Sharpening a ATAC Vietnam Tactical Hawk

M

Maximus

Joined
Feb 5, 2000
Messages
102
A "friend" of mine used my hawk to cut away weeds/light roots to clear for a patio he was putting in his yard. Needless to say, he didn't tell me this as I would've checked the kind of dirt that was being dug up. Anyhow all the rocks and pebbles in the dirt played havoc on the edge.

What's the best way of saving the edge (the chips from the edge aside)? I only have experience sharpening knives. I don't own a file (but I'm more than willing to get one), I have a course stone, a norton 4000/8000 grit stone (I assume it's not gonna help much) and a Sharpmaker.
 
can you post pictures of the edge? you might need to use a belt sander if the chips are deep.
 
i would suggest just sharpening with the course stone until the edge is in good shape and then taking it to a higher polish on the other stones.

if it is really bad, you might want to fille off the edge so that it is all flat and even and then file in new bevels and then sharpen as normal. or you could send it to me and i could do that for you. pm if you are interested.
 
siguy said:
i would suggest just sharpening with the course stone until the edge is in good shape and then taking it to a higher polish on the other stones.

if it is really bad, you might want to fille off the edge so that it is all flat and even and then file in new bevels and then sharpen as normal. or you could send it to me and i could do that for you. pm if you are interested.
Click to expand...

X2...except if you send it to me you might not get it back because I've been drooling over one for a while:D
 
Thanks guys, I'll try a course stone first. I guess it couldn't be that much different than a knife.
 
I do the same thing to mine....to restore/repair..start with a flat DMT, takes away steel pretty fast so not too much,then a coarse ceramic rod,then finish with a fine ceramic rod. I "Free-Hand" mine but those that have a base or stand would most likely work just as well. Remember that the edge angle on a hawk is steeper than a knife and adjust to it. Even after hours of dirt work it takes me 10 minutes or so to get it back to leg hair shaving sharp. best of luck ankrst6973
 
Yeah, he is, but I think he fears the tomahawk now :-D

Had he been a knife or even outdoorsy type I would have reacted a lot differently. But he can't tell the difference between an ATAC and a $5 camp hatchet from wal-mart, so I just grit my teeth and bared it (after I took back the tomahawk of course)
 
I would try a bench grinder with a very smooth stone, and would use the 'side' of the stone... look at the original edge on the ATC VTAC, it looks like it was done that way!!!
 
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