New to the Hawk world

K

KFSpud

Joined
Oct 18, 2005
Messages
7
Having been an outdoorsman all my life I find it funny that i just recently bought my first hawk. I bought it for its throwing ability, but mostly as a good utility axe/hatchet that could serve double duty. Now all of a sudden I find that I am an addict! I have been looking at every hawk I can find on the web!

I bought a CS Rifleman's Hawk for my first and quickly found out (as many here already know) that they have a heck of a time keeping the head good and tight. The small torx screw is next to useless for this task. I instantly began mods.

First I found a longer bolt that fit the threads for the torx screw. I then removed the head and reinforced the side with a hard leather "wedge" that fits between the eye and the handle. I proceeded to drive the head down onto the flared handle with a great deal of force and then screwed the bolt in as tight as I could. I cut the end of the bolt off but cut a slot for a screwdriver in case I MUST disassemble it later.

I next wrapped the upper handle in red paracord (makes it more visable which I find desirable in my outdoor tools). The paracord gives me extra cordage in a pinch. The lower part of the handle I wrapped in rubber. I created flared portions at the upper and lower parts of the handle I created to help my grip. I can still throw with this set up, yet I have a more secure grip. Keep in mind it is the utility aspect that I wanted in this one.

Lastly, I secured the head with a fair portion of two-ton epoxy which I drizzeled into all the open spaces in the eye. If I have to remove the head in the future I will likely need to burn out the handle the way we used to with axes. For now, this makes for a pretty secure tool.

1134252044-Tomahawk_001.jpg


I plan to purchase a few more now. I want some for more traditional purposes amd I will probably buy one of the more quality combat types too.

1134252130-Tomahawk_005.jpg


Anyway, I look forward to reading some of the posts here. I am sure I will learn a lot!
 
the CS hawks look pretty good with the coating sanded off (wear a mask of coarse) with a grit around 200, start sanding lightly and you can get a "patina" if you dont remove all the coating. experiment and see... good job.

dhawk
 
Always good to hear about a new hawker. Nice mod on the Rifleman Hawk BTW. Now mine looks to plain in comparison. Might try dressing it up with some stained rawhide.
 
Stained rawhide looks nice - I've seen people use the leather bootlaces. Defintely looks nicer with that finish blasted off. The red paracord will defintely make it easier to find if you lay it down or get a bad throw. There are all kinds of grip tapes to use, too - tennis racket, gold club, hockey stick, etc... I know someone who used that skateboard brip tape but that seems awfully rough on the hands if you're using it on a regular basis.

Good Job!
 
Suzanne - Love the hawks on your site. I'll have to get my hands on one soon. Have you had much feedback on their ability to do cutting chores as well as combat duty? The appeal of the tomahawk is its ability to do double duty. I can see why they were a valued item in their day.
 
Just an update...

My first Hawk injury happened last week. I had just finished putting a shaving sharp convex edge on my hawk and set it down on a box. I was moving some things around and knocked it off the box. Well, as luck would have it, it came down on my heel sharp side down. It cut through my shoe and cut deep into my heel.

Blood was puring out of me quickly and my wife wrapped it in a towel. It bled through the towel in a matter of minutes. An ER visit and a bunch of stitches later I found out why the hawk is such a great fighting tool.

BTW - It was all I could do just to keep my wife from banning me from buying other hawks. I guess I should be more careful before she bans all my sharp tools.
 
well, I'm going to go against the grain of this thread.
I believe there are at least two types of hawk.
One is a tactical/ all purpose chopper. It is one piece or has a wedge securing the handle.
The other is a thrower. It does not have a wedge so that if the hawk hits the target at an odd angle, the handle flys off and doesn't break. Quite often you need to cut the handle shorter to get it to spin in the air correctly. This doesn't mean you can't use it to chop, it's just not as secure without a wedge.
What I like about my CS frontier hawk is: you can tighten the screw for chopping or loosen for throwing.
The bad news is that it's best to have at least two hawks, one for throwing and one for chopping/tactical.
The good news is that you have a ready made excuse to have more than one hawk.
I currently have three "traditional" style hawks, but I do like what you have done with your riflesmans hawk. CS is a VG project hawk.
I'm sure some guys throw hawks with wedges in the handles with success, but there is always the possibility of handle breakage with this set-up.
Keep in mind this is only my opinion and, as always, YMMV.
 
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