My new Trail Hawk, finally complete...well mostly

brewcitymike

brewcitymike

Joined
Aug 26, 2011
Messages
1,007
Here's the Trail Hawk that I got for Xmas(from my mommy;)) with about 95% or its mods done. I was originally gonna put a tack between each burn ring but that was so hard to get the first two in and I had to drill a hole with a super thin bit and tap the tacks in on both sides. Unfortunately the stem of the tacks hit each other in the whole so now I'm reconsidering doing anymore. The burn rings were done with an $8.00 mini butane torch from Harbor Freight(of course) and they came out flawless IMO. I cut strips of foil and put it were I didn't want the haft to burn and it worked out great. I'm happy with it overall but I think my next hawk mod will have a burgundy haft and diagonal burn rings with stainless tacks. Oh and instead of using leather to wrap the handle I found some nice soft suede lacing at Jo-Ann fabrics and it worked really good due to how flexible it is. That is also what's wrapped around the head for the time being. The only mod that got screwed up from the start was the file work. Doing it by hand just sucked and then I got a cheap dremel but burned through the bits quicker than I would have liked to. Well I hope you like it, now I may send it to RichardJ for a good sharpening.So let me hear some feedback/comments
IMAG1032.jpgIMAG1039.jpgIMAG1037.jpg
 
Give it a shot to sharpen it before you send it out. With time you can do it.

I haven't drilled a handle up high like that. Please let us know if it fails in use.

Nice work!
 
Hey Mike, nice looking mods. If you cut the tacks down to about 1/4 inch shafts it likely stop the haft from breaking. I cut the shaft on a long diagonal to create a point, drill the hole a tiny bit shallow and dip the pin in epoxy then tap it in. I think the epoxy gives back a bit to the strength of the haft.

Regards

Robin
 
It really did give me a bug, I saw a rifleman's hawk at my local surplus shop and I alomost bought it. But I have to say it is pretty heavy for its size. I think I will make my next one either the frontier hawk or the pipe hawk since its got the same edge as the frontier but the pip could add to the look of the mods. IDK, I'm torn. But I didn't even think of the haft breaking when I drilled that top hole and I'm pissed that I didn't cuz I can totally see it breaking now that I think about it. Maybe this one will just be for show and if I drill up high again it will be a very small hole not that huge 1/4":eek:
Thanks for the feedback/compliments guys
 
and i thought mine looked nice... nice work. im still afraid to try file work, im afraid ill screw it up...
i just need to go for it, maybe one day soon:)
 
Mine got messed up cuz I first tried with a hand file but the grooves were funky shaped so then I git a cheap dremel knock off and went to work but the bits weren't lasting so I had to use different sizes which made them look uneven too, then I tried to make a pattern and it just ended up being too many in the end. Aside from time consuming its not very hard and now that I know how to do it my next one will be much better.
and thanks for the compliment
 
I will be posting there too. I thought I'd just start one and see what kind of feedback I'd get. That TH thread is ginormous so I didn't want it to get lost in the hugeness and not get noticed.
 
I'm new to hawks, bought my first (a cheap Chinese knockoff) for 18 bucks last September and my FIL got me a SOG Fasthawk when Wal-Mart had them in special for Christmas for $20.

However, I'm one that has never liked 'show pieces' or 'wall hangers', all of my knives, axes, machetes, and guns are well used, though not abused. I would suggest using your hawk for whatever your intended purpose is and see how the haft holds up with the hole in it. If it breaks, replace the haft. Hang on to the broken one and re-purpose it. You can then also report firsthand on what happened, how it happened, and have pictures to boot. Just my two shiny pennies' worth.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top