Tell me about your Fort Turner Hawk

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I talked to Dana about making my Iriquois Hawk with an edge length that I specified and it came out excellent! Cost a bit more but well worth it...I'm sure if you give him your specs he would be able to work something out...
 
I got my Fort Turner Hardened Pole Trapper Hawk Yesterday and I really like It, Very Well Made Excellent Head to Handle fit, Everthing was on with the spec's 3.5" Inch Blade 16" Hardened Pole Handle 1 3/4 lb. I'm Real Happy with It and I'm getting another Fort Turner "Real Soon" And Dana's Wife Stephanie she make's the Sheath's She does Great Work I got one for my Trapper Hawk, And she made a Custon Ordered Sheath for my Coal Creek Forge Roger's Ranger and did a Great Job on that ! Fort Turner Is an A ++ In my book ! Here's some picture's,

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How is the fit of their sheaths? In your first sheath picture the hawks look TINY compared to the sheath.
 
Darbyfett said:
How is the fit of their sheaths? In your first sheath picture the hawks look TINY compared to the sheath.
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The Hawk's fit Snug In the Sheath's, There Is however about an Inch of space In front of the Blade on each one, I think though If made to a tighter tolerence or a so called perfect fit, You wouldnt have the easy draw and fast placement back In the Sheath,
 
bladefan said:
I talked to Dana about making my Iriquois Hawk with an edge length that I specified and it came out excellent! Cost a bit more but well worth it...I'm sure if you give him your specs he would be able to work something out...
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Got one coming.

Even though the one I got was a bit small, it throws great & the craftsmanship is superb, so I'm keeping it.

I had some correspondence with Dana Turner on email a few days ago, and he said he'd be happy to make me one to my specs but it will take a couple weeks. A couple weeks' wait is no big deal to me and well worth it for something special.

What I requested was an FT Iroquois 'Hawk with these dimensions:

Overall length - 6.5"
Cutting edge length - 3.5"

which puts it in a similar size to my CS Rifleman's 'Hawk minus the hammer poll.
 
Ok it took a little while but I found this thread again.

Here are some pics.

First picture - this is my old CS Rifleman's Tomahawk, small Ft Turner Iroquois, custom-order larger Ft Turner Iroquois.
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The first Ft Turner tomahawk is the one in the center. As you can see it's much smaller that what I'm used to using. I know there's variance in anything made by hand; maybe I got an exceptionally small one. It throws very well though and I'm keeping it as a thrower for practice.

The one on the far right side is the one Dana made to my specs. It is dead on perfect. Longer head, wider blade, the bit is not too thin and not too thick. It is absolutely perfect.

My father's side of the family has a small collection of heirlooms which have been passed down for many generations. One of these is a broken tomahawk head we had appraised in 1993 and it dates to 1780-1800. Family oral history says it was broken by being hit by a musket ball in 1839 or so. Ft Turner's iroquois hawk is close to the design of it. When I was thinking up some specs for the custom piece, I had my uncle - the current possessor of the old broken tomahawk, send me a tracing of it on paper with the two pieces of it together. I made some measurements and sent the specs to Dana and he made one which is nearly the perfect clone of the one we have had in our family for two centuries.

The first thing I do with a new tomahawk is test it thoroughly for both strength and edge retention. The Ft Turner passed with flying colors.

The second thing I do is make my own handle for it. I like my handles on the long side - about 20"-25". The handle of our broken heirloom tomahawk is long gone and I can only speculate what it looked like and how it was decorated, but this is what spoke to me after I finished hand carving the new handle out of a hickory sledgehammer handle:

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I really like Dana's work. Already ideas and specs are forming in my head of another custom tomahawk I can hire him to forge for me.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
everytime i see pics of your handle mods i'm blown away. they are outstanding.:cool:

i've always been reluctant to get a good hawk that doesn't have a poll of some type even though my cold steel frontier hawk is my best "feeling" hawk that i use for a steel blunt. do you find that you miss the hammer of the rifleman when you are using the FT?

your answer could persuade me to get a plain poll hawk for a light weight hiking tool. i usually carry a bowie when hiking.
 
crossada said:
everytime i see pics of your handle mods i'm blown away. they are outstanding.:cool:

i've always been reluctant to get a good hawk that doesn't have a poll of some type even though my cold steel frontier hawk is my best "feeling" hawk that i use for a steel blunt. do you find that you miss the hammer of the rifleman when you are using the FT?

your answer could persuade me to get a plain poll hawk for a light weight hiking tool. i usually carry a bowie when hiking.
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Thanks. I've been involved in the living history/flintknapping/powwow scene for a long time now. I take a lot of enjoyment making my own stuff, especially tomahawk handles. To take the time carving out a sledgehammer handle using only a rasp and a knife- usually takes me about 3 hours - results in a fit to the head which is as perfect as possible and there are irregularities from this work which add to the historical frontier look. I always leave some of the tool marks too, intentionally.

As for the hammer poll... I only miss it if I need to do some heavy duty hammering or breaking rocks or something like that. If you're only going to some light hammering, such as tapping in tent stakes, you really don't need it. The thing to keep in mind is that a tomahawk head without a hammer poll is prone to deformation if used for hard heavy-duty hammering.
 
Since I started this thread oh so long ago, I received my Scout Hawk. This hawk is OUTSTANDING as a camp tool. It chops, shaves, slices, makes fuzz sticks, and does it all without destroying the edge. I chopped up some seasoned applewood recently, no problem at all. Its quick and handy in the field. My only regret is not getting a sheath with it! As soon as I am back to work, Dana will be getting more money out of me, gladly.
 
Carful and Beware when ordering from Fort Turner. They do not deliver. Dana is rude and treats customers horribly. I placed an order in 2013 and have not received anything from him but cursing. I hope that I can inform someone else from getting scammed by this man.
Items Ordered:

Item: Rogers Rangers Tomahawk
Quantity: 1 Price: $129.95 Shipping: $9.00 Total: $138.95
Item: Iroquois Tomahawk
Quantity: 1 Price: $69.95 Shipping: $9.00 Total: $78.95
Item: Buck Tomahawk
Quantity: 1 Price: $59.95 Shipping: $9.00 Total: $68.95

Sub Total: $286.85
Discount: ($0.00)
Additional Shipping & Handling: $0.00
Sales Tax: $20.79
Total Amount Charged: $307.64

Delivery Time:

Your order will be shipped to the address above, unless you provided special shipping instructons. If any of the above data is incorrect, or if you have any questions, please contact us at mail@fortturner.com. Thank you again, we look forward to serving you!

Best regards,

Fort Turner
Customer Support Team
 
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