Railroad hawks.

Shotgun

Shotgun

Joined
Feb 3, 2006
Messages
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I've seen a couple of the makers here making them and I gotta say I really like the looks of them. I was wondering though, how much do they usually weigh? They seem smaller than regular hawks. Also, are these as durable for field use?
 
Yea, they are a little lighter but are fine for normal use. We usually split the end and weld a piece of HC steel in for a bit but you can also quench the edge in "Super Quench" for a decent usable hardness too..
 
Lighter is better for what I want. How long is the head and edge usually?
 
That really depends on the individual smith. If theu just use the spike itself with no bit, how much they upset the end of the spike before forging, etc..The ones we have made are usually about 5 1/2" long with a cutting edge around 2 1/2"-2 3/4" wide..
Heres one we did a long time ago..It has a piece of file welded in for the bit..
Picture036-1.jpg

Picture042-1.jpg
 
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