New Hawk, Crooked Handle

M

MN_Condor

Gold Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2015
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69
Hello everyone!
I just received my new H&B Forge Goshawk today. Overall, I really like what I'm seeing so far. The edge grind is a little rough, but it should sharpen out. Everything is about as expected for a hand forged tomahawk. My only issue is the handle. It seems to have warped somewhere along the way. I wanted to post it here to get other people's opinions or experiences with hawk handles. Maybe I'm being too picky. It's just a tool, after all, and the handle will eventually break and need to be replaced. What do you think, is this worth returning, or requesting a new handle?
Thanks!
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To my mind a side-bowed handle can affect your swing and create a potential safety issue so I'd request a new one. Although I have an H&B hawk that I love, but after one camping trip I replaced the hawk handle with a hatchet handle and it is much easier to use now.
 
You can heat the handle and clamp it a little past straight. The trick is to be sure the haft is heated slowly enough to penetrate to the center.
Steam works well but a heat gun will also do it with some patience. It needs to be clamped soon after heat is removed and allowed to fully cool I just leave them over night.
 
fishface5 said:
To my mind a side-bowed handle can affect your swing and create a potential safety issue so I'd request a new one. Although I have an H&B hawk that I love, but after one camping trip I replaced the hawk handle with a hatchet handle and it is much easier to use now.
Click to expand...
That's kind of what I was thinking. If it was a little curved front to back, it might be alright.
 
garry3 said:
You can heat the handle and clamp it a little past straight. The trick is to be sure the haft is heated slowly enough to penetrate to the center.
Steam works well but a heat gun will also do it with some patience. It needs to be clamped soon after heat is removed and allowed to fully cool I just leave them over night.
Click to expand...
I might try this, I do have a heat gun and some clamps. Thanks!
 
I agree with getting the new handle. So tired of receiving things, cheap or not that are not “as advertised”. I’ve owned a few H&B’s and all have been great. Maybe an oversight, but definitely worth bringing it to their attention. Let us know how the replacement works out.
 
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