I'm proud to say.... IT'S MOD'ING TIME!!!!!

So far I've only stripped the paint and started sanding the handle. Tomorrow I'm taking it to work to sand blast the head. I'll start taking some WIP pic's afterwards. I don't think I've seen too many of you who have sandblasted your hawks. I REALLY HOPE IT COME'S OUT GOOD?!?!!! :confused:

I do have a question though...
Even though I've been sanding the handle, the head still won't really stay on firmly. Should I keep sanding until it slides to the top more?? Or should I improvise and figure out a way to keep it in place??
 
Only_Solo said:
:eagerness: Aaaaaahhhh!!!!!! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!!
I've been following this thread for WAY too long to not have already tried this (been following it since it almost came out :shame:)!!! But now I've started... ha ha haa :devilish:

Got a CS Pipe Hawk from my girl for christmas, and have put it through WAY too many destuction tests for the past 5 months!!! Started throwing it in the backyard about 20 mins. after I opened it. And even though my handle isn't one of the best (the wood grain is almost horizontal to the blade) it's certainly not the strongest... BUT.. damn this thing is almost indestructable IMHO. I've even stuck it handle first through a fence throwing it. So after seeing all of your guys' masterpiece's :D.... I'm proud to say.... IT'S MOD'ING TIME!!!!!

So far I've only stripped the paint and started sanding the handle. Tomorrow I'm taking it to work to sand blast the head. I'll start taking some WIP pic's afterwards. I don't think I've seen too many of you who have sandblasted your hawks. I REALLY HOPE IT COME'S OUT GOOD?!?!!! :confused:

I do have a question though...
Even though I've been sanding the handle, the head still won't really stay on firmly. Should I keep sanding until it slides to the top more?? Or should I improvise and figure out a way to keep it in place??
Click to expand...


Sandblasting should work fine. The only thing about that is that I've heard it makes steel a bit more vulnerable to rust by, in essence, leaving the pores more "open" than other finishes might, but this is probably no big deal and should look nice.

As far as the haft, be careful with the sanding, you don't want to take too much off. Make sure you get some kind of a round file and round off the inside edges of the eye, this makes it a lot easier to fit, so the head doesn't bite into the wood on the way up making things more difficult. You just want it to smoothly tighten. If you have to put it in a vice and give it a careful squeeze onto the handle don't worry about it, you just don't want to smash it on or anything.
 
When you sand blast the pressure type of sand and proximity of the nozzle all make a difference in the final texture. Once you start modding, ideas and other projects will start flowing.
 
Just finished up another mod today. This one's going in the bug-out bag so I went less traditional and more practical.

Haft was cut to 19" and stained
Handle wrap is baseball bat handle wrap I got from Wal Mart. This stuff is great! Has adhesive backing so it goes on easy, rubbery texture for a secure grip and it has some shock absorbing characteristics. Highly recommended
Blade got coated in about 5 or 6 coats of flat black Duracoat. Since this will be sitting in my trunk strapped to my BOB for most of the time I wanted a coating that'll really protect against rust. Looks nice too ;)

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