Rizzen Frizzen hawk handle

[Kevin the grey]

Well I only have about two inches to go on shaving my hawk handle . I just do a bit at a time cause it was perplexing me . I couldn,t get it to follow the taper of the eye for the last four inches . I finally figured out why . The taper is very uneven and even constricts somewhere inside the length of the taper . Its not a big difference just enough so that if it fits just right top and bottom the middle is too tight . I checked out the original handle and sure enough while the handle is nicely turned on a lathe it does not follow the contour of the head that closely . I tried ramming it on so as to see rub/friction scuffs I could shave down . The wood doesn,t pick up abrasions from the head . Now that I know what the problem is I will approximate the contour as best I can and accept its imperfections . I just wanted my first one to be as good as I can make it .

 

[Cliff Stamp]

You can cover the the head in chalk and watch where it is abraded. However if you don't have a gradual tamper it is difficult to match exactly.

-Cliff

 

[Kevin the grey]

Cliff thats a good idea about the chalk .

I have pushed and prodded . scraped and goaded that hawk head up the handle .
The only reason it went uo with any semblance of following trhe contours of the tapered wodd is that the taper was more acute towards the bottom .

I will try the chalk and if still not evident will take a rounded file and trim down the middle of the sides which is where the issue seems to be .

At least it will be finished tomorrow and I can start another for another hawk or continue with my wedge making . This was a good lesson in remembering to check the original fit .

 

[Kevin the grey]

Well shes done . Once I figured out there wasn,t much of a taper it went well . Even the slight taper was hampered by uneveness and being reversed in a couple of places .

The hawk sits slightly lower due to the fact there is a knot at the end which flares out just right . I didn,t want to comprimise the wood surrounding it any more than necessary .

First throw ? Slight over rotation which only served to set the head all the better . Next three throws were thunk thunk , thunk . She throws nice and hits straight .

While I have to move on to other projects I am already eyeing a nice ash tree to make staves from . Maybe a couple of bows and hawk handles in there . Augh now i havwe to learn how to make a bow . L:O:L

I know it took longer than necessary . I had to learn to sharpen a drawknife , find a rasp , learn how to secure wood in a vise , learn a neat trick regarding balcony railings and sharpening/shaving etc , etc , etc . Thanks for the advice and patience .
Next handle I make is for a Tactical shovel/emergency kit .

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I wish I had nice hardwoods like that locally, you should trying making tools out of clear pine and handles out of alder. Everything takes long the first time and nothing will feel so rewarding again as the first time you set a head. Most people just junk axes with poor head fits, or result to mangling them with additional wedges, nails, glue, etc. .

-Cliff

 

[Kevin the grey]

Cliff there are all kinds of thorn bush in the area I will be experimenting with that soon I had a guy who supposedly knew about trees come out to this land and look around Nope no good wood for bows here Nothing he recognises
Turns out all the trees we were looking at were Ash I suspect black ash
Big wind storm yesterday blows some seeds at my feet You guessed it ash seeds I looked around with my increased knowledge and realised all the trees the guy said were no good are ash

My buddies swear by hickory I like ash cause it shaves like clay By that I mean it is very consistent Hickory I find to be a little more splintery and for this beginner less easy to see grain

 

[Cliff Stamp]

The first thing you need to decide about is the level of bow. The guys who make bows professionally have extreme standards, it would be like asking most of the people on Bladeforums about what is an "acceptable" steel for a knife. You can make a bow out of anything, some woods are just far stronger and with much more spring so you don't need as much wood.

-Cliff

 

[klickitat]

One of the tricks I like to use if teh grain of the wood wants to run is to use a heavy horse shoe rasp to cut the taper and then go back with a scraper to smooth it out.