Tomahawk, mid-techs, and forged oxtail chopper

Storm Crow

Storm Crow

Joined
Apr 12, 2006
Messages
2,506
My brother-in-law asked me to donate a couple of blades for a Ducks Unlimited auction, with the opportunity to sell blades at the event. Time was short, but this is what I put together. My wife went in my stead; I have blades to make and friends coming in from out of town. She's a good 'un. :)

The Woodsman 'hawk and one of the Benghazi Warfighters were the auction items, with the other Benghazi Warfighter and two Little Roks for sale.



The 'hawk is 1/4" 4140 steel, the knives are 3/16" 80CrV2, and they all have back TeroTuf handle slabs and a black oxide finish.

On the other end of the spectrum, I also sent along a forged 5160 oxtail camp chopper with a 12" blade and a hybrid handle wrap. It has a foundation of neoprene along the tang (something new for me, instead of the leather I have been using), with an underlay of hemp, an overlay of stripped paracord, and a three-strand Turk's head knot of intact paracord, all impregnated with West System marine epoxy.





Back to work. :D
 
I'm digging that chopper, big time.
 
Looking good James! How'd you like the neoprene for the handle?
 
Thank y'all!

Ben - Works very well. It does the same job as the leather I've been using, i.e. giving the handle bulk and form under the wrap, but is actually easier to work than the leather. This was some that I had already gotten a while back and is thicker than the leather I've used, but it grinds down easily. I need to get some neoprene that is closer to the leather thickness and I can reduce the amount of grinding I do on it.
 
Lycosa - He may. I've seen different people use it, including Ben, and finally decided to give it a try myself.
 
Lycosa - I will. I'm not sure it will end up on yours as I've left the tang thicker on yours than often ends up. I'll try different configurations to get it feeling right before I apply the epoxy.
 
The customer who bought the oxtail chopper sent me this feedback and gave me permission to re-post it. I love getting to see my blades put to work. :)

"Eight foot Christmas tree.



You probably recognize this.



After a short time.



All ready to go.



My wife reminded me that our city would dispose of the whole tree for free. What fun would that be. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten that big turkey, cheese, avocado, bell pepper, and tomato sandwich first.

Too much fun. This blade really bites when I pay attention enough to chop with the sweet spot. Tried a couple of different techniques.... one with big, deep, hard biting chops, and one with more, but lighter, faster, shallow, chipping type cuts. Both were fun. The first made faster inroads, and mixed my sandwich up. The second was easier and not as tiring.

Have a great beginning to the new year."
 
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